Kuprilya Springs Pipeline

Last updated

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.

Contents

History

Hermannsburg Mission, which also functioned as a cattle station, was established on 4 June 1877 and, between then and 1926 suffered many droughts that caused them to struggle to stay viable while, at the same time, meaning that many Aboriginal people came into the mission because of the lack of availability of food and their traditional lands being curtailed by pastoralists. [1] The drought, and subsequent scarcity of water, was so severe in 1926 that the mission was almost forced to close and that many of the people living on the mission suffered from ill health and scurvy. Jose Petrick says that, between 1926 and 1929, that 41 of the 51 children born at the mission died and that, in 1929 alone, 41 adults and children died. [2] The scarcity of water also impacted the European population and Pastor Albrecht's own daughter Helene became ill herself and, at the age of four, weighed less than she had at two. [1]

During this time most water used was drawn by hand from wells and soaks in the Finke River bed and a lot of this water contained large amounts of magnesium which made people ill and, as they dried up, increasingly salty. [1]

It is around this time that a pipeline to Kuprilya Springs was given as a solution but there were disagreements between various 'factions' of the Mission Board and also with the government; a large part of the argument was whose responsibility it was to provide water and who would pay for it. As they argued the drought worsened. [1]

In 1929, after the completion of the railway to Alice Springs, Hermannsburg was visited by Melbourne artist Jessie Traill and her friend Una Teague. Una's sister, Violet Teague, already an established artist [3] rushed to the mission to help and, after hiring a taxi to drive her all the way from Melbourne to Hermannsburg, painted prolifically once there. When in Hermannsburg the Teague sisters and Traill camped and Albert Namatjira was their "guide, camel boy, cook and attendant" on their painting excursions and Violet, in particular, was so well liked by Albert and his wife Rubina that they named one of their daughters after her: unfortunately, baby Violet died when only 5 months old. [1]

Once back in Melbourne Violet sold these paintings, and others donated by members of the Victorian Artists Society and the exhibition was held at the Athenaeum Gallery; Rex Battarbe also contributed a painting.

In addition to artworks there were various appeals, many of them run in newspapers, and books were also sold. Mrs Aeaneas Gunn gave away many copies of her books for the cause; including autographed copies. [1] [4]

In December 1934 work on the pipeline finally begun and it was mostly constructed by Aboriginal men who often had to work at night to avoid the heat, it was backbreaking work. [1] The pipeline was completed on 30 September 1935 and, at the estimated time for the water to arrive, nothing happened and Pastor Albrecht passed a restless night until the water arrived the next day (1 October); [5] this is still celebrated as Kuprilya Day. [2] [4]

Resources about

The Western Arrarnta language version of this story, collected by the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages, is available online: Kwatja, kwatja, kwatja!: Kuprilya kwatja pintja by Helene Burns. [6]  

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.

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

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.

Wenten Rubuntja was an Aboriginal Australian artist. His early watercolour paintings are typical of the Hermannsburg School of art, while his later work includes dot painting. He was also an Aboriginal rights activist who worked on the Central Land Council in the Northern Territory for several years.

<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.

<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.

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">Violet Teague</span> Australian artist (1872–1951)

Violet Helen Evangeline Teague was an Australian artist, noted for her painting and printmaking.

Josepha Petrick Kemarre is an Anmatyerre-speaking Indigenous Australian artist from Central Australia. Since first taking up painting around 1990, her works of contemporary Indigenous Australian art have been acquired by several major collections including Artbank and the National Gallery of Victoria. Her paintings portray bush plum "dreaming" and women’s ceremonies. One of her paintings sold at a charity auction for A$22,800. Josepha Petrick's works are strongly coloured and formalist in composition and regularly appear at commercial art auctions in Australia. Her art appears to have survived the huge contraction of the primary art market in Australia since 2008. There is no existing Catalogue raisonné of Josepha Petrick's artworks, to date, no fakes have been cited.

<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 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">Arltunga Historical Reserve</span> Protected area in the Northern Territory, Australia

Arltunga Historical Reserve, known also as Arnerre-ntyenge is a deserted gold rush town located in the Northern Territory of Australia in the locality of Hart about 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of Alice Springs. It is on the lands of the Eastern Arrernte people who are the traditional owners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Springs Telegraph Station</span>

The Alice Springs Telegraph Station is located within the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, four kilometres north of the Alice Springs town centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Established in 1872 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide, it is the original site of the first European settlement in central Australia. It was one of twelve stations along the Overland Telegraph Line.

Jose Petrick OAM is a British-born Australian historian and community advocate living in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Theatre</span>

The Pioneer Theatre, also known as "Pioneer Walk-In Theatre" and "Snow Kenna's Walk-In Picture Theatre", was a theatre in the Northern Territory of Australia located in Alice Springs. The building was built by Leslie 'Snow' Kenna in 1942 and closed, as a theatre, in 1984 and now operates as the Alice Springs YHA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt Johannsen</span> Australian bush mechanic and inventor

Kurt Gerhardt Johannsen was an Australian bush mechanic and inventor who developed the world's first commercial road train. He was also an aviator, fencing contractor, labourer, mailman and miner and known a "true son of the Red Centre", referring to the southern desert region of the Northern Territory in Australia.

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">Gerhardt Johannsen</span>

Gerhardt Andreas Johannsen was a stonemason, builder and pastoralist in the Northern Territory.

<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.

<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 3 4 5 6 7 Petrick, Jose. (2007). Kuprilya Springs: Hermannsburg & Other Things. 2007, Northern Territory: Jose Petrick. ISBN   9789780646479. OCLC   1061504811.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. 1 2 "Alice Springs News, September 13, 2007". www.alicespringsnews.com.au. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  3. ↑ Lee, Mary Alice, "Violet Helen Teague (1872–1951)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 31 October 2019
  4. 1 2 "Kwatja, kwatja, kwatja!". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  5. ↑ Latz, P. K. (Peter Kenneth) (2014). Blind Moses : Moses Tjalkabota Uraiakuraia, Aranda man of high degree and Christian evangelist. Alice Springs, NT. ISBN   9780992572709. OCLC   904565072.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ↑ Burns, Helene (2009). "Kwatja, kwatja, kwatja!: Kuprilya kwatja pintja". Territory Stories. Ntaria School. hdl:10070/866906 . Retrieved 9 October 2024.

23°56′35″S132°46′40″E / 23.94306°S 132.77778°E / -23.94306; 132.77778

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.