Marie Yamba, Bloomfield and Hope Vale: The Lutheran Missions to the North Queensland Aborigines, 1886·1905 by Kay Elizabeth Evans, B.A. *

PART 1 fields and Cooktown, severely disrupting the Aborigines' way of In January 1880 Father Duncan McNab stated in an emphatic life. The diggers regarded the blacks as wild ferocious animals, petition to the Secretary of State for the Colonies that: violent and unpredictable in their actions, fearing those who in the occupied districts in the Colony, I have found the "conceal themselves and launch their murderous weapons before Aborigines quick of apprehension, and susceptible of instruc­ their victims are aware of their presence."13. A petition from tion and training and many tribes had expressed to me the Chinese and white miners depicted how they lived in a state "of wish of being civilized, ... I found them disposed to give insecurity for life and property ... caused by the degradations a fair hearing to the truths of Christianity.1 committed with the most perfect impunity, owing to the lack of Until that time, however, missionary attempts to civilize the native police protection"14. The miners reacted accordingly, with blacks had proven to be failures2, and it was not until January 1886 such provocative actions as the shooting-up of a native camp in that a successful and enduring mission was established. Further­ 1873, which only incurred further retaliationls. Town dwellers more, Father McNab's assertion that the Aborigines positively felt equally afraid and one declared: desired to be evangelized was both optimistic and naive, as all the if the authorities will not take steps to rid us of these pests, Lutheran missionaries were sadly to learn. The natives' motives then I hold we shall be justified to protect ourselves against for gravitating to the missions - to obtain food and protection ­ this growing evil, by arming ourselves, and teaching our wives were expedient and must be seen against their experience with and daughters how to use [rifles] .16 European settlers before the missionaries arrived. . Tales of cannibalism which further demonstrated the apparently mnate bestiality of the Aborigines added considerable impetus to In the Bowen-Proserpine district, where the Mission named the already existing state of subdued hysteria. Inspector Fitzgerald Marie Yamba was eventually established in early 1888, the clash declared that in the twelve months previous to April 1885 four between the settlers and the Aborigines was violent and bloody, Chinese miners had been killed and eatenl? He further maintained following a terrible and seemingly inexorable pattern. For as that he had actually seen bodies prepared for a feast on the Palmer Father McNab pointed out RiveN. The police officer at Coen verified his observation19 and where [land] is taken up for township, or gold fields, or ~olice Magi~trate Zillman added, "if security to life and pro~erty tenanted by small selectors, it becomes a question of life or IS to be attamed permanently, we must either civilize or tame them death for the natives, and conflict in the present state of or to use plain words: wipe them out"20. As in the Bowen area things, becomes inevitable.3 the. means to accomplish this was the employment of the Nativ~ In pre-European days, this area had held a large indigenous 18~9 population. Even in 1870, after ten years of intensive Native Police Pollce. By the Cook district had the largest contingent in the Colony, wlth seven camps holding thirty-four troopers. In activity, it still numbered 1,5004. Police magistrate G. E. Ma~ch Dalrymple had earlier commented upon the warriors of these tribes 1879 twenty-four Aboriginal men who were trapped in a that "their numbers ... are larger, their physical force superior ravme by the Native Police under Sub-Inspector O'Connor were their ideas of combination more perfect, than any I have met shot at Cape Bedford, just north of Cooktown. A further four men 0; were presumed drowned21. This massacre was in retaliation for the heard of in this country"s. Although by 1869 they were considered near fatal spearing of two whites22. quiet enough to be "let in on stations"6, they had hardly been subdued for in 1881 Sergeant Shea of Bowen could still testify Within ten years of intensive European settlement the that "hundreds of blacks in the area are troublesome"? By 1885 Abori¥ines: nomadic life had been considerably transformed. With Aboriginal numbers around Bowen itself had dwindled drastically the al~enatlOn of t~eir land and the loss of their natural diet they to 2758. This catastrophic decline was not due simply to the had lIttle alternatIve but to wander into the town an action presence of native troopers whose methods were described as the usually resented by white inhabitants. The Mayor ~f Cooktown "massacre of unresisting human beings paralysed by terror"9. John remarke? that "a numb.er of them made their appearance in the Ewen Dav!dson, later to become a prominent planter at Mackay, town. WIthout any clothmg and caused a great deal of uneasiness remarked m 1867 that the Aborigines were "bad with boils" 10. espeCIally in the suburbs"23. One colonist argued against the annuai Missionary Hansche of Marie Yamba, for instance, had seen the system of blank7~ ~stribution, as it encouraged the blacks to go Aboriginal men "die in their best years, of consumption opium to the towns to dnnk grog, and smoke opium and become gener­ and whisky"II. Thus, in the span of one generation the' Bowen ally. degraded"24. These destructive tendencies in the urban tribes had been transformed from a proud and indepe~dent people en~i~onment were-'later recognized by Rev. Dr Flierl of Hope Vale to one enduring an existence of cultural and spiritual malaise. MISSIon when h.e wrote that "the greater part of the tribe prefer to roam about m the bush or live the parasitic beggar life in Lutheran missionaries did not appear at the Bloomfield River Cookto~n, ~?ere until 1886. They found that the Aborigines there had not been many become corrupted and perish, especially the . ~hl1dren 2S. The Cooktown Independent pointed more affected so drastically as at Bowen. The Bloomfield River exphc~tly district, sixty miles south of Cooktown, is relatively isolated, to the Europeans' disgust at the natives whose sexual hemmed in between the sea and the mountainous tropical forests. morallty seemed at variance with their own: ' every common decency, if not morality is being outraged in As the main livelihood of the settlers was timber-getting the th~ ~uburbs, Aborigines' land had not all been taken from them, although some and we are astonished that the ministers of Chinese market gardeners were present. Yet the natives had been rehglOn. have not denounced [their] indecencies and orgies, ravaged by syphilis, fever and "gangolee", a severe form of dietary those vIle wretches who revel in black lewdness.26 Yet the paper conveniently overlooked the number of settlers who deficiency I 2. Much closer to Cooktown, near the future site of sed,!ced a~d later abandoned Aboriginal women. Cooktown's Hope Vale Mission, the clash was brutal and turbulent. Thousands Pol~ce of Chinese and Europeans had passed between the Palmer gold- MagIstrate, Howard St. George, in 1882 cited the case of a gIrl, not yet twelve years of age who had been abducted for *Postgraduate Student, Department of Anthropology and Sociology sexual purposes by a beche-de-mer fleetv. Sub-Inspector Brooke of University of Queensland. ' the Walsh River testified that "I may say that is a common

