Phyllis Kaberry examines the fullness of aboriginal women's lives, which has sometimes been classified as restricted and uninvolved with religious practice. She portrays her in a realistic light, as a complex social personality with her own duties, problems, beliefs, rituals and points of view.

Providing remarkable insights into Australian Aboriginal society through the vantage point of women, Aboriginal Women illustrates the importance of the study of gender in anthropology. Phyllis Kaberry was the first anthropologist to examine and understand the fullness of aboriginal women's lives, which had hitherto been classified as restricted and uninvolved with religious practice. She portrayed the Aboriginal woman in a realistic light, as a complex social personality with her own prerogatives, duties, problems, beliefs, rituals and points of view. In her new preface, Sandy Toussaint looks at how Aboriginal Women came to be written, the book's original context and its influence on the study of gender in anthropology.

Chapter 1 Wielders of the Digging-Stick
Chapter 2 The Social and Spiritual Background of the Aboriginal Child
Chapter 3 Childhood
Chapter 4 On the Threshold of Marriage
Chapter 5 The Laws of Marriage and the Needs of the Individual
Chapter 6 Rights and Duties of Women in Marriage
Chapter 7 The Functions of Women in the Larger Social Groups
Chapter 8 The Spiritual Heritage of Aboriginal Woman
Chapter 9 Women's Ceremonies
Chapter 10 Women's Secret Corroborees
Chapter 11 Aboriginal Women - Sacred and Profane