David McKnight

David McKnight
Born	(1935-03-04)March 4, 1935 Saint John, New Brunswick
Died	May 14, 2006(2006-05-14)(aged 71) Rome
Nationality	Canadian
Education	M.A. in Anthropology,University College London(1965) Ph.D. in Anthropology,London University(1977)
Occupation	Anthropologist
Years active	1965–1997
Known for	Anthropology ofindigenous Australians

David McKnight(4 March 1935 – 14 May 2006) was a Canadian-British anthropologist and ethnographer who specialized in the anthropology of Australian Aboriginal people, with particular regard to the tribes of theCape York Peninsula.He conducted over 20 field trips among Aboriginal people in Australia from 1965 to 1999.

Life

McKnight was born inSaint John,New Brunswickin 1935. He completed his B.A. in both English Lit and PhilosophyBishop's UniversityinQuebecin 1957. He went on to study in Great Britain, University College London, obtaining his M.A. degree in anthropology in 1965 on African death cults.He then shifted his research focus to Australian Aboriginal studies, beginning with a first foray into field research in Queensland in 1965.

He was hired atEdinburgh Universityas a lecturer inSocial Anthropologythree years later, and then moved to teach the same topic atThe London School of Economics.In 1977 he earned his doctorate from London University with a thesis on the intricate marriage systems among theAboriginal Australianpeoples onMornington Island.He was appointed Senior Lecturer in 1982 and held that post until his retirement in 1997.

On Mornington Island he studied in particular depth theLardil,theKaiadiltand theYangkaal,while atAurukunhe became an authority on theWik-Mungkanpeople.His approach clarified that theAustralian Aboriginal kinshipclassification systems were not a code restricted to clan marriage alliances but informed a totalcosmology,even if contradictions existed from sub-system to sub-system, which caused dissonances in obligations that infra-tribal arguments had to iron out.He mastered the ceremonial language of the Lardil people, the all but extinctDamin,of which he became the last living speaker, and was given the tribal name ofBoorarungee- (the man who asks why).Despite his clear-eyed and frank insights into the abuses that were rife in manyIndigenous Australiancommunities from alcohol and other causes, local respect for him was such that Lardil elders asked him to teach Damin to their children.

Long interested in Italy, he settled in Rome on his retirement, and, on the dissolution of his first marriage to Meg Phillips, by whom he had six children, he later married Alessandra Solivetti.

Major books

• (1995)Lardil: Keepers of the Dreamtime,Chronicle Books, San Francisco 978-0-811-80834-7
• (1999)People, Countries, and the Rainbow Serpent: Systems of Classification Among the Lardil of Mornington Island,Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-195-09621-7
• (2002)From Hunting to Drinking: The Devastating Effects of Alcohol on an Australian Aboriginal Community,Psychology Press,ISBN978-0-415-27150-9
• (2005)Of Marriage, Violence and Sorcery: The Quest for Power in Northern Queensland,Ashgate Publishing,ISBN978-0-754-64465-1
• (2004)Going the Whiteman's Way: Kinship and Marriage Among Australian Aborigines,Ashgate Publishing,ISBN978-0-754-64238-1

Notes and references

References

• Overing, Joanna; Lanoue, Guy; Creider, Chet (22 July 2006)."David McKnight: Empathetic ethnographer of the Australian aborigines".The Independent.
• Sutton, Peter (2007). "The Unwavering Eye: David McKnight's Ethnographic-Historical Legacy".The Australian Journal of Anthropology.18(2): 227–230.doi:10.1111/j.1835-9310.2007.tb00091.x.
• Worsley, Peter (28 June 2006)."David McKnight".The Guardian.