Page Twenty-six Queensland Heritage the Synod requested the Minister for Lands "to grant us a piece of land for the establishment of a Lutheran mission station between Mackay and Bowen"33. The aims were to civilize "the aboriginals, educate their children and Christianize the grown-up people. We also intend to carryon cultivation and cattle rearing, teach the aboriginals in agriculture" 34. The congregation at Mackay had already donated fifty head of cattle and a large sum of money towards the venture3S. Three months later the government gazetted thirty square miles of land between the Andromache and O'Connell rivers for Marie Yamba Mission36. The land was of excellent quality with plenty of good agricultural soil on it, in addition to a larger area of first class grazing land, comprising mountain, plain, forest, scrub, with an abundance of good serviceable timber throughout.37 The Synod had obtained the services of Andreas Claussen, a missionary with former experience amongst the Maoris38. He was accompanied by Pastor M. Doblies, an itinerant preacher, and some Danish laymen. Doblies remained only a short time as did his successor, Pastor R. Krause, who arrived in 1891 but soon left to join the Mackay congregation39. The Mission, precariously financed by the Church and supplemented by £1 0 per month from the government, was beset by enormous financial difficulties. Bitter internal dissension and constant changes of staff prevented any coherent development of policy. As early as 1889 the Danish pastors and helpers had withdrawn their support from both the Mission and the Synod4o. In 1893 Pastor Claussen suffered a complete breakdown of health and died in September 189741. A local planter Herman Mewing resumed the management of the station until a replacement missionary could be assigned42. The Government registered its displeasure at this arrangement and threatened to withhold its subsidy until a suitable trained staff was provided again. At the end of 1894 Pastor R. Hansche arrived from Neuendettelsau, the famed Moravian seminary in Bavaria. He too left only four years later, greatly disillusioned at his meagre evangelical results, as only four Aborigines out of the sixty who visited the station had been baptized43. In 1898 the Government out its earlier threat into practice by withdrawing its allowance for five months pending some visible and practical improvement in the condition of the natives. This decision was considerably influenced by the local settlers' antagonism to Marie Yamba. They originally saw the mission as a new means of controlling the blacks but when it failed to fulfil this role adequately, their opposition practice for men to keep gins up here and , .. I believe it is a became more vocal. They disliked the Aborigines "unfathomable cause of most of the depradations"28. desire to wander"44 and their "ambling around, some in the town, Where natives were no longer considered a threat it was hoped some at the beach or in the bush"45. that some modicum of civilization might prevent them becoming The natives had shown little inclination to heed the teachings "a nuisance to the townspeople"29. Mayor Davies suggested such of the missionaries and the mission therefore achieved only a small practical inducements as food and clothes be offered to persuade degree of success. The station was seen as a place to obtain food the blacks "to work in vessels engaged in the beche-de-mer fishery and probably little else. Missionary Hansche realised this when he and also in town"3o. Outside working hours, he suggested a policy lamented "how little it is worth to neglect the word of God and of segregation as most desirable and called on the government to: to serve at the table"46. By 1901 Marie Yamba had a deficit of erect a depot on the north shore where (the aborigines) could £200 and the Lutheran congregations, so enthusiastic at its live in comparative comfort, and be open to employment at any inception, contributed a mere £8 towards solvencY47, The meeting and every time they might be made useful by the white of the Synod that year suggested that further efforts be abandoned. residents in the district, without any unnecessary intermingling Two major problems concerning this ill-fated Mission alone there with.31 remained - how to dispose of its material effects and what to do with the natives. In January 1902 the Crown Land Ranger at The McIlwraith government responded in August 1881 by pro­ Mackay placed a valuation of £244.11.0 on the Mission's prop­ claiming 50,000 acres on the north shore above Cooktown as a ertY48. Pastor Fleuer, the President of the Lutheran Church of Reserve for Aborigines32. Five years later this land would become Queensland, agreed that since the Synod was in such "reduced the site for Hope Vale Mission. Thus, the Bowen Aborigines had circumstances" and the final manager's salary was still outstanding, become demoralized; those at Bloomfield were debilitated; whilst he would accept only £150 to facilitate an immediate sale49. Yet the Cooktown blacks had almost been put to rout. It remained no buyers were forthcoming. The buildings gradually fell into for the Lutherans to provide not only a refuge but an alternative way of life. disrepair and vandals ransacked all the galvanised iron, as well as the doors and windowsso. Mrs. Emerson, a neighbour, eventually PART 2 offered £10 for the old mission houses I, originally valued at £6052. During 1885 Pastor C. G. Hellmuth of Maryborough impressed It was finally sold to the local publican, Mr. Hagarty, for £10 plus upon the inaugural meeting of the German and Scandinavian £1 for the fence wires3. Lutheran Synod of Queensland the urgent necessity to evangelize In June 1902 twenty-three Aborigines had been conveyed from the Aborigines. It was not until September 1887, however, that Marie Yamba to Hope Vale Mission at Cooktown. This proved to

Queensland Heritage Page T,,'ellt)'-seven Bloomfield, 1901. (By courtesy of the author)

