Hermannsburg, Northern Territory

Last updated • 10 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Ntaria (Hermannsburg)
Northern Territory
Hermannsburg NT.jpg
Hermannsburg Lutheran church
Australia Northern Territory location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Ntaria (Hermannsburg)
Coordinates 23°56′35″S132°46′40″E / 23.94306°S 132.77778°E / -23.94306; 132.77778
Population551 (2021 census) [1]
Postcode(s) 0872
Location131 km (81 mi) from Alice Springs
Territory electorate(s) Namatjira
Federal division(s) Lingiari
The Hermannsburg Lutheran Church in 1957/1958 Anton Faymann 020 Auto Colour.jpg
The Hermannsburg Lutheran Church in 1957/1958

Hermannsburg, also known as Ntaria, is an Aboriginal community in Ljirapinta Ward of the MacDonnell Shire in the Northern Territory of Australia, 125 kilometres (78 mi); west southwest of Alice Springs, on the Finke River, in the traditional lands of the Western Arrarnta people.

Contents

Established as a Lutheran Aboriginal mission in 1877, linguist and anthropologist Carl Strehlow documented the local Western Arrernte language during his time there. The mission was known as Finke River Mission or Hermannsburg Mission, but the former term was later used to included a few more settlements, and from 2014 has applied to all Lutheran missions in Central Australia.

The land was handed over to traditional ownership in 1982 under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 , and the area is now heritage-listed.

Geography

Hermannsburg lies on the Finke River within the rolling hills of the MacDonnell Ranges in the southern Central Australia region of the Northern Territory.

It is within the jurisdiction of the MacDonnell Regional Council. [2]

Demographics

At the 2011 census, Hermannsburg had a population of 625, of whom 537 (86 per cent) identified as Aboriginal.

By the 2021 census, the suburb had decreased in population to 551, of whom 491 (89.1 per cent) identified as Aboriginal. [1]

History

Aboriginal dwellings, 1923 186 Aboriginal dwellings w480.jpg
Aboriginal dwellings, 1923

19th century

Hermannsburg was established on 4 June 1877 at a sacred site known as Ntaria, which was associated with the Aranda ratapa dreaming. [3] It was conceived as an Aboriginal mission by two Lutheran missionaries, Hermann Kempe (from Dauban, near Dresden [4] ) and Wilhelm F. Schwarz (from Württemberg [4] ) of the Hermannsburg Mission from Germany, who had travelled overland from Bethany in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. They named their new mission among the Arrernte people after Hermannsburg in Germany where they had trained. [5] [6]

They arrived with 37 horses, 20 cattle and nearly 2000 sheep, [3] five dogs and chickens. Construction began on the first building in late June 1877, made from wood and reed grass. By August a stockyard, kitchen and living quarters were also completed. [7] They had nearly no contact with Aboriginal people in the first few months, although their activities were being observed. At the end of August, a group of 15 Arrernte men visited the mission camping near the settlement. Realising that communication was difficult, the missionaries quickly learnt the local Arrernte language. [8]

A third missionary, Louis Schulze (from Saxony [4] ), arrived in Adelaide in October 1877, accompanying three additional lay workers and the wives of Kempe and Schwarz. With the additional workers, five buildings were complete by December 1878. By 1880, a church was constructed with the assistance of Aboriginal labour, and the first church service took place on 12 November, followed by school on 14 November. [9] The first Aboriginal baptisms took place and in 1887 as many as 20 young people were baptised. [9]

A 54-page dictionary of 1750 words was published in 1890. [8] In 1891 the mission published an Arrernte-language book on Christian instruction and worship, containing a catechism, stories from the Bible, psalms, prayers and 53 hymns. In the same year, the Royal Society of South Australia published Schulze's thesis on the habits and customs of the local Aboriginal people and the geography of the Finke River area. [6]

While the population fluctuated, there were always about 100 people living at the mission as pastoralism increased and racial issues developed. Hostilities escalated in 1883 during a drought which saw local Aboriginal people hunt wandering stock. [7] Kempe endured trouble from the native police, who would bribe some Aboriginal men to kill their fellow tribesmen, sometimes offering them sex with the women as a reward. Kempe assisted Francis Gillen in bringing the notorious Constable Willshire to trial in Port Augusta. [10]

Fried Schwartz left the mission in 1889 due to ill health, followed by Schulze in 1891. Kempe lost his wife and child during childbirth and was himself suffering from typhoid, so also left the mission in 1891.[ citation needed ] In this way the first term of administration of the mission ended. [10] [11]

