1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land
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1948 scientific research expedition to Arnhem Land in northern Australia
The American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land (also known as the Arnhem Land Expedition) remains one of the most significant, most ambitious and least understood expeditions.[1] Commenced in February 1948, it was one of the largest scientific expeditions to have taken place in Australia and was conducted by a team of Australian and American researchers and support staff.
A number of publications, including H. H. Finlayson’s The Red Centre: Man and Beast in the Heart of Australia (1935), and Walkabout travel and geographical magazine (1934–1974), revised Australians' concept of 'The Centre" from the picture presented in J. W. Gregory's The Dead Heart of Australia (1909).
Leader-to-be of the Arnhem Land Expedition, Charles P. Mountford and his wife Bessie travelled over four months from Ernabella to Uluru in 1940, with Lauri Sheard and skilled cameleer Tommy Dodd undertaking an extensive study of the art and mythology surrounding Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The results of this endeavour were showcased through photographic exhibitions and a prize-winning film created in 1940, which subsequently became the foundation for Mountford's first publication Brown Men and Red Sand (1948), and his 1945 lecture tour in the United States which paved the way for the establishment of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land.[2]
The American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, known as the 'last of the big expeditions,' was not primarily about terrestrial exploration but aimed to advance knowledge. It focused on studying the natural environment and Aboriginal inhabitants. Taking place after World War II, it symbolized transformations in Australia and globally. The expedition served diplomatic objectives by showcasing collaboration between the United States and Australia, enhancing their trans-Pacific relationship. The mission's public face hid negotiations that would shape this relationship for the 20th century. The expedition garnered domestic support due to Australia's pro-American sentiments after WWII, as the nation adjusted to post-war changes and Britain's reduced global influence. The subsequent signing of the ANZUS Treaty by Robert Menzies continued this collaborative trajectory.
A Bulletin article in 1956 noted that the scientists collected 13,500 plants, 30,000 fish, 850 birds, 460 animals, thousands of implements, amounting to twenty-five tons,[3] and photographed and filmed in colour and black-and-white and made tracings of cave-paintings from Chasm Island, Groote Eylandt and Oenpelli.[4] The Australian Broadcasting Commission promoted the Expedition in its ABC Weekly magazine by appealing to readers curiosity about "...a fish that looks exactly like a leaf, a multi-coloured praying mantis, intricate string games the aborigines play, a fungus used to cure wounds..."
In the wake of the expedition came volumes of scientific publications.[5][6][7][8] The legacy of the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition is vast, complex, and, at times, contentious.[1] Human remains collected by Setzler and later held by the Smithsonian Institution have since been repatriated to Gunbalanya.[9]
Mountford, Charles P.; American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land (1956). Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land (1sted.). Victoria: Melbourne University Press. OCLC604762407.
Mountford, Charles P.; Specht, Raymond L. (1960). Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. 2. Anthropology and Nutrition. Vol.2 (1sted.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Mountford, Charles P.; Specht, Raymond L. (1958). Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. 3, Botany And Plant Ecology (1sted.). Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press. OCLC223700975.
Mountford, Charles P.; Specht, Raymond L. (1964). Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land. 4, Zoology (1sted.). Parkville, Vic: Melbourne University Press. OCLC223700983.
1 2 3 May, Sally K. (2009). Collecting Cultures: Myth, Politics, and Collaboration in the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition. AltaMira Press. ISBN978-0759105980.
↑ Binney, H.B. (1 June 1949). "Arnhem Land Expedition". Walkabout. 15 (6): 8. Retrieved 16 August 2023– via Trove.
↑ "In Arnhem Land". The Bulletin. 77 (4003): 2. 31 October 1956 – via Trove.
↑ Mountford, Charles P.; American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land (1956). Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land (1sted.). Victoria: Melbourne University Press. OCLC604762407.
↑ Mountford, Charles P.; Specht, R. (1960). Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. 2. Anthropology and Nutrition. Vol.2 (1sted.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
↑ Mountford, Charles P.; Specht, R. (1958). Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. 3, Botany And Plant Ecology (1sted.). Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press. OCLC223700975.
↑ Mountford, Charles P.; Specht, R. (1964). Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land. 4, Zoology (1sted.). Parkville, Vic: Melbourne University Press. OCLC223700983.
