Book reviews

P. L. Thomas (tr.). Hikayat Panglima Nikosa: The story of Panglima Nikosa, with an introduction and notes by R. H. W. Reece and P. L. Thomas. v, 45, 29 pp. Sarawak: Persatuan Kesusaster‐an Sarawak, [^C1983].

Russell Jones (ed. and tr.). Hikayat Sultan Ibrahim: the short version of the Malay text. [v], 78 pp. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1983. (Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde. Bibliotheca Indonesica, 24.) Guilders 20.     

THE NEED FOR PROGRAM AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

This article makes the case for evaluation specific to local government. The article examines the impact of Proposition 13 in California with an eye toward the usefulness of program and performance evaluation. In an era of resource scarcity there is a need for enhanced performance. Performance evaluation is one way for local government administrators to enhance their programs and improve performance.     

Truth-Telling in the Wake of European Contact: Historical Investigation of Aboriginal Skeletal Remains from Normanton

This study heeds the call for a ‘truth-telling’ of injustices carried out on Aboriginal communities during the colonial acquisition of Australia as stated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart 2017. Here, we discuss the lives of eight Indigenous people buried in Normanton in north-west Queensland (QLD) who died and had their remains collected in the late 1890s as scientific specimens. The remains were later repatriated to the community before being further exposed by erosion in 2015. With the consent and participation of local traditional owners—the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj people—this assessment utilised bioarchaeological, historical and anthropological methodologies to gain a better understanding of Indigenous life and health on the Australian colonial frontier. Gkuthaarn and Kukatj people were engaged throughout the investigation, and statements throughout this piece made by them illustrate how bioarchaeology can inform on past injustices in Australia’s history, bringing them into the public consciousness and aiding the transition to reconciliation through ‘truth-telling’.