The settlement was continued by lay workers until Pastor Carl Strehlow arrived in October 1894 [12] (or 1895?) with his wife, Frieda Strehlow (née Kaysser). Frieda was born in 1875, and had met Strehlow when he was training to be a missionary in 1892. After marrying in Adelaide, the couple travelled by horse and buggy to Hermannsburg. Many of the locals could by this time speak German, [10] and Pastor Strehlow continued documenting the local language, and was involved with local people in Bible translation and hymn writing. In 1896 additional construction took place of a school house, which was also used as a chapel and an eating house.[ citation needed ] Frieda taught the women about a healthy diet and how to reduce child mortality. [10] Severe droughts during 1897-8 and again in 1903 meant poor food production and an influx of Aboriginal people. [7]

20th century

The new Bethlehem Lutheran church, built in 1964 Bethlehem Lutheran Church Hermannsburg.jpg
The new Bethlehem Lutheran church, built in 1964

In mid-1910, the Strehlows left on a break to Germany and placed their five eldest children with relatives and friends there, in order to secure a good education for them. [12] While they were away, they were replaced by Leibler and then by teacher H. H. Heinrich. [7] Carl, Frieda, and their son Theo (Ted Strehlow), returned in 1912, [12] having received letters from Aranda elders imploring them to return. [10]

Many English-speaking people in the area mistrusted the German missionaries, and did not have a high opinion of the Aboriginal people. [10] From 1912 to 1922, Baldwin Spencer, then Special Commissioner and Chief Protector of Aborigines, attempted to shut down the mission. In his 1913 report, Spencer proposed taking all Aboriginal children away from their parents and setting up reserves where the children would be denied any contact with their parents, be prevented from speaking their languages and made incapable of living in the bush. [13] He was particularly keen to make sure that "half-caste" children had no contact with camp life. Hermannsburg was to be taken away from the Lutherans and "serve as a reserve for the remnants of the southern central tribes where they can, under proper and competent control, be trained to habits of industry". [14] However, when the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John A. Gilruth, came down from Darwin in 1913 to see whether these negative reports were true, he gave Strehlow his support. [10]

The Strehlows finally left on 22 October 1922 when Pastor Strehlow contracted dropsy. He died the next day at Horseshoe Bend. [7]

The mission was without a missionary until Pastor Johannes Riedel arrived in late 1923, followed by Pastor Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht on 19 April 1926 with his wife. They stayed until 1962. Drought struck again in 1927 causing ill heath and scurvy. There was yet another influx of Aboriginal people and 85 per cent of Aboriginal children died during this time. A delivery of oranges was considered "a miracle". [9]

Albrecht was integral to the development of the Kuprilya Springs Pipeline, which piped water from a permanent water hole 6 km (3.7 mi) to the mission. It was funded in part by Melbourne artist Violet Teague and her sister Una, and was completed on 1 October 1935. [15] Albrecht also developed various other enterprises such as a large vegetable garden and orchard, beef cattle ranching and a tannery. They also supported the development of the school of watercolour landscape artists, which became one of the special heritages of the Hermannsburg area. [7]

The first two Aboriginal pastors were ordained in 1964, Conrad Rabaraba and Cyril Motna. [6] Doug Radke was pastor from 1965 to 1969. [16]

The mission land was handed over to traditional ownership in 1982 under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 . [17]

The settlement and its satellite communities were funded as an outstation during the 1980s. [18]

21st century

By 2014, there were 24 Aboriginal pastors, and more than 40 trainees and female church leaders. The congregation included around 6,000 people, and sermons were being delivered in Luritja, Western Arrarnta, Pitjantjatjara, Anmatyerre, and Alyawarr, as well as English. [19]

Legacy of the missionaries

The Lutherans worked at keeping the local languages alive, and the Strehlows greatly increased the knowledge of Aranda culture. Much is preserved in the Strehlow Research Centre in Alice Springs, and author John Strehlow, son of Ted, has written a two-volume book about his grandparents, Carl and Frieda Strehlow. [10]

According to musician Warren H Williams, who was born at Hermannsburg, "If the missionaries had not come to Hermannsburg, there would be no blackfellas in Central Australia" – this observation based on the attitude of the English-speaking administrators and other settlers in the region. [10]

Heritage listing

The Hermannsburg Historic Precinct was listed on the Northern Territory Heritage Register on 19 May 2001 and on the Australian National Heritage List in April 2006. [17] [20]

The mission buildings, located adjacent to the town of Ntaria, are empty. The heritage precinct is owned by the local Western Arrarnta people, represented by the Hermannsburg Historical Society, while the Finke River Mission (a term that now embraces all Lutheran missionary activities in the Northern Territory [21] ) act as managers. [19]

Facilities

The Finke River Mission operates the general store, by request of the community. [19]

Art

Albert Namatjira monument 4. Albert Namatjira Monument, Hermannsburg.jpg
Albert Namatjira monument

Albert Namatjira (1902–1959), famous for his watercolour landscapes, founded a style later known as the Hermannsburg School of painting.