May, Sally K. in press 2009. Collecting Indigenous Cultures: myth, politics and collaboration in the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition. California: Altamira.
May, Sally K. 2008 ‘The Art of Collecting: Charles Pearcy Mountford’. In Nicholas Peterson, Lindy Allen, and Louise Hamby, The Makers and Making of Indigenous Australian Museum Collections. Melbourne: Museum Victoria.
May, Sally K. with Donald Gumurdul, Jacob Manakgu, Gabriel Maralngurra and Wilfred Nawirridj. 2005. 'You Write it Down and Bring it Back… That's What We Want" - Revisiting the 1948 Removal of Human Remains from Gunbalanya (Oenpelli), Australia', in Smith, Claire & Wobst, H. Martin (eds). Indigenous Peoples and Archaeology. London: Routledge.
May, Sally K. 2005 ‘Collecting the ‘Last Frontier’’, in Hamby, Louise (ed). Twined Together. Melbourne: Museum Victoria.
May, Sally K, Jennifer McKinnon and Jason Raupp, 2009. ‘Boats on Bark: an analysis of Groote Eylandt bark paintings featuring Macassan praus from the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition’, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.
May, Sally K. 2003 'Colonial Collections of Portable Art and Intercultural Encounters in Aboriginal Australia', in Paul Faulstich, Sven Ouzman, and Paul S.C. Taçon (eds), Before Farming: the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers. California: Altamira. 1, 8, p.1-17.
May, Sally K. 2000. The Last Frontier? Acquiring the American-Australian Scientific Expedition Ethnographic Collection 1948, Unpublished B.A. (Honours) Thesis, Flinders University of South Australia.
Neale, Margo. 1993 'Charles Mountford and the 'Bastard Barks' A Gift from the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, 1948. In Lynne Seear & Julie Ewington, Brought to Light, Australian Art 1850 - 1965, From the Queensland Art Gallery Collection. Brisbane: Queensland Art Gallery.
Brittain, N. (1990). The South Australian Museum collection of Aboriginal bark paintings from Northern Australia. Unpublished Honors BA Thesis, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Calwell, A. (1978). Be just and fear not. Adelaide: Rigby Limited.
Clarke, A. (1998). Engendered fields: The language of the 1948 American-Australian expedition to Arnhem Land. In Redefining Archaeology, Feminist Perspectives. Canberra: North Australia Research Unit.
Florek, S. (1993). F. D. McCarthy’s string figures from Yirrkala: A museum perspective. Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 17, pp.117–24.
Johnson, D. H. (1955). The incredible kangaroo. National geographic, 108(4), 487–500.
Walker, H. (1949). Cruise to Stone Age Arnhem Land. National Geographic, 96(3), 417–30.
Jones, C. (1987). The toys of the American Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land ethnographic collection. Unpublished Diploma Thesis, University of Sydney, Sydney.
Lamshed, M. (1972). Monty: A biography of CP. Mountford. Adelaide: Rigby.
McArthur, M., Billington, B. P., and Hodges, K. J. (2000). Nutrition and health (1948) of Aborigines in settlements in Arnhem Land, northern Australia. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, 9(3), 164–213.
McArthur, M., McCarthy, F., and Specht, R. (2000). Nutrition studies (1948) of nomadic Aborigines in Arnhem Land, northern Australia. Asia Pacific Journal of clinical nutrition, 9(3), 215–23.
Simpson, C. (1951). Adam in Ochre: Inside Aboriginal Australia. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km (310 mi) from the territorial capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Company captain Willem Joosten van Colster sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape Arnhem is named after his ship, the Arnhem, which itself was named after the city of Arnhem in the Netherlands.
Makassar people from the region of Sulawesi in Indonesia began visiting the coast of Northern Australia sometime around the middle of the 18th century, first in the Kimberley region, and some decades later in Arnhem Land. They were men who collected and processed trepang, a marine invertebrate prized for its culinary value generally and for its supposed medicinal properties in Chinese markets. The term Makassan is generally used to apply to all the trepangers who came to Australia.
Gunbalanya is an Aboriginal Australian town in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of Darwin. The main language spoken in the community is Kunwinjku. At the 2021 Australian census, Gunbalanya had a population of 1,177.