be an injudicious move even though it had been inspired by the who "do not bear too good a reputation, and their sojourn without churchs' humanitarian concern. In 1900 Pastor Kaibel of the adequate supervision [which it is impossible to provide] may Immanuel Synod of South Australia had suggested that young possibly prove a nuisance to the local settlers"59. He strongly urged Aboriginal women be transferred from Bloomfield to Marie Yamba the government not to revive the Mission by promising any financial in order to "marry ... black boys and thus form the nucleus of remuneration. Thus, in one move, Marie Yamba, begun with such a Christian community"54. At this time Home Secretary Foxton hope, had closed after fourteen years of tenuous existence, having had strongly disagreed, arguing "there are several weighty objections achieved little. Few natives had become Christians or been to these women being taken to a district so remote from their transformed into settled agriculturalists. present abode as Marie Yamba"55 . Yet only two years later, the Bloomfield Mission station, south of Cooktown, was established government made no move to intervene in the final transfer from with similar enthusiasm and determination in September 1886. Marie Yamba. The subsequent interaction of this group of strangers Surrounding settlers did not welcome the prospect of a mission with the Hope Vale community was not amicable, and given the and in 1885 had petitioned the Minister for Lands not to gazette Aborigines' beliefs on tribal exclusiveness must have been fraught a Reserve. They argued that several other Europeans wanted with considerable anxiety. In June 1904 seven adult "malcontents" homesteads and,4.i irked them especially that: were returned to their former home on the Andromache River. the government [is] offering to the aboriginals the temptation Dr Walter Roth, the Chief Protector of Aboriginals, remarked in for invading employment provided for them, for the easier, his official report that two or three were opium addicts and that though more precarious loafing about the township and home­ another had had the audacity to suggest to the Superintendent at steads in the vicinity.60 Hope Vale, Pastor G. Schwarz, that he was perfectly willing to In Augu~t 1886 one square mile of land was gazetted61, with a steal cattle for the mission56. But a more pertinent reason for their further fifty square miles set aside as a hunting reserve in March removal may have been their independent spirit which did not 188962. Previously, Dr Flier! had directed the attention of Pastors easily succumb to the strict discipline they encountered. As A. Sueltmann and G. C. Hellmuth of the German and Scandinavian Dr Roth put it: Synod of Queensland to the potentiality of the area for missionary they had evidently been too much encouraged in competition enterprise63 • Yet it was the Immanuel Synod of South Australia with Europeans in the way of cricket matches etc., and had which decided to found a mission there. Until a missionary could been treated socially far above their natural station in life.57 be appointed Louis Bauer, a local settler, who seemed "by tact, The missionaries' endeavours, however, did seem to have some good humour and determination to exercise a good deal of influence effect, as several of the blacks requested Mrs Emerson "to ask the upon the natives acted as supervisor"64, Mr Bauer had considerable government if they can get their home, the Mission station, back. experience with other ethnic groups especially Melanesians and They consider they can grow a living, and make a home"58. Dr Malays. The North Queensland blacks were considered more Roth did not share Mrs Emerson's enthusiasm for these Aborigines "good-natured" and less "unruly and wild"65 than these peoples.

Page Twenty-eight Queensland Heritage During his superintendence Bauer erected his own quarters and In July 1891 Sebastian Horlein relieved him of his duties. He laid the foundations to what he hoped would become a prosperous reported that he found the school, one of the principal means experimental farm, with tea, coffee and tropical fruits being grown through which the children were to be transformed, "in a dismal in commercial quantities66. Economic self-sufficiency was deemed state as ... nothing could be discovered of what they had essential if the real task of the mission, the transformation of 'the previously learnt"79. This was due to the fact that Meyer had children of Darkness to the children of Light', was to proceed taught entirely in English and the children merely repeated his unhampered. phrases without understanding their meaning80. The new master, While Bauer laboured, Missionary Carl Meyer and a Dieri Schultz, decided to teach only in the local language, a task of Aboriginal from Central Australia, Johannes Pingilina, were immense difficulty, since the missionaries experienced great dispatched from Adelaide for the new settlement, arriving in problems in learning this strange tongue. Another hindrance to the Cooktown on 11 June 1886. In September Meyer travelled over­ operation of the Mission was the staff changes. In 1892 Missionary land through tropical forest to Bloomfield, a distance of some Bogner arrived, leaving four years later due to the persistent seventy miles. It was a hazardous journey, with Meyer later ill-health of his wife who suffered from a tropical fever, thought reporting how he had been plagued by leeches and alligators. Even to be malaria. Mrs Horlein left also, having endured this sickness more disconcerting was the knowledge that two Chinamen had for two years and finally died in Cairns in 190081. Subsequently, been recently speared by the blacks in that region67. These natives her husband suffered a complete physical and nervous breakdown82. were still nomadic in their habits and felt little inclination to join Missionary Mack, Bogner's replacement, proved totally unsatis­ the Mission. In February 1887 Bauer wrote to the local Police factory in the performance of his duties, and feelings of intense Magistrate that the Aborigines had threatened to spear Mr Hackett, animosity arose between Horlein and himself. Pastor Rechner a mission labourer, and any Native Police who dared venture onto admitted that Mack was "anything but a manager"83. their countrY68. The land, glowingly described by Horlein as "the most beautiful The missionaries' policy was "not only ... to civilize the place all along the river"84, did not hold the promise which first Aboriginals but also to teach them the word of God, and to make impressions rendered. The terrain was mountainous, the soil fertile them acquainted with the Rules laid down in the same"69. The only in patches and the main rainfall period restricted to three Lutherans wanted "to earnestly ask God, that we will still give months of the year8S. No crops were grown successfully on a many of them a breath of life, so that the light of Grace rises to commercial basis, as the blacks showed little inclination to become them, before it is eternally dimmed"70. Missionary Horlein was to permanent agriculturalists. This problem was aggravated consider­ lament, however, that "it is a sad situation that on the Australian ably by the government's unexpected and unprovoked decision to mission fields the cares of bodily needs are so closely allied with halve the size of the hunting reserve in October 189286. The the preaching of the word"71. Meyer hoped to overcome this immediate