Book excerpt: Interpretive account of childs funeral at Gurkawuy outstation, Trial Bay; Yolngu social organisation (particularly clan formation and marriage); contact history; outline of religious beliefs including relationship to ancestors, land, law role of songs, dances and painting; attitudes to death and mourning; concept of souls; mortuary practices (including change); names of participants; detailed account of the ceremony; meaning of ritual episodes; sociological analysis of relationships between participants; choice and decision in ceremony construction; Afterword by Ian Dunlop separately annotated.