Catherine Helen Berndt, ''née'' Webb (8 May 1918 – 12 May 1994), born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, was an Australian

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

known for her research in Australia and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. She was awarded in 1950 the Percy Smith Medal from the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, New Zealand and in 1980 she received a children's book award and medal for her book, ''Land of the Rainbow Snake'', a collection of stories from Western

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

Biography

Berndt published valuable monographs on

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

, including ''Women's Changing ceremonies in Northern Australia'' (1950). She authored over 36 major publications about women's social and religious life in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, plus a dozen co-authored publications with others. One of Berndt’s best known collaborators from the aboriginal communities was the Maung woman

Mondalmi Mondalmi (born c. 1910; died 23 October 1969) was an Aboriginal activist and cultural informant from Australia. Biography Mondalmi was born around 1910 in Wighu, South Goulburn Island, Western Arnhem Land (although her brother, in his autobio ...

, who worked with her. For her work, Berndt was elected an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Anthropological Institute The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...

in London. She was also the 7th woman elected as a Fellow in the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...

. With her husband

Ronald Berndt Ronald Murray Berndt (14 July 1916 – 2 May 1990) was an Australian social anthropologist who, in 1963, became the inaugural professor of anthropology at the University of Western Australia. He and his wife Catherine Berndt maintained a close ...

, C. Berndt collected Indigenous art works of Australia and Asia. The collection is conserved in the

Berndt Museum of Anthropology The Berndt Museum of Anthropology is an anthropological museum in Perth, Western Australia, founded in by Ronald Berndt and Catherine Berndt. The Berndt Museum is currently located with the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery on the western side of th ...

, founded by the couple in 1976 (

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

). She died in 1994.

Selected works

* (co-author) *''Arnhem Land: Its history and its people'' (co-author) * (about the

Wawalag The Wawalag sisters, also written as Wauwaluk Wawilak Waggilak, Wagilag, or Wawalik, are ancestral creator beings whose story is part of "the most widespread" sacred rituals in the Aboriginal Australian culture, Aboriginal culture from Arnhem L ...

myth)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berndt, Catherine 1918 births 1994 deaths Australian anthropologists Australian women anthropologists Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia 20th-century anthropologists New Zealand emigrants to Australia