reason for this was a report from the local land ranger, problem by requesting the government to supply Bloomfield with Byers who argued: "in my opinion, the Reserve could be consider­ rations as it did at Hope Vale "so as to induce the aborigines to ably reduced say by half; large reserves are not required as more remain ... continually on the place" 72 • Yet the system of 'no than two or three tribes of blacks will not agree together"1l7. To work, no food' was untenable for justify his assertions Byers added that "The present hunting reserve although we supplied as many as were willing to do some is used as a cattle station [and furthermore] there are more blacks work with all they needed; we encouraged the aborigines as fed by the settlers on the River than are fed by the mission well as we could to make themselves in some way useful ... station"88. Pastor J. G. Rechner, the President of the Lutheran [but] this plan seems to me to be a failureJ3 Chmch of South Australia, forcefully protested but to no avail. He therefore resolved to follow the policy whereby "everyone be The Church, though in financial difficulties caused from the supplied with the necessities of life so to ... induce them to settle prolonged drought in South Australia, offered to pay rent at the down on the Reserve Land laid out by the government for them"74. rate of 10/- per square mile per annum for the resumed section. Similarly to Marie Yamba, the functioning of the Mission was This was not acceptable to the Minister for Lands. The second and severely hindered by changes in the staff. Meyer was dismissed in apparently more important reason for diminishing the reserve was 1890. In August an enquiry was held under Hugh Milman, the the continued pressure from the local businessmen to rescind the Police Magistrate of Cooktown, regarding allegations that Meyer grant. In July 1891 the Secretary of the Aytown Chamber of had accepted £15 bribe to recruit labourers for a beche-de-mer boat, Commerce pointed out and that he was frequently intoxicated. On the first count it was the. necessity of not hastily reserving lands for aboriginals, apparent that he had induced three Aborigines to work on a boat whIch may be required for the purposes of natural develop­ for six months, originally informing them that they were simply ment, an? it.is scarcely logical to stop [this] by locking up going to Cooktown for supplies7s. One of the men, suspecting some of Its rIchest natural resources, so far as the white man foul play, escaped from the boat, only to be attacked by a shark was concerned, while they are fully vested in the blacks to and drowned. The other two natives returned to the Mission. whom they are of no use whatsoever.89 Meyer alleged that the money was a donation but this seems A petition from seven citizens claimed that "several of us have unlikely; Marsh, the boat owner was a disreputable character, and speculated largely in cattle and machinery in the hope of the land admitted that "I am not the sort of person to give 15 pounds to being speedily thrown open and if such is not done we shall be the aboriginal mission for nothing"76. He added that his agreement heavy losers"90. The Minister this time declined the petition, with Meyer was to obtain twenty or thirty men. This regrettable arguing that this could interfere \\'ith the positive accomplishments incident greatly undermined the Aborigines' confidence in the of the Mission. The presence of timber getters \\'ho "do not bear Mission that very enviable reputation for honesty towards the [Lands] depart­ [they] do not frequent the station in the same numbers as ment"91 was criticized. Dr Walter Roth the Northern Protector formerly, giving as their reasons for keeping away that their was likewise antagonistic to this "lot of blackguards"92, who intro~ boys had been sold by the missionaries, and that they are afraid duced alcohol and seduced the women. Previously, Missionary of being treated in the same manner.77 Meyer had permitted them to cut the Mission's timber as "all i Regarding the second charge Mrs Martha Davis, a neighbour, stated ask is that the natives are not interfered \\'ith and that the timber that she had seen Meyer drunk on several occasions; likewise the near.est the station should be left for building purposes"93. school master, Mr Jenowsky, informed her that "this is of common FInance was a constant hindrance to the development and occurrence up there"78. The government demanded Meyer's expansion ot the Mission. In August 1897 Archibald Meston the resignation, threatening to withhold its grant until the Church Chief Protector of Aboriginals, recommended that Bloomficld's acceded. The Lutheran Church, under Pastor R. G. Rechner held grant be curtailed from £250 to £150 as "the money spent on this its own enquiry the same year and felt that Meyer was alto~ether river has given the poorest results than those from any other blameless. localitY"94. The yearly contribution of the Lutheran Church varied

Qllccns/alld Hailage Sebastian Horlein, Bloomfield. (By courtesy of the author)

between £fooo and £130095. Nevertheless, little advance was Bloomfield blacks, they were to find the Cape Bedford Aborigines visible; nor .were the missionaries succeeding in the moral and a more willing audience. The foundation of a Christian mission on spiritual 'regeneration' of the blacks whom they viewed as the North Shore Reserve, Cooktown, which was called Hope Vale "apathetic iMusceptible, defiant and lazy"96. And further, as was due ironically to the unfortunate ship-wreck of the steamer Missionary H6tlein remarked the more one progresses in "the Papua on 9 December 1885. Dr Johannes Flierl, perhaps the knowledge of the language and with that, the knowledge of the Lutheran Church's most outstanding missionary in Australia at the people,the more one realizes how Satan has got these poor time, had been awaiting its arrival, for it was to take him to creatures in his possessibn"97. Finchhafen, in German New Guinea, to commence missionary In 1900, the Synod ultimately decided to abandon Bloomfield activity there. During his enforced and seemingly prolonged subsequent to·~ rather scathing report by Dr Roth in which he sojourn in the Colony, Flierl, unaccustomed to idleness and on the brought some unsavoury facts to the attention of the Home recommendation of the local citizens, decided to take advantage Secretary. A labourer named Steiger had "attempted to tamper of the evangelical possibilities of the region. Nevertheless at that with (some) girls"98, and had succeeded in several instances. He time his primary concern was to found a "favourable place of had "beat up a half-caste girl called Lily"99. Furthermore, he had retreat" 106, where shown considerable audacity when, on Mack's orders, he the missionaries from Germany can get a little accustomed to "threatened [Horlein] with assault if he should go there again"loo. the tropical climate before they enter their field of work in The Synod accepted