The Three Waves Myth

Sir: Nugget Coombs’s portrayal of Australia before Western arrival (“The Three Waves Myth”, November 2018) as “a paradise dominated by the Aborigines, who were living in harmony with nature and one another”, is a glamorised and inaccurate picture that ignores the real situation that existed.

Anyone who has read The World of the First Australians by Ronald and Catherine Berndt or Two Sisters, the autographical story of two Aboriginal sisters growing up in the outback and eventually moving into Western civilisation, will have come to the obvious conclusion that until Western civilisation arrived, the Aborigines were living a subsistence existence that was dictated by the arid nature of the country and that dominated their lifestyle and prevented them from being able to developed lifestyles and technology that would advance their society. 

Many other societies that did not have to cope with restrictions like Australia’s were able to rise above subsistence level and develop technology and social structures that meant they could put their minds and energies into advancing from the hunter-gatherer society level. The Australian Aborigines did not have that opportunity.

Far from the Aborigines “dominating” the land, the reverse was true. The Australian landscape dominated their existence and without the developing knowledge and technologies available to other societies in less forbidding landscapes, they were trapped in a society that had not advanced much since Australia was cut off from the rest of the world.

Of course, they developed remarkable capabilities of surviving in even the most arid parts of this country, but even in the more productive areas, their lack of contact with advancing societies meant they had no opportunity to join in the massive changes that occurred in the world after their isolation began.

It is a cruel truth that this isolation meant that they would eventually be severely impacted by the arrival of developed societies, be it Eastern or Western. The net result would be the same.

Should the arriving society have said, “Oops, didn’t realise this was already occupied,” and departed? No, because inevitably some group would have stepped ashore and would see the development potential. Perhaps it was lucky that the “invaders” were English. History has shown that some other societies might have been far less tolerant and might simply have eradicated the then inhabitants.

Tony Caldersmith
via-mail

Trapped in Custom

Sir: David Gulpilil has been living his Venezuela (Letters, December 2018) every day of his life. He is limited by his ethnicity, hence suitable acting roles are sparse. He would have long periods with no work, indeed has lived through one period of ten years. This alone would eat into his capital and would cause concern with custom in his remote community. Even if there is no one from his community with an understanding of film-making or stage economics or how Gulpilil actually earns his money, they would still demand their custom be carried out by him, as he would likewise do for himself. 

This is a tricky situation for Gulpilil and can have serious consequences. I remember Elsa Chauvel telling me of attempts to punish Robert Tudawali (1929–1967) because he refused custom after the films Jedda (1955) and Dust in the Sun (1958). That custom has not changed.

Bryan Niland
via e-mail

The Proven and the Unproven

Sir: As a retired doctor I empathise with Anthony Daniels’s views on natural medicine (December 2018). It is also my experience that, with the decline in religion, certain groups (particularly middle-aged women, and particularly nurses) seem to find solace in nature, and no matter how bizarre the concepts (and when you consider examples such as iridology, reflexology and moxibustion, they are pretty bizarre), they acquire acolytes with blind faith in their efficacy.

Many societies have a history of natural medicine going back a thousand years or more, often with a spiritual input, such as Chinese medicine, Ayurveda and Kampo. Modern medicine developed with the industrial revolution and the ability to analyse and synthesise plant chemicals, which led to clinical trials to confirm effectiveness or otherwise.

We should remember that up to 50 per cent of modern medicines have natural origins, such as antibiotics, cholesterol-lowering medications, diabetes treatments, even the humble aspirin. Dr Daniels mentions cat’s nail (actually cat’s claw, or Uncaria tomentosa), a South American plant used for centuries to treat inflammation and arthritis; there is some limited laboratory evidence and small human trials to support its effectiveness.

Clinical trials are hugely expensive and drug companies are often reluctant to spend money when they may not be able to patent the outcome, but it does still happen. Currently I am using a new, proven effective skin-cancer treatment derived from milkweed (Euphorbia peplus).

The medical profession has always adopted the approach that, when a treatment is proven effective, it becomes orthodox rather than alternative. We should not be as dismissive of natural therapies as their supporters are of the orthodox.

Graham Pinn
via e-mail

A Misattributed Leonardo

Sir: While complimenting Quadrant on publishing Ian George’s interesting and clearly-written article on the visual arts—“Lofty Genius in Pink and Purple”  (November 2018)—I must take issue with his assertion that “the leading experts” on Leonardo da Vinci believe the painting Salvator Mundi to be genuinely by Leonardo. Acknowledged experts with whom I am regularly in touch believe nothing of the kind. For instance, Michael Daley of Artwatch has sent me twenty pages of appropriately illustrated text which pointedly disagree with Mr George’s assertion.

Giles Auty
Echo Point, NSW

How to Be Smarter

Sir: An advertisement on the internet is offering an IQ test of twenty questions. When it is completed, you are informed that you may get the result, plus a certificate, for just $19.99. I submit that anyone who pays doesn’t need the test. They will have established their IQ anyway.

It reminds me of an old Heckle and Jeckle cartoon where they are selling a book titled How to Get Smart. A customer buys it, complains that all the pages are blank, and is told, “See, chum, you’re getting smarter already!”

Hal G.P. Colebatch
Nedlands, WA