American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The X-ray art style direction was documented by the Arnhem Land Expedition

The American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land (AASEAL), also known as the Arnhem Land Expedition , was carried out by a team of American and Australian scientists in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory . Its aim was to examine and document the way of life of the Aborigines , their art , culture, ceremonies and the environment around them.

The ethnologist Charles Mountford initiated this expedition after he had made a successful lecture tour about the Aborigines in the USA from 1944 to 1945. The expedition, which was funded by the American National Geographic Society , Washington's Smithsonian Institute and the Australian government, was an expression of the alliance between the USA and Australia in World War II , which was to be further strengthened politically under the impact of the beginning Cold War . The expedition was sponsored by Gilbert Grosvenor , President of the American National Geographic Society, Arthur Calwell , Australia's Secretary of State for Information, and Alexander Wetmore , Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

The expedition began in February 1948 and lasted eight months. Because of the duration and the extensive use of scientific staff, this expedition was the largest that has ever taken place in Arnhem Land. In Australia it is also often called "the last of big expedition" or "friendly mission".

Expedition personnel

The expedition was originally supposed to take place in 1947, but the Smithsonian Institution had to overcome shortages as it had to deploy personnel to investigate the effects of US nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll .

The expedition crew consisted of 17 people, including twelve Australians and five Americans. The expedition leader was Charles Mountford, curator for ethnology at the South Australian Museum in South Australia and photographer, Australia , who was also responsible for the film documentation during the expedition. His deputy was Frank M. Setzler , chief curator for anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution in the USA .

The following scientists were also involved in the expedition, Herbert G. Deignan , ornithologist , David H. Johnson , mammalologist , Robert Rush Miller , ichthyologist , Raymond L. Specht , botanist , Frederick D. McCarthy and Keith Corden , both anthropologists. The latter also worked as a cook until August 12, 1948 and then John E. Bray as an anthropologist and cook.

Harrison H. Walker was a photographer and journalist for the National Geographic Society of Washington, DC , Bessie I. Mountford, the wife of Charles Mountford, was involved as secretary, William E. Harney as organizer and Peter Bassett-Smith as cameraman.

From the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra the health and diet of the indigenous population, the physician Brian Billington, the nutritionist had to investigate Margaret McArthur and biochemist Kelvin Hodges turned off.

camp

Red pog.svg camp

The camps of the expedition Groote Eylandt , Yirrkala and Oenpelli were in areas that were then far removed from civilization. Nature had remained largely untouched and the Aborigines living there had supraregional relationships with eastern Indonesia since the 15th century. As a result, Aboriginal lifestyle and culture had been relatively little influenced by European culture. Mountford had chosen the locations.

The camps were set up in the immediate vicinity of Aboriginal missionary sites established under the Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910 . Milingimbi was built in 1923 by the Methodist Overseas Mission for the Gupapuyngu and Djambarpuynga Aborigines and the station at Umbakumba (Ayangkulyumuda) near Groote Eylandt for the Anindilyakwa . In 1925 the Church Mission Society set up a mission station for the Kunwinjku and their neighbors at Oenpelli. Ten years later this organization established a station at Yirrkala for the Yolngu .

Groote Eylandt

Aboriginal rock art on Chasm Island

The equipment, food and utensils with a total weight of 47 tons were shipped with the transport ship Phoenix from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria . The arrival of the ship, on which the expedition members David Johnson, Herbert Deignan and Harrison Walker were, was delayed because it ran aground on a reef at Boucaut Bay and had to be made afloat again. Due to the late arrival, the stay in the camp lasted seven weeks longer. The other crew members came to Groote Eylandt on an RAAF Catalina flying boat and had to wait for the Phoenix . The expedition members flown in by plane initially had problems because the equipment was missing, food was scarce, the weather was bad and their radio was defective.

The camp in which the expedition members worked from April 4 to July 8, 1948 was located near the Port Langdon Flying Boat Base from World War II and the Aboriginal mission station Umbakumba .

Another camp was on the Roper River, a river in a swampy area where Aborigines had long lived and fishing. In particular, their fishing techniques were documented.