the government's decision to discontinue New Guinea. Likewise, all missionaries can find here a finance to the Mission without demur, and subsequently entered resting place, where they can enjoy, not merely the comforts into unsatisfactory negotiations with the Australian Board of of civilization, but also the love and company of faithful Missions to take over Bloomfield. The Anglicans were desultory brothers, and they can gain strength for new work.lo! in making up their minds, deciding in the negative in February 1901 This was not to underestimate the consideration that because "the financial responsibility of Yarrabah"101. Pastor the main point of all mission work is to Christianize the Horlein had been left alone at the station after Rechner advised heathen - so consequently they become good and civilized; Missionary Mack in strong terms that he "ought to go to America, and this chiefly has to be done by religious instruction and as (there was) no place for him here"i02. Horlein begged the the preaching of the gospel. I 08 Lutheran Church to transfer him as "( I) will not be able to stand He named the new settlement, Elim. The government, unusual in its the trying work at Bloomfield much longer, and would like to be generosity, offered to erect a house and store for the white staff, shifted in a few months if possible"103. He actually left in May twenty houses for the Aborigines worth a total of £550 and to 1901 having supported the Aborigines from his own depleted provide enough fencing for ten acres, a dt-ity and horses 0; a boat, resources I 04. Dr Otto Theile, president of the Church in Queens­ as well as sufficient tools and seeds. A" further £200 was furnished land in the 1930s, lamented for foodl09. In return, the Mission which came under the it fills the heart with sadness when it is realized that sixteen Neuendettelsau Society in Bavaria, was to agree to remain there for years of effort and sacrifice remained without result. During five years. those years, not a single native was baptised. I 05 The segregation and transformation of the blacks was to proceed But if the Lutheran missionaries were to be disheartened by more successfully here than at Bloomfield or Marie Yamba though overwhelming problems and the disconcerting indifference of the the missionaries at first felt quite discouraged by the pro~pect of

Page Thirty Queensland Heritage proselytizing to these dispirited people who "had all reached that to extend the reserve into better land to the north of the Melvor state through love of pleasure, drink and opium" 11 O. In 1889 River. Flierl's dream that the settlement would grow, if not Missionary pfalzer requested the government to prohibit any natives prosperous, at least independent on the proceeds from tropical from entering the environs of the town where they "learn the vices fruit, was never to eventuate. Sweet potatoes, maize, pumpkins, of unprincipled white men" 1 11. Dr Flierl firmly believed that only melons, Chinese beans and coconuts were all grown rather recently had the pernicious practice of cannibalism finally been unsuccessfullY121. Ten years after Hope Vale was established, 400 suppressed112. In May 1886 it had been widely circulated in the head of cattle were brought to form the nucleus of a herd. How­ press that Flierl, Briar and Doblies had been murdered and eaten. ever, "[they were] much neglected through the Mission having Later in September that year the Aborigines attacked and besieged no one to understand and properly care for the stoek"122. Since the the settlement, whilst in Cooktown it was generally maintained Koko Yimidin, the principal tribe on the station, were predomi­ that the missionaries had once more fallen prey to these nantly a coastal people one hope lay with exploiting the products "cannibals"113. The Europeans at the station, however, were of the sea. Yet this was never fully exploited, though a little apparently not the primary focus of the blacks' attention, as the trochus and beche-de-mer fishing was done on the reefs. Results fighting was of an inter-tribal nature. Briar, a mission helper, fired in this direction were so meagre as to prove ultimately insignificant. a few shots in the air, to no avail, and after six days of fear he The problem was not simply one of self-sufficiency, for if the wrote to the Cooktown police requesting their assistance. They missionaries were to transform the "poor heathen who stand on rallied immediately, and when the Aborigines saw their arrival by a very inferior step of culture"123 to industrious Christians, one of boat, they fled into the bush. They were hunted down by the the primary means by which this was to be accomplished was police, only two were £aptured, but even these escaped their through continuous hard labour, specifically of an agricultural captors l14 . Three years later the missionaries were once again nature. Dr Theile later explained: obliged to call in the police when serious fights broke outl IS. it is not sufficient to feed and clothe the aboriginals; it is The Reserve, though large in area, contained land with "very necessary that they learn to work and earn their own living. poor soil", "barren sandy hills" with infertile swampSl16. Somewhat They should not become parasitic hangers on of the white optimistically, Flier! originally thought "it has good spots which man, but self-reliant and self-supporting, 124 should suffice us completely" 117. The Chief Protector of He concluded, "it is not the ideal to feed [them] like so many Aboriginals in 1908, Richard Howard, confirmed the poor quality animals in a ZOO"125. of the By 1900 many of the Aborigines in the Cooktown-Cape Bedford present area apportioned to Cape Bedford Mission which is area had made Hope Vale their permanent' home, with each of the most barren and sterile nature, so much so that it is married couple being given a small house with an adjacent plot difficult, if not impossible to find even a few acres on which of garden to cultivate. Overall, a constant problem was the small to grow sweet potatoes, much less any other crop.118 amount of meaningful employment. The missionaries concentrated This area which was "of no use whatsoever neither for white their energies on the children who they believed were not as yet people nor the aboriginals"119 was so desolate that "you may find in the grip of Satan. The girls were taught reading, writing, house­ an alligator or two in a lagoon but no kangaroo or wallaby could keeping, sewing and cooking. Dr Roth reported that these girls live there"12o. The Mission became engaged in a persistent search "know many more Bible stories than I do"126. The boys were

Hope Vale in the 19OOs. (By courtesy of the author)

