Summary

In “N’goola” by Katharine Susannah Prichard, we meet Mary who is a half-caste, meaning half-Aboriginal. When returning home from work, she encounters an old Aboriginal man who is looking for a woman named N’goola. Mary tells him she does not know anyone by that name. 

Mary is married to a half-Aboriginal man named Ted, and the two have a son together. Ted often scolds Mary for trying to lead her life like a white woman by keeping herself and the house clean, like she was taught in missionary school. The two live in an improvised shack in a poor Aboriginal settlement. Mary owns the land, though, which she is very proud of. She plans to build a small house there. 

After finishing her chores, Mary thinks about the old Aboriginal man and the name N’goola, which sounds familiar. She also notices that the old man has made a fire on the hill near the settlement. He is singing Aboriginal ...