Ernabella Mission

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The Ernabella Mission was a mission station for Aborigines in the Pitjantjatjara area in central Australia in South Australia from 1937 to 1974 . In addition to the long-term goal of the Aborigines to Christianize , it was the Presbyterian missionaries all about to get Aboriginal culture, to provide them with a habitat and medical assistance as well as to give them a slow adaptation to the Western way of life.

Today Ernabella is one of the most positive examples of missionary work in Australia, along with Hermannsburg .

founding

The driving force was the Scottish doctor Charles Duguid , who lived in Australia and campaigned for the interests of the Aborigines. He had been roused by a massacre of Aborigines in Alice Springs , the Coniston massacre in August 1928, in which at least 31 Aborigines were killed, had obtained extensive information on the local living conditions of the Aborigines and learned how Aborigines had penetrated white ranchers had their land taken away. In the late 1920s in particular, Western Desert Aborigines had returned to the more fertile areas of the ranchers due to a year-long drought, which led to confrontations.

His concept differed from other missions, in particular the United Aboriginal Mission , in that he deliberately distinguished himself from the previously prevailing authoritarian style, which aimed to assimilate Aborigines as quickly as possible:

“… The best of their own culture must be preserved. But when they see and experience what the best of the new civilization brings them, they will desire it. We have to be satisfied to wait until then. "

- Charles Duguid

Its original goal was to establish a medical mission; however, Harry Taylor was called a clerical missionary.

everyday life

Sheep were kept on the mission's premises, initially around 1000 km 2 and later 5000 km 2 ; Aborigines - who call themselves Anangu in this area - were hired as sheep keepers, clippers and fence builders. They were paid a salary, leaving Ernabella untouched by events like the Cummeragunja Walk-off , an uprising by Aborigines.

Families and clans who settled on the site were allowed to live together in camps; the children were not separated from their parents in dormitories, as was customary in other mission stations.

Instead of making them dependent on food deliveries from the station, they were encouraged to continue hunting and gathering food. Except for the sick, children and old people, the rule “no work, no tucker” (no work, no food) applied. It was expected that everyone who received nourishment from the mission would also attend the services. Traditional ceremonies such as the corroboree were still allowed, except on Sundays.

According to their tradition, people were allowed, should even, remain undressed: Duguid believed that it gave people more self-respect than living in rags made from donated clothes; on the other hand, he saw medicinal advantages in it, since he saw a breeding ground for European diseases in clothes that could only rarely be washed in the desert due to lack of water. In the late 1940s, clothing began to catch on anyway.

All white members of the mission had to learn the Australian language Pitjantjatjara .

health

Even if the first missionary was a cleric, he brought with him a basic medical education. He was very successful in curing the widespread and, in the early stages, mainly troublesome yaws , so that Aborigines traveled from far and wide to seek treatment.

According to a report from 1943, the food situation was considered to be critical; the aborigines were malnourished. Duguid saw the causes in a persistent drought, which had increased the number of those seeking help, as well as in the low fat reserves that can be built up in the body from food from the desert. The rations were increased; the rule “no work, no tucker” was retained. While Aborigines do not normally “waste” food on the sick in times of need, the missionaries persisted in feeding them until they recover.

In 1948 and 1956 Ernabella was hit by measles epidemics; in 1948 about a quarter of the 200 indigenous inhabitants died; In 1956, 27 children died.

school

A school was founded in 1940. In contrast to all other mission schools, teaching was not in English, but in Pitjantjatjara in the first few years . English was taught as a foreign language from 1944. During the year a total of around 200 children attended school; but since they still lived nomadically with their families at times, there were never more than 80 children in school at the same time. There were long school holidays in summer and winter to allow families to travel to their traditional country for ceremonies. Until 1959 there was only one trained teacher preparing the material that his assistants, Anangus , used to teach. One of these teachers, Ronald Trudinger, published the first work on the Pitjantjatjara language in 1943.

Culture

The Aboriginal art and crafts of the Aborigines were systematically promoted in 1948, was hired as an art teacher. Ernabella's wives were successful in the 1970s with batiks overlaid with a design called a walka . Work by Pantjiti McKenzie of Ernabella Arts Inc. from the Pukatja Community has been exhibited by the new State Library Spence Wing of South Africa. Three of her works were awarded the highest design quality.

A children's choir was founded in the 1940s, among other things to support learning the English language. The choir has performed nationally and internationally since its early years.

Results

The first baptism took place in 1952, the first church marriage in 1968. In 1978 the translation of the New Testament was published in Pitjantjatjara under the title tjukurpa jesuku (German: Jesus' dream time). The traditional culture and important ceremonies such as initiation have largely been preserved to this day.

The mission was handed over to the traditional owners of the land in 1974; the place is now called Pukatja and is located in the local administrative area Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, founded in 1981 .

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Richard Broome, page 121
  2. ^ Wilfrid Perst, page 152
  3. ^ A b c d e Rani Kerin "Natives Allowed to Remain Naked": An Unorthodox Approach to Medical Work at Ernabella Mission ( Memento January 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 13, 2009
  4. ^ Josephine Flood, 207
  5. ^ Caroline Dyer, pp. 107-109
  6. ↑ a b Heather Joan Bowe, page 3
  7. ↑ Susan McCulloch, pp. 95-97
  8. ↑ Ernabella Rugs project on slsa.sa.gov , accessed January 5, 2010
  9. ^ ABC Ernabella Children's Choir , accessed December 12, 2009

Coordinates: 26 ° 15 ′ 9.6 ″  S , 131 ° 8 ′ 1.8 ″  E