Queensland Heritage Page Thirty-one engaged in the gardens and a little hunting. The education provided by the Mission was of a very utilitarian nature, for as Pastor G. Schwarz declared: no practically useful results can possibly accrue from teaching our mainland blacks composition, fractions, decimals or any other subject that will in anyway enable them to come into competition with Europeans. 127 It was the missionaries' intention to mould the blacks into earnest Christians in the remote and unreal world of the mission community. The Aborigines were to be isolated ~rom all contact with Europeans, other than mission staff, and thus hopefully 'protected' for their own good. Schwarz even went so far as to try to stop all communications with life outside the Mission. He wrote that "a not unusual source of trouble, fortunately now, I believe, nipped in the bud, has been letterwriting with ill­ concealed attempts at making them dissatisfied with their lot"128. Furthermore, the children were to be kept totally segregated in dormitories from their parents. Families could see each other only on specified holidays. The first baptism occurred in 1894 when a young girl, renamed Maria to indicate her change in status, was fully converted129. It was not until 1902, however, that Pastor Schwarz was satisfied that any of the youths were worthy of this immense benefit13o, though "ever more and more groups of boys and girls, men and women broke away from the old heathenish ways and accepted God and his word" 131 • The principal of 'no work, no food' was strictly enforced except for the aged and infirm, for "'the wild' blacks are allowed only on the Mission grounds when coming occasionally for food and when visiting the children"132. Unlike Bloomfield and Marie Yamba, Hope Vale was fortunate in maintaining a continuity of staff. After Fleirl left in July 1886 he was replaced the following year by Pastor George Schwarz, a recent graduate of Neuendettelsau. His indomitable perseverance in the face of overwhelming problems of the non-productive nature of the soil and the lack of finance partially secured the success of Hope Vale. By 1905 it could boast ninety-five permanent residents, half of whom attended school and spoke good English. The Aborigines resided in village communities, all able-bodied worked and a considerable proportion had nominally accepted Christianity. Schwarz was an impelling personality, extremely paternalistic yet conscious of the incalculable wrong done to the Aborigines. He was a talented linguist and botanist. It is more than likely that he supplied Dr Roth with ethnographic data on the Melvor River people. He remained on Hope Vale until 1942 when he was placed in an internment camp near Brisbane. The Aborigines were taken to Woorabinda, near Rockhampton, where twenty-eight died in one month alone, whilst another thirty-five died during their inhumane stay 133. CONCLUSION Thus, the Lutherans were able to establish a permanent Christian community at Hope Vale, while irrevocably failing at Bloomfield and Marie Yamba. The missionaries formulated their ideas concerning their potential evangelization of the blacks in terms of culture contact. They believed that Aborigines in their traditional life had few, if any, religious susceptibilities and possessed only the rudest and most elementary forms of culture. Furthermore, pagan heathenism was felt to be far easier to eradicate than civilised vice. From the assumption that "the raw aboriginal is only a child" 134, it logically followed that those who had experienced little cultural disarrangement, such as the Bloomfield blacks, would be simple to convert whilst those who had been 'contaminated' by the European vices of alcohol and opium and who languished in the towns would maintain resistance to any evangelical efforts. Yet, in fact, the opposite situation was to 'otcur. Ultimately, Bloom­ field and to a lesser extent, Marie Yamba, were to fail because of the strength and well-integrated nature of Aboriginal society while G. H. Schwarz, Hope Vale. Hope Vale was to triumph because of the social and cultural disintegration which the Cooktown natives had experienced. But (By courtesy of the author) was 'Hope Vale' a success? To the missionaries, it may have been seen as such for the 'Children of Darkness' were indeed transformed

Page Thirty-two Queensland Heritage W. Poland distributing the week's damper. (By courtesy of the author) into earnest, industrious, sodlr Christians. Yet if one is to regard 10. John Ewen Davidson's Diary, 10 Jul 1867 [located in missionary activity from the blacks' point of view, it is apparent Queensland Cane Grower's Council library Brisbane]. ' that the process of evangelization was but another agent which the 1L "Missionary Hansche annual report· on' Marie Yamba"; in dominant European culture employed to destroy traditional forms Kirchliche Mitteilungen aus und uber Nordamerika, of Aboriginal life. Australien und Neu Guinea, no. 19 of 1897. 12. Report of Relieving Police Magistrate, W. Hodgkinson of REFERENCES Cooktown to Under Colonial Secretary, 25 Oct 1886 1. Duncan McNab to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, [Q.S.A. COLIA 487, in-letter no. 700 of -1886] . 13 Jan 1880 [Q.S.A. COLIA 308, in-letter no. 836 of 13. Petition of miners from Port Douglas to Colonial Secretary, 1881 ]. 3 Apr 1882 [Q.S.A. COLIA 335, in-letter no. 2409 of 2. The most notable attempts were the Lutheran Mission at 1882]. Nundah in the 1840s; the Roman Catholic Mission on 14. Petition of Palmer River miners to Colonial Secretary, Jan Stradbroke Island in the 1840s and 1850s; Pastor Hauss­ 1886 [Q.S.A. COLIA 453, in-letter no. 552 of 1886]. mann's attempt at Beenleigh and Rev. E. Fuller at Hinchin­ 15. G. C. Bolton. - A Thousand Miles Away. A History of brook Island in 1873. North Queensland to 1920. Brisbane, Jacaranda with 3. McNab to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 13 Jan A.N.U. Press, 1963. p. 53. . 1880, loco cit. 16. Cooktown Independent, no date [Q.S.A. COLIA 442, 4. W. Scott, J. Browne and W. Clark to Colonial Secretary, in-letter no. 3053 of 1885]. 9 Jan 1870 [Q.S.A. COLIA 139, in-letter no. 786 of 17. Inspector Fitzgerald of Cooktown to Commissioner of 1870] . Police, 30 Apr 1885 [Q.S.A. COLIA 422, in-letter no. 3021 5. Police Magistrate G. E. Dalrymple, Bowen to Colonial of 1885]. Secretary, 24 Apr 1868 [Q.S.A. COLIA 16, in-letter no. 18. Inspector Fitzgerald of Cooktown to Commissioner of 1262 of 1861]. Police,27 May 1892 [Q.S.A. COLIA 704, in-letter no. 8516 6. William Chatfield, J.P., of Natal Downs to Attorney­ of 1892]. General, 6 Jan 1869 [Q.S.A. COLIA 121, in-letter no. 1483 19. Inspector at Coen to Inspector Fitzgerald of Cooktown, of 1869]. 27 May 1892 [Q.S.A. COLIA 704, in-letter no. 8516 of 7. Sergeant B. Shea, Bowen to Inspector Armstrong of 1892]. Townsville, 22 Feb 1881 [Q.S.A. COLlA 309, in-letter 20. Police Magistrate Zillman of Herberton to Colonial no. 1141 of 1881]. Secretary, 16 June 1889 [Q.S.A. COLI139]. 8. Registrar-General's Aboriginal Census, 5 Oct 1885 [Q.S.A. 21. The Brisbane Courier, 1 Mar 1879; in Bishop Mathew Hale COLIA 484, in-letter no. 7857 of 1885]. ~o Colonial Secretary, 4 Mar 1879 [Q.S.A. COLIA 272, 9. Queensland Patriot, 1 Jul 1878. m-Ietter no. 858 of 1879].

