The Bagundji of the darling basin: Cereal gatherers in an uncertain environment

Abstract

Until the 1880s the semi‐arid Darling River Basin, in western New South Wales, was inhabited by Aborigines belonging to the Bagundji linguistic group. The Bagundji economy was primarily riverine in character based on the collection of aquatic foods and wild cereals. Seasonal variations in their subsistence activities can be related to seasonal variations in the productivity of their habitat. Despite a long period of association with wild cereals, the Bagundji remained hunters and gatherers and apparently made no attempt to cultivate these cereals. Possible reasons for this are examined. No simple explanation can be put forward to explain either the specific problem of the absence of agriculture from the Darling River Basin or the general problem of the absence of agriculture from Aboriginal Australia as a whole.