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In 1974, François Giner had his first taste of northern Australia, not realising that it would be the start of a 36-year sojourn and adventure, far from his hometown of Lodève, in southern France.
As a teenager, Giner had set out to discover new horizons and people. He encountered Tuaregs and Peuhls in the Sahara Desert, and Momoktobecs in the New Hebrides. Now he headed across Australia to discover its indigenous heart.
“As beautiful as Australia was, for me it remained silent without the voice of its original inhabitants. I knew nothing of them, I had read nothing about them, I was not an ethnologist, and had no preconceived ideas to distort my perception of Aboriginal culture. I wanted to live beside them and understand their values – especially those that we ourselves have lost.”
With the blessing of the local Aboriginal community, he established Bodeidei Camp, to receive visitors interested in experiencing something of indigenous culture and country, or others wanting to hunt buffalo. Heart of Arnhem Land shares Giner’s experiences of living and working in this remote region.
Heart of Arnhem Land is a personal journey of discovery and self-discovery, but above all it is a cry for a beloved community whose culture lies on the edge of extinction. Giner’s memoir aims to remind people that those swaying black shadows with haggard eyes crossing streets in Katherine, Alice Springs or Darwin, were once free men, who have been deprived of their bearings and their dreams.
En Terre Aborigène has sold over 15,000 copies in France alone, now this best-selling book is published in English for the first time.
