Representing the Dingo: An Examination of Dingo-Human Encounters in Australian Cultural and Environmental Heritage

Abstract

The aim of my thesis is to document the cultural history and heritage of the ancient Australian canine, the dingo. An analysis of the complex symbiotic relationship between the dingo and human society for over 4,600 years reveals an animal uniquely positioned as both a human companion and top-order predator - fulfilling important ecosystem services across the Australian mainland, complementary to their role in traditional Aboriginal society. The thesis collates ethnographic, scientific and social representations of the dingo, and interrogates the legacy of 200 years of dingo control across the south-eastern third of the continent. I use a writing technique called a prosopography to explore areas of knowledge about dingoes, and the culture and heritage surrounding them. This involves recording human-animal encounters in the form of the stories of individual animals within a contextual history, revealing themes, patterns, inconsistencies and anomalies in dingo-human history. The listing of the species as endangered on the IUCN Red List (2004) and as a threatened species in the State of Victoria (2008) underscores the importance of critical analysis, revealing processes underlying the construction and dissemination of dingo knowledge that reinforce their cultural and physical marginalization. The study reveals a complex human-dingo history, and strives to present this information in a comprehensible format as a basis for discussion - allowing new insights into the unique history of the dingo's survival at the heart of traditional Aboriginal society and at the limits and borderlands of contemporary environmental management.