Welcome to the electronic edition of Yuendumu. The book opens with the bookmark panel and you will see the contents page. Click on this anytime to return to the contents. You can also add your own bookmarks. Each chapter heading in the contents table is clickable and will take you direct to the chapter. Return using the contents link in the bookmarks. The whole document is fully searchable. Enjoy. The authors wish to advise people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, that this book contains names and images of persons who are now deceased. We wish to thank the following Warlpiri people whose photographs appear in the book. We have been unable to find all Warlpiri names listed at this stage. Tilo Nangala, Rosie Nangala Fleming, Nell Nangala, Lydia Nangala Samson, Jimmy Jungarrayi Spencer, Jillie Nakamarra Spencer, Candy Napaljarri, Judy Nampijinpa Granites, Wikija Nampijinpa, Portia Napanangka, Nigel Japangardi, Renee Napangardi Marshall, Lynette Nampijinpa Daniels, Johnny Wayne Jungarrayi, Janey Napanangka Langdon, Gracey Napangardi, Michael Nelson Jakamarra, Jeannine Nungarrayi Egan, Anthony Jampijinpa Egan, Raelene Napurrurla Kennedy, Oscar Jungarrayi Wayne, Gavin Japaljarri Spencer, Alice Napanangka Granites, Chrissy Nampijinpa Fry, Bess Nungarrayi France, Clarrise Nampijinpa Fry, Violet Nampijinpa Brown, Harry Jakamarra Nelson, Jillie Nakamarra Spencer, Cindy Napaljarri, Wikija Nampijinpa, Renne Napangardi Marshall and Benjamin Japangadi. If you are able to identify any of the un-identified people, please contact us at [email protected] Yuendumu legacy of a longitudinal growth study in Central Australia by Tasman Brown Grant C Townsend Sandra K Pinkerton James R Rogers Published in Adelaide by University of Adelaide Press Barr Smith Library The University of Adelaide South Australia 5005 [email protected] www.adelaide.edu.au/press The University of Adelaide Press publishes externally refereed scholarly books by staff of the University of Adelaide. It aims to maximise the accessibility to its best research by publishing works through the internet as free downloads and as high quality printed volumes on demand. Electronic Index: this book is available from the website as a down-loadable PDF with fully searchable text. Please use the electronic version to serve as the index. © 2011 The Authors This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission. Address all inquiries to the Director at the above address. For the full Cataloguing-in-Publication data please contact National Library of Australia: [email protected] ISBN (electronic) 978-0-9870730-0-6 ISBN (paperback) 978-0-9807230-9-0 Book design: Céline Lawrence / John Emerson / Midland Typesetters Cover design: Emma Spoehr. Photograph supplied by the authors. Paperback printed by Griffin Press, South Australia Foreword During my orthodontic training in the 1960s, like most orthodontists in that era, I was quite interested in Raymond Begg’s presentation of the large dental arches and well-aligned teeth that are characteristic of Australian Aborigines. As it became possible to measure tongue and lip pressures against the teeth and relate them to the etiology of malocclusion, I thought it would be of considerable interest to evaluate intra-oral pressures in Australian Aboriginal people. That led to initial contact with Tas Brown and Murray Barrett at the University of Adelaide, and with their help I obtained a Fulbright fellowship to carry out such a study while on sabbatical leave from the University of Kentucky. With three children in tow, my wife and I travelled by ship to Sydney, and I cemented my reputation as an eccentric by continuing to Adelaide by train. When I got off the train wearing cowboy boots, I’m sure I was the strangest looking specimen of visiting professor the welcoming group had ever seen. At that point the regular collection of growth data at Yuendumu was coming to an end, and a number of related studies already had been carried out there. With Murray Barrett as the expedition leader and David Parker and Leslie Reynolds to help, we sent my research equipment up to Alice Springs via train, flew up, rented a Land Rover, loaded it up and set out down the dirt track to Yuendumu. Sitting in what would have been the driver’s seat in the US, I was asking myself how I had gotten into this mess long before we arrived. But it turned out very well. The fancy pressure recording equipment worked, Tom and Pat Fleming’s hospitality was outstanding, the children at Yuendumu were very helpful (and appreciative of the Polaroid photos of themselves they got as a reward), and the data actually did shed some light on the equilibrium that determines tooth positions. v My experience was typical, not at all unique. As this book shows, a number of visitors with a research agenda were hosted at Yuendumu through the years, adding their contributions to the continuing effort of faculty at The University of Adelaide. This book is a valuable record of what was done there during the project. It pulls together the varied studies and puts them in perspective in a way that is likely to lead to further progress in understanding both the development of the dentition and facial/bodily development more generally. I’m pleased to have been a small part of the project, and delighted to have the opportunity to introduce the book. William R. Proffit Kenan Professor, Orthodontics University of North Carolina School of Dentistry vi Preface This volume is about a special research project in Central Australia, the scientists from The University of Adelaide who were involved for many years and the Aboriginal children and adults who participated in the study. The project is unique for several reasons. Primarily, it concerned the dentitions and general growth of children from Yuendumu in the Northern Territory who researchers observed annually between 1951 and 1971. In contrast to a cross-sectional design, the value of longitudinal studies lies in a clearer insight into the range of variation in growth patterns between individuals and the extent of variations within the same individual over time. Although many longitudinal studies of modern European populations have been undertaken, there have been few opportunities for recording craniofacial and dental development in other groups. Moreover, such studies are extremely rare when the subjects are indigenous children growing up in an isolated community with limited but increasing contact with European society and customs. Although the field trips ceased in 1971, when Yuendumu was a vastly different community than it is today, ongoing data analysis continues to provide information of relevance, as it will in the future. Records collected over the 20 years included measurements of the growing children, casts of their dentitions, radiographs and family data, all of which have provided an invaluable source of information about the Yuendumu population, their dental conditions and the growth patterns of the children. During this time 1717 sets of dental casts representing 446 subjects and serial records for 288 subjects were obtained. Many researchers have accessed this material - the principal investigators, postgraduate students and many scholars from overseas. To date, over 250 scientific vii publications have resulted from the Yuendumu project. In addition to observing dental development and craniofacial growth, the investigators were able to witness and record many of the customs and crafts of the Yuendumu people. The first two chapters of this book are historical. They outline the foundations of the Yuendumu project with emphasis on the pioneer dental anthropologists who were active in South Australia during the early years of the 20th century. They also detail the events and personalities leading to the establishment of Yuendumu in 1946 and the beginning of the dental study in 1951. Chapters 3 and 4 deal with the field trips, the logistics entailed in prosecuting a long-term research project in the centre of Australia, and the methodology developed. Two further chapters summarise many of the outcomes of the project with emphasis on dental morphology, dental development, dental occlusion and craniofacial growth. A biographical chapter follows describing the team members, their relationship with the Warlbiri people and some of the visiting researchers who have worked at Yuendumu or in our Adelaide laboratory. Chapter 8 describes more recent initiatives in genetics, craniofacial imaging and tooth wear that developed from the methodology used in the Yuendumu studies. This chapter also considers the present health, both oral and general, of the Yuendumu Aboriginal people and looks at the benefits of the research as well as the future of human longitudinal growth studies in general. Finally, a complete bibliography of publications and theses arising from the research is included, together with an Appendix that contains a list of overseas visitors in the Yuendumu study, new growth tables for Yuendumu children with known birthdates and a selection of photographs of Yuendumu and its people. Tasman Brown Grant C Townsend Sandra K Pinkerton James R Rogers The University of Adelaide viii Dedication This book is dedicated to Thomas Draper Campbell and