Numunwari

AUSTRALIANA Fiction Fauna

Novel about a huge crocodile and Aboriginal beliefs set in Maningrida.

Numunwari: A Novel of Aboriginal “Dreaming”, Crocodiles and Cultural Conflict

Numunwari is a gigantic salt-water crocodile – sacred to the Aboriginal community, and the keeper of the secrets of their ancient customs. It lives in Arnhem Land in a remote part of northern Australia. But when it moves downstream terror breaks out.This is the most exciting, fast-paced and challenging novel of wild-life and cultural conflict which you will ever read.It will cause you to reflect deeply on the fate of Aboriginal cultures, and on the contemporary plight of ancient animals.It is an acclaimed fiction based on fact.This is an adventure tale set amidst the mystery of Aboriginal Dreamtime. The crocodile is a symbol of the Aboriginal people’s timeless culture threatened with destruction by the white man’s ways. For reasons which the novel reveals, Numunwari leaves its remote domain, and swims downstream, asserting its authority in its domain, and transforming the coastal City of Darwin into one of terror.The challenge this represents opens out disturbing and fundamental questions about our relationships with wild life.The book is full of the rough, tough characters, ruthless criminals and opportunist politicians of Northern Australia. It also features the Aboriginal Oondabund, the creature’s hereditary guardian. The events are set in the ancient and tropical ‘feel’ of a mysterious landscape. The novel offers many insights into culture, and conservation.The author is the leading global expert and scientist of crocodile life. He is a globally-recognised and award-winning leader of the conservation and management of wildlife resources. Notably on the concept of conserving wildlife through sustainable use programs.

First Edition.

• 248 p. ; 22 cm. #030624
• Novels in English. Australian writers, 1945-. Texts
• Crocodiles — Fiction
• Literature and stories – Non indigenous – Fiction
• Stories and motifs – Crocodiles
• Arnhem Land (N.T.) — Fiction
• Maningrida (Central Arnhem Land NT SD53-02)