The Hermannsburg Potters are well known for their ceramic art, [22] and many successful artists live in the town. [23]

Choir

In 1891 Pastors Kempe and Schwarze created a Western Arrernte language version of the Lutheran hymn book, comprising 53 hymns. [6] The congregation learnt to sing them, and a choir was born. Singing was an important part of the church activities, and there were many versions of the choir over the years, eventually evolving into what is as of 2022 called the Ntaria Choir. [24] The choir sings in Western Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara. Initially a mixed choir, it became women-only in the 1970s until the late 2010s, when men joined the choir again. It is today world-famous and has produced several albums. [25] As of 2020 it included six women and two men. [24]

"Finke River Mission"

"Finke River Mission" was initially an alternative name for the Hermannsburg Mission, but this name was later often used to include the newer government settlements at Haasts Bluff, Areyonga and Papunya. In 2014, the Lutheran Church of Australia started using the term to apply retrospectively to all Lutheran missionary activity in Central Australia since the first mission was established at Hermannsburg in 1877, including establishments at Alice Springs, and the name continues to be used as of 2022. [21] [6] [26]

Yirara College is a co-educational boarding school in Alice Springs run by Finke River Mission, catering for around 200 Aboriginal students. It also has a small campus in Kintore [19] (Walungurru), catering for around 30 students. [27]

As of 2015, there were 21 Aboriginal pastors and many other church workers employed by Finke River Mission, serving over 30 communities in five Aboriginal languages. [6]

Notable people

The Radkes

Reverend Doug Radke and his wife Olga Radke OAM , along with their four children, moved to the Finke River Mission in 1965. Both worked with the Aboriginal community until 1969. They both loved music, and worked with the choir, including taking the singers on a tour to the southern states in 1967, for which Olga was the piano accompanist and organist. After leaving Hermannsburg they moved on to work with other Lutheran congregations, until Doug's untimely death, when Olga moved to Alice Springs to work at the Strehlow Research Centre as a volunteer. In 2003, she became a member of the Prisoners' Aid and Rehabilitation Association of Alice Springs. She lobbied for a support group for people with mental illness, and has continued to work with churches and choirs. In the 2015 Queen's Birthday honours list, Olga was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community of Alice Springs. [16] [28] In 2021, she wrote and published a book about the 1967 tour, entitled Hermannsburg Choir on Tour - Remembering the 1967 Choir Tour. The book includes her original detailed "Choir Tour Diary". [29] [16]

Other people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Namatjira</span> Australian painter (1902–1959)

Albert Namatjira was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the most notable Australian artists. As a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art, he was arguably one of the most famous Indigenous Australians of his generation. He was the first Aboriginal artist to receive popularity from a wide Australian audience.

Theodor George Henry Strehlow was an Australian anthropologist and linguist. He studied the Arrernte Aboriginal Australians and their language in Central Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papunya</span> Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Papunya is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly 240 kilometres (150 mi) northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art, in particular the style created by the Papunya Tula artists in the 1970s, referred to colloquially as dot painting. Its population in 2016 was 404.

Carl Friedrich Theodor Strehlow was an anthropologist, linguist and genealogist who served on two Lutheran missions in remote parts of Australia from May 1892 to October 1922. He was at Killalpaninna Mission in northern South Australia, from 1892 to 1894, and then Hermannsburg, 80 miles (130 km) west of Alice Springs, from 1894 to 1922. Strehlow was assisted by his wife Friederike, who played a central role in reducing the high infant mortality which threatened Aboriginal communities all over Australia after the onset of white settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermannsburg School</span> Australian art movement

The Hermannsburg School, also known as the Hermannsburg School of Modern Art is an art movement, or art style, which began at the Hermannsburg Mission in the 1930s. The best known artist of the style is Albert Namatjira. The movement is characterised by watercolours of western-style landscapes that depict the often striking colours of the Australian outback.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrernte language</span> Dialect cluster of Central Australia

Arrernte or Aranda, or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte, is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are Arunta or Arrarnta, and all of the dialects have multiple other names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrernte people</span> Group of Aboriginal Australian people

The Arrerntepeople, sometimes referred to as the Aranda, Arunta or Arrarnta, are a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the Arrernte lands, at Mparntwe and surrounding areas of the Central Australia region of the Northern Territory. Many still speak one of the various Arrernte dialects. Some Arrernte live in other areas far from their homeland, including the major Australian cities and overseas.

