Editorial.(Editorial)

In this non-thematic issue of the journal there are major papers addressing a variety of topics: social anthropology and sociology, demography, the use of electronic media in recording and portrayal of Indigenous Australian knowledge and values, rock-markings and archaeology.

There is an account--both personal and analytical--by Morgan Brigg and Anke Tonnaer of their experience of the Mawul Rom in which Yolngu ceremonial leaders sought to draw outsiders into a new relationship and 'personally commit them to the tasks of cross-cultural advocacy and reconciliation'. They identify the paradox inherent in the endeavour, considering that 'emphasis on the cultural difference of ceremony risks increasing the very social distance which the ritual attempts to confront', and evaluating the likely success of Mawul Rom as an 'effective mechanism for cross-cultural conflict resolution and reconciliation'.

In 'Living in two camps', Howard Sercombe tells of his research into the adaptations that Goldfields community members make to manage simultaneously the customary and mainstream economy. He shows that it is possible for members to be deeply involved in their communities and cultures, as well as in the mainstream economy, in ways that are financially sustainable and that contribute significantly to their families' health and that of their communities.

Gaminiratne Wijesekere has a cautionary tale about the use of population census counts of Indigenous Australians, usefully identifying information on Indigenous births and deaths and internal migration estimates. He warns that managers 'need to be mindful of limitations of the data when using projections for monitoring, evaluating and measuring Indigenous programs'.

The three concluding papers have archaeological foci and cover much of the range of contemporary research in Australia, from interpretation of rock-markings to the importance of stone tools, and the value of ethnography in their interpretation. In their discussion of beeswax figures recorded in western Arnhem Land Robert Gunn and his Jawoyn Association colleague, Ray Wheat, interpret the representations as being of Namarrkon, the Lightning Man, a character well known throughout the region, and show that the figure is likely to have been represented in rock-shelters as both painted and beeswax forms for more than a millennium. Kim Akerman invokes ethnographic and historical materials to clarify aspects of a controversy about the production of Kimberley points. And Justin Shiner draws upon an analysis of the intensity of raw material utilisation to interpret occupational history from surface stone artefact assemblages recorded in central Victoria.

The selection fairly well represents the range of materials recently submitted to us for consideration as peer-reviewed articles. It doesn't cover the wide range of subject areas of interest to AIATSIS--these probably are better represented by the book reviews and in the listing of the successful grant applications in the News and Information section towards the end of the journal. Absent from among the published papers are contributions to as many fields of Indigenous knowledge and study as are represented here. Music and aspects of artistic representation have been covered in recent thematic issues. Articles relating to history and linguistics are infrequently submitted--perhaps there are sufficient specialist journals otherwise available to carry these. But then, so are there archaeological journals and we continue to receive papers covering the various aspects of this discipline. Articles addressing aspects of Indigenous education are rare--despite the increasing debate of the importance of this area--but ...