The first camp on Groote Eylandt was set up there because of the important regional Aboriginal culture and the flora and fauna there. McCarthy documented 2,400 rock art motifs at the three main sites of Chasm Island, Angoroko and Junduruna. This extensive documentation allowed him to understand how the motifs changed over time. This method was new and trend-setting for all further field research into Aboriginal art .

Yirrkala

After 14 weeks the camp was relocated to Yirrkala, a place on the coast in eastern Arnhem Land. The settlement was built in 1934 by the Methodist Mission as an Aboriginal mission station.

The expedition team stayed for eight weeks in this landscape characterized by swamps and eucalyptus forests . The aboriginal culture existing there was influenced by the Macassar fishermen in the 18th and 19th centuries . The Makassans, who are native to southwest Sulawesi , had come to the Yirrkala area for the seasonal gathering of sea ​​cucumbers until the Australian government banned it in 1883.

The Aborigines of the Yolngu live in the area , whose art style, in contrast to the others in Arnhem Land, is characterized by a greater blaze of colors and the depiction of alien symbols. They are best known for their paintings on tree bark (English: bark ). In 1963, the Yolngu Bark petition gained political importance in Australia, as this protest note, which was painted on bark, claimed land rights for the Yolngu. It is on display today in the Australian Parliament in Canberra .

The Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Center , a museum, art and culture center, was founded in 1975 in Yirrkala .

Oenpelli

Mimi art style direction

The third camp was set up at Oenpelli in the west of the Van Diemen Gulf and was used for seven weeks. It was located at the Oenpelli Aboriginal mission station founded by Methodists in 1906. The area is characterized by different landscapes with different flora and fauna. It is shaped by freshwater lagoons and the floodplains of the Alligator Rivers to the west , which form habitats for numerous species of waterfowl and fish.

Not far from the Oenpelli mission station, where the Aborigines had to live and work in the western way, was a community of Aborigines who lived untouched by Fish Creek. McArthur and McCarthy observed and recorded the volume and quality of their diets, as well as the work done on it. The result showed that the diet was rich in protein and calcium and sufficient with a volume of 2 kg per head and day. The working time for obtaining food was 3 hours and 50 minutes for men and 3 hours and 44 minutes for women; therefore about 27 hours per week were required. Another Aboriginal community has been documented at Hemple Bay. Her daily time was 5 hours and 7 minutes for men and 5 hours and 9 minutes for women; about 36 hours per week in total. These statistics, carried out for the first time in the history of Australia, showed, although not comparable with today's standards, that the Aborigines were very well able to live and feed themselves independently without the stay in mission stations deemed necessary.

The researchers were able to document the art of the Aborigines in 300 caves in which the Aborigines took shelter and left rock carvings. The art styles that have been documented are called the X-ray and Mimi art styles . Today there is an exhibition center for local artists, the Injalak Arts Center .

rating

In the course of the expedition, 13,500 plants, 30,000 fish, 850 birds, 460 other animals, thousands of tools and weapons, hundreds of bark paintings and symbols were collected, and cave paintings were shown on photos. At the time, the expedition received worldwide attention through radio broadcasts, film screenings and publications. Today it is largely unknown. Viewed today, it is significant in terms of its place in the history of science, anthropology, and Aboriginal art.

The field research method used by Mountford was already controversial at the time. Adolphus Peter Elkin , Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sydney , preferred a different approach. He was of the opinion that anthropological studies on indigenous peoples are only effective and produce scientifically justifiable results if the researchers have lived together with the Aborigines for a long time and have mastered their language.

During the expedition, the researchers were supported by the indigenous population, porters and trackers. The composition with scientists from different scientific disciplines resulted in extensive documentation. In the course of the expedition there were numerous transport problems that also led to a dispute between Mountford and Seltzer in the camp near Oenpelli.

The Yolngu Aborigines were shocked by the depiction of their sacred sites, paintings on bark, and ceremonies in the films and photos, and felt their religious beliefs violated.

The collection of human bone remains by Seltzer, which was kept in the building of the Smithsonian Institution, is viewed critically today. In 2008 they were returned to the appropriate Aboriginal communities at the request of the Australian government.