Charles Pearcy Mountford OBE was an Australian anthropologist and photographer. He is known for his pioneering work on Indigenous Australians and his depictions and descriptions of their art. He also led the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land.
Yirawala was an Aboriginal Australian leader, labourer and bark painter. He is most known for his bark painting. He was born in the Northern Territory, which at the time was responsibility of the state of South Australia, and died in Minjilang, otherwise known as Croker Island.
Injalak Arts is a non-profit, community owned Aboriginal art centre located in Gunbalanya in West Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was incorporated in 1989. It is known for artists working in a primarily figurative style, and continuing and developing the West Arnhem rock art tradition. It is also known for pandanus weavings. Artists are mostly Kunwinjku people; however, artists from many language groups across Arnhem Land are represented. While working within the continuous art history of the Arnhem region, Injalak Arts is part of the wider contemporary Aboriginal Art movement, which has made a large impact on the Australian and international art world.
Bardayal "Lofty" Nadjamerrek was a Kunwinjku Aboriginal artist of the Mok clan. He belonged to the Duwa moiety and spoke the Kundedjnjenghmi language. He is currently referred to by his skin and clan as "Wamud Namok", following the Kunwinjku custom of avoiding use of the name of deceased persons.
Frederick David McCarthy was an Australian anthropologist and archaeologist. He worked at the Australian Museum in Sydney and was Foundation Principal of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, with interests covering Australian archaeology, museology and Aboriginal rock art.
Bobby Barrdjaray Nganjmirra was a Kunwinjku Aboriginal artist of the Djalama clan and Yirridjdja moiety.
The Bininj are an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Arnhem land in the Northern Territory. The sub-groups of Bininj are sometimes referred to by the various language dialects spoken in the region, that is, the group of dialects known as Bininj Kunwok; so the people may be named the Kunwinjku, Kuninjku, Kundjeyhmi (Gundjeihmi), Manyallaluk Mayali, Kundedjnjenghmi and Kune groups.
Garkain is a legendary creature in Australian Aboriginal mythology said to haunt the dense jungle along the Liverpool River in the Northern Territory, Australia. Should an unwary traveller enter his domain, Garkain swoops down from the trees on his leathery wings and envelops them. It is a story parents tell to their children to tell them to not use physical violence as a way to solve problems.
Raymond Louis Specht was an Australian plant ecologist, conservationist and academic, who participated in the Arnhem Land Scientific Expedition of 1948.
Pityrodia jamesii is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is a spreading shrub with hairy, yellowish brown stems, sticky, hairy, egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves and white, bell-like flowers.
Sally Kate May, usually cited as Sally K. May, is an Australian archaeologist and anthropologist. She is an Associate Professor of Archaeology and Museum Studies at the University of Adelaide, Australia. She is a specialist in Indigenous Australian rock art and Australian ethnographic museum collections.
Gabriel Maralngurra is an Aboriginal Australian artist from the Ngalangbali clan in West Arnhem Land. He is well-known and respected within his community for the wide range of responsibilities he takes on. His artwork is displayed in various collections including the Australia Museum, Museum Victoria, and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia.
Wanurr Bob Namundja (c.1933–2005) was an Aboriginal Australian artist known for his bark paintings.
Mungurrawuy Yunupingu (c.1905–1979) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian artist and leader of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people of northeastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. He was known for his bark paintings.
Dick Binyinyuwuy Djarrankuykuy (c. 1928–1982) was a leading Aboriginal artist from the island of Milingimbi off the coast of the Northern Territory of Australia. He belonged to the Djarrankuykuy clan of the Djambarrpuyngu people. During World War II he was among the group of Aboriginal men enlisted by Squadron Leader Donald Thomson for the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit to protect Australia's northern shoreline from Japanese invasion. He became an artist after the war, in the 1950s.
Paddy Compass Namadbara, skin name Na-Bulanj, was an Aboriginal Australian artist and traditional healer, or marrkidjbu, from western Arnhem land. He was a member of the Alarrdju clan. Namadbara was renowned for his abilities as a healer, his bark paintings, and his skills as a mentor for younger generations.
Chasm Island is an island of the Groote archipelago in the Gulf of Carpentaria, located in the state of the Northern Territory, Australia, in the northernmost part of the continent.
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