Dear Maan Barua,

You are of course more than welcome to publish it here on the ERSG
website but if you want to find out more about submitting it to the
Journal of Ethnobiology you can go to the journal's homepage (at the
same site as the Society of Ethnobiology, at:
http://ethnobiology.org/journal/.

I am very interested in making contact with ethnobiologists and
ethnoornithologists in India - I am aware that there is a wealth of
topics to explore there, particularly due to the sheer numbers of
people and the diversity of languages and cultures.
Personally I'd welcome any contacts for any societies, university
faculties or individual researchers that you might be able to forward
to me or the ERSG.

I hope this helps - please don't hesitate to write again if you have
any further queries.

Robert Gosford
ERSG moderator

--- In Ethnoornithology@..., "Maan Barua"
<maanbarua@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Robert,
>
> I have done some extensive work on the name birds in the Assamese
language.
> What would be a good journal to publish this work in? Is there a
Journal
> for Ethnoornithology?
>
> Maan
>
>
> Maan Barua
> Assam, India
>
>
> On 8/1/07, Robert Gosford <robertgosford@...> wrote:
> >
> > Dear all,
> >
> > Chris Healey has forwarded his review of "Some Indigenous Names for
> > Australian Birds" published by Birds Australia as Report No. 20.
> > by John M. Peter, 2006. The review has been published in the current
> > issue of the Journal of Ethnobiology
> > (http://www.ethnobiology.org/journal/).
> >
> > With the kind permission of Cissy Fowler, the Review Editor of the
> > Journal of Ethnobiology I reproduce Chris' review here:
> >
> > Some Indigenous Names for Australian Birds. Birds Australia Report
No. 20.
> > John M. Peter. 2006. Birds Australia, Hawthorn East. Pp. 92. AU$20.00.
> > ISBN
> > 1329-7945.
> >
> > Journal of Ethnobiology Vol 27 No 1, pp. 133-135.
> >
> > Birds Australia is the premier ornithological organization in
> > Australia, dedicated to the scientific study of birds and their
> > conservation. This report is likely to attract the notice of
> > ethnobiologists, linguists, anthropologists and indigenous studies
> > specialists largely because of the promise of the title, and thus
> > warrants bringing to the attention of the readership of this journal.
> > Between 1990 and 2006 Birds Australia in association with Oxford
> > University Press (Melbourne) published the seven-volume Handbook of
> > Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB). The series
> > condenses the state of scientific knowledge of the birds of the HANZAB
> > region, presented in systematic (taxonomic) order, and has won wide
> > critical acclaim in ornithological circles.
> > Each volume (with the exception of volume 3, Snipe to Pigeons)
> > includes appendices listing indigenous (Australian Aboriginal and New
> > Zealand Maori) names for bird species, where known. The present report
> > conveniently brings together the HANZAB material on Australian
> > Aboriginal names with some minor emendations and, importantly,
> > supplies indigenous names for the species covered in volume 3, notably
> > the bio-culturally important Columbiformes (pigeons and doves).
> > The present report includes a brief six-page introduction with a very
> > basic overview of Aboriginal languages of Australia, the role of birds
> > in Aboriginal subsistence and culture, and the role played by
> > Aboriginal people in the development of scientific ornithology in
> > Australia. The bulk of the report is taken up by two sections: a
> > systematic list of Australian bird species, with `corresponding'
> > Aboriginal names; and a list of the regions from which Aboriginal
> > names were collected.
> > In the systematic list, Aboriginal names are arranged in alphabetical
> > order. A superscript number appended to each name refers to one or
> > more of the almost 50 regions listed. These are arranged by state,
> > subdivided into the numbered regions loosely identifying
> > bio-geographic areas, such as the southeast Gulf of Carpentaria and
> > Cape York Peninsula (Queensland), the Great Victoria Desert
> > (South Australia) and East Gippsland (Victoria). There are also
> > `unknown' or `unspecified' localities listed for several states. Under
> > each region is a list of from one to 15 references from which
> > Aboriginal names were derived. A bibliography of sources completes the
> > report.
> > Aboriginal names are drawn exclusively from published sources spanning
> > the period from the latter half of the 19th Century to 2004. Peter
> > notes that only a selection of Aboriginal bird names are included, but
> > fails to clarify the basis of selection. Many of the names chosen
> > reflect the inadequate Anglo-centric orthography of naive recorders,
> > some of questionable reliability. About two thirds of sources are from
> > the ornithological literature, perhaps reflecting Peter's background.
> > Most of the rest is from a limited range of publications in
linguistics.
> > Although ethnobiology is an underdeveloped field in Australia, there
> > is a small but growing body of relevant literature, none of which is
> > cited.
> > There is an implicit assumption that the Aboriginal names are
> > equivalent to Linnaean named categories. While ethnobiologists are
> > wary of such assumptions, the non-specialist user of the report may
> > not be.
> > To my mind, the greatest problem with this report is that the
> > indigenous languages from which the listed names are drawn are not
> > identified. In some cases the relevant languages are identified in the
> > sources consulted, but in many cases they are not and the cultural
> > contexts of Aboriginal names remain obscure.
> > Anyone using this report with a view to identifying names for
> > particular species in particular Aboriginal languages will be sorely
> > frustrated. For example, there are 28 Aboriginal names listed for the
> > Magpie Goose of northern and northeastern Australia. Seven of these
> > names bear the superscript code number 44, which refers to Eastern
> > Arnhem Land, southwestern Gulf of Carpentaria and
> > Groote Eylandt. There are ten published sources listed for this region
> > (though several key linguistic and ethnographic sources are omitted).
> > Which of the several languages in this area are represented by the
> > seven names can only be discovered by examining all ten references. In
> > short, without access to the original sources in specialist libraries,
> > this report is of questionable usefulness.
> > Although Peter gives no indication of the purpose of compiling this
> > report, a compendium of this sort is potentially of value to varied
> > users—not least
> > ornithologists, ethnobiologists and indigenous Australians. The report
> > may be of interest to those seeking a glimpse of the variety of
> > Aboriginal names for birds.
> > Regrettably, the approach adopted falls well short of any practical
> > utility the report might serve as an entree into a fascinating area of
> > study. Hopefully, anyone else contemplating a similar exercise for
> > other parts of the world may avoid the same pitfalls.
> >
> > Chris Healey
> > Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
> > Australian National University
> > Canberra
> > and
> > School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics
> > Monash University
> > Melbourne, Australia
> >
> >
> >
>