NGUKURR RELIGION. The Aboriginal township of Ngukurr is located on the remote Roper River in southeastern Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory. Its population, which in the 1970s fluctuated between 350 and 500, consists of the descendants of the Aboriginal tribes of the lower and middle Roper River and the adjacent coast, mainly the Alawa, Mara, Ngalagan, Ngandi, Nunggabuyu, and Wandarang. The people of Ngukurr still retain close spiritual and physical ties to their tribal land.

The Setting

The Arnhem Land region has an area of about ninety-five thousand square kilometers. It was set aside in 1931 by the Australian government as a reserve for the Aborigines and remained as such until 1977. Following the passage of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act of 1976, the ownership of Arnhem Land was transferred from the Australian government to various Aboriginal bodies.

Arnhem Land, and in particular southeastern Arnhem Land, is physically...