Kasper Gus Ntjalka Williams, known as Gus Williams, was an Aboriginal Australian country music singer who lived in Central Australia. He was known not only for his work in Aboriginal country music, but also as a leader of his people. He created the first electric country band in the Northern Territory, the Warrabri Country Bluegrass Band.

Ntaria Choir, formerly known as Ntaria Ladies Choir, Hermannsburg Ladies Choir, Hermannsburg Choir, and various other names, is a choir of Australian Aboriginal people from Hermannsburg in Central Australia. The members of the choir are Arrernte people from the area and they sing a mixture of English, Arrente, and Pitjantjatjara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory</span> Community in the Northern Territory, Australia

Haasts Bluff, also known as Ikuntji, is an Aboriginal Australian community in Central Australia, a region of the Northern Territory. The community is located in the MacDonnell Shire local government area, 227 kilometres (141 mi) west of Alice Springs. At the 2006 census, the community, including outstations, had a population of 207.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rex Battarbee</span> Australian artist

Reginald Ernest Battarbee, was an Australian artist notable for painting landscapes of Central Australia, and for teaching Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira to paint.

The Namatjira Project is an Australian community cultural development project, launched in 2009, conducted by arts and social change company Big hART. It is based in the Aboriginal communities of Hermannsburg (NT) and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Its focus is the life and work of the late Albert Namatjira, an Arrernte watercolour landscape artist. The project undertakes community work and has developed an award-winning touring theatre show, Namatjira, which depicts "the commercial appropriation of Aboriginal experience".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frieda Strehlow</span> German missionary to Australia

Friederike Johanna Henriette Strehlow née Keysser better known as Frieda Strehlow, was a German missionary who lived and worked at Hermannsburg in the Northern Territory of Australia in the early 1900s. She was best known for overcoming the high rate of infant mortality for Aboriginal children.

The massacre of Running Waters was the killing of 80 to 100 Arrernte men, women and children of the Southern Aranda language group of Aboriginal Australians by a raiding party of 50 to 60 Matuntara warriors in 1875. The massacre took place at Irbmangkara, a permanent water stretch of the Finke River about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.

The Kuprilya Springs Pipeline, sometimes spelled Kaporilja, is a pipeline in the Northern Territory of Australia which runs between the Kuprilya Springs to Hermannsburg, which was then functioning as a Lutheran Mission, that was constructed between 1934 and 1935. Kuprilya Springs and Hermannsburg (Ntaria) are both of the traditional lands of the Western Arrarnta people.

The Hermannsburg Potters are a group of Aranda women who formed an arts centre in Hermannsburg, Northern Territory (Ntaria) who work with painted ceramics that draw on many influences, while strongly reflecting the distinctive visual Aboriginal culture of Central Australia. Judith Inkamala is the chair and senior member of Hermannsburg Potters Aboriginal Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht</span> (1894–1984) Lutheran missionary

Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht was a Lutheran missionary and pastor who was the superintendent at Hermannsburg Mission in Central Australia from 1926 to 1952 where he made a significant contribution.

John Strehlow is an Australian stage director, playwright, and author. He is known for his work The tale of Frieda Keysser: Frieda Keysser & Carl Strehlow, an historical biography, about his grandparents, Lutheran missionaries Carl and Frieda Strehlow, who served for many years at Hermannsburg Mission in the Northern Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moses Tjalkabota</span> Aboriginal evangelist who spent many years at Hermannsburg (Ntaria)

Moses Tjalkabota, also known as Moses Tjalkabota Uraikuria or Blind Moses was a Western Arrernte man and Aboriginal evangelist who was born at Laprapuntja, east of Hermannsburg (Ntaria).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Kempe</span> (1844–1928) Lutheran missionary

Friedrich Adolf Hermann Kempe, known as Hermann Kempe, was a Lutheran missionary and pastor who co-founded the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission, now Ntaria community, in Central Australia. He lived there from 1877 to 1893.