Queensland Heritage Page Thirty-three 22. Ibid. 61. Queensland Government Gazette, 7 Aug 1886. 23. Town Clerk of Cooktown to Colonial Secretary, 18 Mar 62. Ibid., 2 Mar. 1889. 1882 [Q.S.A. COLIA 344, in-letter no. 4680 of 1881]. 63. Theile, op. cit. p. 104. 24. The Queenslander, 17 Aug 1895. 64. Report of Relieving Police Magistrate, W. Hodgkinson to 25. "J. Flierl report on Elim and Hope Vale 1888-1898"; in Under Colonial Secretary, 25 Oct 1885; reprinted in The Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, 1898, Queenslander, 13 Nov 1886. Vol. IV. p. 503. 65. "Report of Pastor Horlein on Bloomfield"; in Kirchliche 26. Cooktown Independent, no date [Q.S.A. COLIA 442, in­ Mitteilungen, no. 8 of 1893. letter no. 3053 of 1885]. 66. Louis Bauer to Colonial Secretary, 16 Aug 1886 [Q.S.A. 27. H. St. George, Police Magistrate of Cooktown to Colonial COLIA 478, in-letter no. 6585 of 1886]. Secretary, 3 Mar 1882 [Q.S.A. COLIA 333, in-letter no. 67. M. Lohe. - "Missionary John Flierl"; in Lutheran Almanac 1385 of 1882]. Year book of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in 28. Sub-Inspector J. Brooke to Inspector Fitzgerald of Cook­ Australia, 1966. p. 41. town, 20 Dec 1881 [Q.S.A. COLIA 356, in-letter no. 1303 68. W. Bauer to Police Magistrate of Cooktown, 21 Feb 1887 of 1881]. [Q.S.A. COLIA 492, in-letter no. 1794 of 1887]. 29. John Davis to Colonial Secretary, 16 Sep 1881 [Q.S.A. 69. Kirchliche Mitteilungen, 1887. p. 35. COLIA 344, in-letter no. 4680 of 1881] . 70. Ibid., no. 4 of 1897. 30. John Davis to Colonial Secretary, 15 Jul 1881 [Q.S.A. 71. "Report of Pastor Horlein", loco cit. COLIA 317, in-letter no. 3205 of 1881]. 72. Carl Meyer to Chief Secretary, 3 Jul 1889 [United 31. Ibid. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, B808] . 32. Queensland Government Gazette, 15 Aug 1881. 73. Ibid. 33. German and Scandinavian Lutheran Synod of Queensland 74. Ibid. to Minister for Lands, 8 Sep 1887 [Lands Department File 75. Evidence of Bloomfield Aborigines to Hugh Milman, 87/113]. 12 Aug 1890 [United Evangelical Lutheran Church of 34. Ibid. Australia Archives, B807]. 35. Ibid. 76. Marsh's evidence to Hugh Milman, 12 Aug 1890 [United 36. Queensland Government Gazette, 24 Dec 1887. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, B807] . 37. Land Commissioner of Bowen to Under Secretary of Public 77. Assistant Under Colonial Secretary to Pastor Rechner, Lands, 8 Dec 1887 [Lands Department File 87/113]. 28 Aug 1890 [United Evangelical Lutheran Church of 38. F. O. Theile. - One Hundred Years of the Lutheran Australia Archives, B807]. Church in Queensland. Adelaide, United Evangelical 78. Evidence of Martha Davis to Hugh Milman, 12 Aug 1890 Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, 1938. p. 104. [United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, 39. Ibid. B807] . 40. Ibid. 79. Kirchliche Mitteilungen, no. 7 of 1892. p. 6. 41. Ibid. 80. Ibid. 42. Ibid. 81. Theile, op. cit. p. 106. 43. "Annual report of Pastor Hansche"; in Kirchliche 82. Ibid. Mitteilungen} no. 9 of 1895. 83. Rechner to Under Home Secretary, 8 May 1900 [United 44. Ibid., 1896. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, B833] . 45. Ibid., 1897. 84. Kirchliche Mitteilungen, no. 3 of 1891. 46. Ibid. 85. Land Ranger, D. Donovan to Land Commissioner, Cairns, 47. Theile, op. cit. p. 105. 2 Jul 1891 [Lands Department File 1886-69]. 48. Crown Land Ranger of Mackay, J. E. Arnold to Lands 86. Queensland Government Gazette, 29 Oct 1892. Commissioner, Mackay, 29 Jan 1902 [Lands Department 87. J. Byers to Under Secretary of Lands, 24 Jan 1892 [Lands File 87/113]. Department File 1886-69]. 49. George Fleuer, Superintendent of German and Scandinavian 88. Ibid. Lutheran Synod of Queensland to Minister for Lands, 89. W. Aruch, Secretary of Aytown Chamber of Commerce to 19 Jan 1903 [Lands Department File 87/113]. Under Secretary of Lands, 14 Apr 1893 [Lands Department 50. W. S.McCulkin, Bloomsbury to Under Secretary Lands, File 1886-69]. 8 Jan 1904 [Lands Department File 87/113] . 