Collections

Collections from this expedition are in the National Museum of Australia , Australian Museum , National Museum of Natural History , Smithsonian Institution (USA), Art Gallery of New South Wales , South Australian Museum , Art Gallery of South Australia , State Library of South Australia (literature collection ), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery , Art Gallery of Western Australia , Queensland Art Gallery, and National Gallery of Victoria .

Web links

further reading

The following is the literature on which the Arnhem Land Expedition is the subject of and has been published by expedition participants or with your participation:

  • HG Deignan: Birds of the Arnhem Land Expedition . In: Rec. American-Australian Sci. Expedition to Arnhem Land. 4, pp. 345-425.
  • M. McArthur, BP Billington, KJ Hodges: Nutrition and health (1948) of Aborigines in settlements in Arnhem Land, northern Australia . In: Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition. 9 (3) 2000, pp. 164-213.
  • M. McArthur, F. McCarthy, R. Specht: Nutrition studies (1948) of nomadic Aborigines in Arnhem Land, northern Australia . In: Asia Pacific Journal of clinical nutrition. 9 (3) 2000, pp. 215-223.
  • F. McCArthy, FM Setzler: The Archeology of Arnhem Land . In: Charles P. Mountford (1960): Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land. Vol. 2: Anthropology and Nutrition. OCLC 769973193 , pp. 215-295.
  • CP Mountford (Ed.): Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land.
    • Vol. 1: Art, Myth and Symbolism. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 1956.
    • Vol. 2: Anthropology and Nutrition. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 1960.
    • Vol. 3: Botany and Plant Ecology. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 1958.
  • R. Specht (Ed.): Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land. Vol. 4: Zoology. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 1964.
  • H. Walker: Cruise to Stone Age Arnhem Land . In: National Geographic. 96 (3) 1949, pp. 417-430.

A historical outline of the expedition is offered by:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Art Gallery NSW: Mountford Gifts. Work from the American-Australian Scientific expedition to Arnhem land 1948. in English, accessed January 19, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b epress.anu.edu.au : Martin Thomas: 1. Expedition as Time Capsule: Introducing the American – Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land , in English, accessed on January 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ a b c samemory.sa.gov.au : Arnhem Land, 1948, Expedition , in English, accessed on January 10, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b c nma.gov.au : The 1948 expedition. Barks, Birds & Billabongs: Exploring the Legacy of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. November 16-20, 2009 , in English, accessed January 8, 2013.
  5. ^ Sally K. May: Collecting cultures: myth, politics, and collaboration in the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition . Altamira Press, Plymouth 2010, ISBN 978-0-7591-0598-0 , p. 44 online on Gogglebooks
  6. ^ A b Charles P. Mountford: The Story of the Expedition. 1956, in English, accessed on January 8, 2013 Available online (PDF file; 4.5 MB)
  7. ↑ samemory.sa.gov.au : Arnhem Land - 1948, Groote Eylandt , in English, accessed January 8, 2013.
  8. ^ Martin Thomas, Margo Neale: Exploring the Legacy of the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition. Australian National University, Griffin Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-921666-44-5 , pp. 135-136. online on googlebooks
  9. ↑ a b samemory.sa.gov.au : Arnhem Land, 1948, Yirrkala , in English, accessed January 8, 2013.
  10. ^ Martin Thomas, Margo Neale: Exploring the Legacy of the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition. Australian National University, Griffin Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-921666-44-5 , pp. 118-119. online on googlebooks
  11. ↑ samemory.sa.gov.au : Arnhem Land - 1948, Oenpelli , in English, accessed January 8, 2013.
  12. ↑ injalak.com : About Injalak Arts Center , in English, accessed January 18, 2013.
  13. ↑ epress.anu.edu.au : Ian S. McIntosh: 17. Missing the Revolution! Negotiating disclosure on the pre-Macassans (Bayini) in North-East Arnhem Land . In: Martin Thomas, Margo Neale: Exploring the Legacy of the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition . Australian National University, Griffin Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-921666-44-5 , in English, accessed January 30, 2013