References

  1. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "2021 Community Profiles: Hermannsburg (Suburb)". 2021 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 17 May 2024. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. ↑ "Hermannsburg". MacDonnell Regional Council.
  3. 1 2 Kenny, Anna (20 December 2013). The Aranda's Pepa: An introduction to Carl Strehlow's Masterpiece Die Aranda- und Loritja-Stämme in Zentral-Australien (1907-1920). ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/ap.12.2013 . ISBN   978-1-921536-77-9. PDF p.15+
  4. 1 2 3 Nutting, Dave. "Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission". German Australia. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  5. ↑ Scherer, P.A. (1995). The Hermannsburg chronicle, 1877-1933. Tanunda, S.A.: P.A. Scherer. ISBN   0646247921.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Finke River Mission 135th Anniversary". Lutheran Church of Australia . Archived from the original on 24 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Watson, Penny (1987). "Early Missionaries of Hermannsburg". Heritage Australia. 6 (2): 31–34.
  8. 1 2 Strehlow Research Centre. Alice Springs, N.T.: Strehlow Research Centre. 1993. ISBN   0724528210.
  9. 1 2 3 M. Lohe; F.W. Albrecht; L.H. Leske (1977). Everard Leske (ed.). Hermannsburg: a vision and a mission. Adelaide: Lutheran Pub. House. ISBN   0859100448.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Egan, Ted (23 December 2019). "Hermannsburg Mission: questions of survival". Alice Springs News. Speech by former Administrator Ted Egan AO at the launch of Volume II of The Tale of Frieda Kaysser by John Strehlow. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "History". Finke River Mission. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  12. 1 2 3 "Strehlow, Rev. Carl (1871-1922)". German Missionaries in Australia. Griffith University . Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  13. ↑ Spencer, Walter Baldwin; Australia. Department of External Affairs (1913), Preliminary report on the Aboriginals of the Northern Territory, Bulletin of the Northern Territory, no. 7, Dept. of External Affairs, p. 23, retrieved 11 November 2022
  14. ↑ Spencer, Walter Baldwin; Australia. Department of External Affairs (1913), Preliminary report on the Aboriginals of the Northern Territory, Bulletin of the Northern Territory, no. 7, Dept. of External Affairs, p. 20a, retrieved 11 November 2022
  15. ↑ Petrick, Jose (2007). Kuprilya Springs: Hermannsburg & other things. Alice Springs, N.T.: Jose Petrick. ISBN   9780646478104.
  16. 1 2 3 Radke, Olga (2021). Hermannsburg Choir on Tour - Remembering the 1967 Choir Tour; Including the Original 'Choir Tour Diary'. Friends of the Strehlow Research Centre. ISBN   978-0-6485919-2-4 . Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  17. 1 2 "Hermannsburg Historic Village Precinct". Heritage Register. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  18. ↑ Parliament of Australia. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs; Blanchard, Allen (March 1987). Inquiry into the Aboriginal homelands movement in Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN   0-644-06201-0 . Retrieved 16 August 2020. Published online 12 June 2011{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help) PDF
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Hermannsburg Historic Precinct and Finke River Mission Today". Hermannsburg Historic Precinct. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  20. ↑ "Australian National Heritage listing for the Hermannsburg Historic Precinct". Environment.gov.au. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  21. 1 2 George, Karen; George, Gary (17 March 2017). "Finke River Mission - Glossary Term - Northern Territory". Find & Connect. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  22. ↑ "Hermannsburg Potters: Aranda Artists of Central Australia". Hermannsburg Potters. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  23. ↑ "Local artists". Hermannsburg Historic Precinct. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  24. 1 2 "The Hermannsburg Choir". Hermannsburg Historic Precinct. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  25. ↑ Strahle, Graham (29 May 2019). "Indigenous Women's Only Ntaria Choir Reaches Back To Bach". Music Australia. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "About". Finke River Mission. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  27. ↑ "Kintore Campus (Walungurru)". Yirara College. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  28. ↑ "Mrs Olga Josephine RADKE: Medal of the Order of Australia". Australian Honours Search Facility. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia) . Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  29. ↑ Barwick, Rohan (16 July 2021). "Historic Hermannsburg Choir tour celebrated in new book" (audio, 30 mins). ABC Darwin. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  30. ↑ "Yvette Holt". AustLit . University of Queensland. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  31. ↑ Kamholtz, Damien; Namatjira, Lenie (2006). Albert : Albert Namatjira and the Hermannsburg Watercolour Artists. Adelaide: Openbook Australia. ISBN   9780646467399. OCLC   224953943.
  32. ↑ "Otto Pareroultja". Aboriginal Bark Paintings. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2019.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.