Catherine Helen Berndt

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Catherine Berndt, 1952

Catherine Helen Berndt (born May 8, 1918 in Auckland , New Zealand ; † May 22, 1994 in Perth ) was an Australian ethnologist and museum founder.

Live and act

Born in New Zealand, Catherine Helen Webb (maiden name) studied with AP Elkin at the University of Sydney from 1940 to 1943 , graduating with a BA from Victoria University in Melbourne and a Certificate of Proficiency in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington . On April 20, 1941, in Adelaide, she married the anthropologist Ronald Murray Berndt , who was also at the beginning of his career , with whom she had been a closely collaborating research couple for almost 50 years. In this way, they were able to research men and women-related topics simultaneously in field research. In particular, the role of the Aboriginal woman was little studied around the middle of the last century .

Her own field research and scientific results include the confirmation and expansion of the work Aboriginal woman: sacred and profane (1939) in Ooldea , on Lower Murray in South Australia and Arnhem Land in northern Australia, which Phyllis Kaberry classified as a classic , on the political, economic and religious role of women in aboriginal tribes.

Together with her husband, she conducted research in Ooldea from July to November 1941, the results were published in Oceania from 1942 to 1945 . The stays from 1942 to 1944 mainly in the area of ​​Murray Bridge and Adelaide were reflected in book form under the title From Black to White in South Australia (1951). Research followed from 1944 to 1946 in the Northern Territory on the Daly River . From 1946 onwards, her research on the Aborigines of Arnhem Land was supported by the Australian National Research Council , and this subject occupied her until around 1979. From 1951 to 1953, field research took place in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea . From 1953 to 1955 the Berndts stayed in London at the London School of Economics and Political Science .

In 1976 they founded the Berndt Museum of Anthropology in Perth , originally as the Anthropology Research Museum, the basis of which was the objects and photographs collected during their working life.

Awards

Fonts (selection)

Numerous writings were published jointly by Ronald and Catherine Berndt, including the titles:

  • Changing ceremonies in Northern Australia. 1950.
  • From Black to White in South Australia. 1951.
  • The First Australians. Ure Smith, Sydney, New South Wales, 1952. (Multiple editions).
  • End of an Era. Aboriginal Labor in the Northern Territory. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Affairs, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 1954. (Multiple editions).
  • Arnhem Land. Its history and its people. Cheshire Publishing, Melbourne, Victoria, 1954.
  • Aboriginal in Australian Society. Pitman, Melbourne, Victoria, 1985.
  • The world that was. The Yaraldi of the Murray River and the lakes, South Australia. Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, 1993, ISBN 0-522-84427-8 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Berndt, Ronald Murray (1916–1990). In: Australian Dictionary of Biography . Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  2. ↑ Ann Standish: Berndt, Catherine (1918-1994). In: The Encyclopedia of Women & Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia . Retrieved February 3, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Berndt, Catherine Helen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Webb, Catherine Helen; Berndt, Catherine H .; Berndt, Catherine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian Aboriginal ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Auckland , New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1994
Place of death Perth , Australia