90. Petition to Under Secretary of Lands, 6 Jul 1891 [Lands 51. Mrs A.Emerson to F. Kenna, M.L.A., 24 Oct 1904 [Lands Department File 1886-69]. Department File 87/113]. 91. Challinor, Acting Land Commissioner of Cooktown to 52. J. E. Arnold to Lands Commissioner of Mackay, 29 Jan 1902 Under Secretary of Lands, 27 Jan 1893 [Lands Department [Lands Department File 87/113]. File 1886-69]. 53. Constable W. H. Ryan, Proserpine to Under Secretary of 92. St~tement of Dr Roth to W. White, Land Commissioner, Lands, 24 Dec 1904 [Lands Department File 87/113]. Calms, 2 June 1899 [Lands Department File 92/151]. 54. Pastor Kaibel to Home Secretary Foxton, 27 Aug 1900 93. C. Mey:r to petitioners of Aytown, 6 Jul 1891 [United [United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, EvangelIcal Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, B833]. B833 ]. 94. Archibald Meston to Home Secretary 12 Aug 1897 [Q.S.A. 55. Under Secretary Home Office to Pastor Kaibel, Immanuel COL/139]. , Synod of South Australia, 27 Dec 1900 [United Evangelical 95. Figures from United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, B833] . Australia Archives, B833. 56. Dr Walter Roth, C.P.A. to Under Secretary of Lands, 96. .". Kirchliche Mitteilungen, no. 8 of 1898. 7 June 1904 [Lands Department File 87/113] . 97. Ibid., 1894. 57. Ibid. 58. Mrs A. Emerson to F. Kenna, M.L.A., 27 May 1904 [Lands 98. Und~r Home Se~retary to Pastor Rechner, 24 Apr 1900 Department File 87/113]. [UnIted EvangelIcal Lutheran Church of Australia Archives 59. Roth to Under Secretary of Lands, 7 June 1904, loco cit. B833]. ' 60. Petition of settlers of Aytown and Bloomfield River to 99. Ibid. Minister for Lands, Nov 1885 [Lands Department File 100. Ibid. 1886-69] . 101. Archbishop of Sydney to Pastor Kaibel, 19 Feb 1901

Page Thirty-four Queensland Heritage [United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, 1908 [Lands Department Reserve File 3445, Part I]. B833] . 120. Pastor Otto Theile to Home Secretary, 28 Mar 1934 [Lands 102. Telegrams Rechner to Hodein, 2 Mar 1900 [United Department Reserve File 3445, Part I]. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia Archives, B833] . 121. Kirchliche Mitteilungen, no. 6 of 1887. 103. Ibid. 122. W. William, Land Ranger Mareeba to Land Commissioner, 104. Cooktown Independent, 20 Mar 1901. Cairns, 29 Mar 1916 [Lands Department Reserve File 3445, 105. Theile, op. cit. p. 107. Part I]. 106. Kirchliche Mitteilungen, no. 4 of 1886. 123. "Report by Missionary pfalzer"; in Kirchliche Mitteilungen, 107. Ibid. 1887. 108. J. Flied and J. Briar to Colonial Secretary, 26 Dec 1885; 124. O. Theile to Home Secretary, 28 Mar 1934, lac. cit. in Lohe, lac. cit. 125. Ibid. 109. Hugh Milman, Police Magistrate, Cooktown to Flied, 126. "Annual report of Dr Waiter Roth"; in Votes and Proceed­ 12 Jan 1886; in Lohe, lac. cit. p. 38. ings of the Legislative Assembly, 1898, Vol. IV. p. 501. 11 O. Kirchliche Mitteilungen. 127. W. Roth. Annual Report to Home Secretary 1904 [Q.S.A. 111. Ibid., no. 6 of 1886. COL/139]. 112. Ibid., 1886. 128. Ibid. 113. Ibid., 1886. 129. Kirchliche Mitteilungen, no. 3 of 1894. 114. Ibid., no. 6 of 1887. DO. Ibid., no. 3 of 1902. 115. Hugh Milman to Under Colonial Secretary, 21 Nov 1889 131. Theile, op. cit. p. 120. [Q.S.A. COLIA 597, in-letter no. 10,164 of 1889]. 132. "Chief Protector's Annual Report"; in Votes and Proceed­ 116. Richard Howard, Chief Protector of Aboriginals to Under ings of the Legislative Assembly, 1898, Vol. IV. p. 500. Home Secretary, 28 May 1908 [Lands Department Reserve 133. Dr Max Lohe, President of United Evangelical Lutheran File 3445, Part I]. Church of Australia to Mrs Kay Evans, 9 Jul 1969 117. Kirchliche Mitteilungen, no. 6 of 1886. [letter in possession of author]. 118. Richard Howard to Under Home Secretary, 28 May 1908, 134. Missionary Nicholas Hey of Mapoon to. Convener of lac. cit. Presbyterian Board of Mission (Queensland), 25 Aug 1913 119. G. H. Schwarz to Chief Protector of Aborigines, 21 May [Lands Department File 96-91, Part I].

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