The Narungga and Europeans: Cross-Cultural Relations on Yorke Peninsula in the Nineteenth Century

THE NARUNGGA AND EUROPEANS: CROSS-CULTURAL RELATIONS ON YORKE PENINSULA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Skye Krichauff Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts Discipline of History School of History and Politics University of Adelaide July 2008 Table of Contents List of figures ii Abstract iii Declaration iv Acknowledgements v Introduction 1 1. 1802-1836: the appearance of bindirra 10 2. 186-1846: the arrival of surveyors and ‘adventurers’ 34 3. 1849: ‘Murderous encounters’ 59 4. The pastoral years: a tentative peace 105 5. 1866-1880: the Narungga and Julius Kühn 145 Conclusion 189 Appendices 192 Bibliography 197 i List of illustrations 1. Flinders’ map of Yorke Peninsula 16 2. Flinders’ rough chart of Head of Great Inlet 14 20 (the head of St Vincent’s Gulf) 3. Vegetation on Yorke Peninsula prior to clearing by farmers 64 4. Map of pastoral leases, Yorke Peninsula, 1860 65 5. ‘Loading Sheep, Yorke’s Peninsula’ 111 6. Pethuenunkar (alias George Penton) 114 7. ‘Surveyors Encampment, Yorke’s Peninsula’ 119 8. ‘Kangaroo Hunting, Yorke’s Peninsula’ 119 9. ‘Native cooking’ and ‘Native cooroboree’ 121 10. ‘Shepherd’s hut near Lake Sunday’ 137 11. ‘Police Station on Yorke’s Peninsula’ 141 12. ‘Kadina Natives’ 184 13. Yorketown Lake, 1890 185 14. Jack, Lucy and Charlie, Yorketown Lake, 1890 186 ii Abstract The Narungga are the Aboriginal people of Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. This thesis explores cross-cultural encounters and relations between the Narungga and Europeans in the nineteenth century. Contemporary Narungga people, hoping to learn about the lives of their forebears, instigated this research. The Narungga have not previously been the focus of serious historical or anthropological investigation. This thesis therefore fills a significant gap in the historiography. This thesis seeks to re-imagine the past in a way which is empathetic and realistic to Narungga people who lived in the nineteenth century. To understand the impact of the arrival and permanent settlement of Europeans upon the lives of the Narungga, it is necessary to look closely at the cultural systems which orientated and encompassed both the Narungga and the newcomers. The two groups impacted on and shaped the lives of the other and neither can be looked at in isolation. This work has been inspired by the writings of historical anthropologists and ethno-historians. The findings of anthropologists, linguists, geographers, botanists and archaeologists are drawn upon. First hand accounts which provide graphic and immediate depictions of events have been closely analysed. The primary sources that have been examined include local and Adelaide newspapers, official correspondence between settlers, police, the Protector of Aborigines, the Governor and the Colonial Secretary, and private letters, diaries, paintings, photographs and sketches. The archives continuously reveal great injustices committed against the Narungga, and this thesis does not seek to minimize the brutality of ‘white’ settlement nor the devastating outcomes of British colonialism on the Narungga. But the records also reveal the majority of Narungga people living in the nineteenth century were not helpless victims being pushed around by autocratic pastoralists or disengaged bureaucrats. On Yorke Peninsula in the nineteenth century, the future was unknown; the Narungga were largely able to maintain their autonomy while Europeans were often in a vulnerable and dependent position. The Narungga were active agents who adapted to and incorporated the new circumstances as they were able and as they saw fit. Rather than living in a closed or static society, the Narungga readily accommodated and even welcomed the Europeans, with their strange customs and exotic animals, plants and goods. The Narungga responded to the presence of Europeans in a way which made sense to them and which was in keeping with their customs and beliefs. iii Declaration This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan or photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. SIGNED: DATE: iv Acknowledgements There are many people I would like to sincerely thank for their generous and kind assistance. The Board of the Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association instigated and initially funded this research and provided technological equipment. Lesley Wanganeen, Michael Wanganeen, Kevin O’Loughlin, Betty Fisher, Uncle Lewis O’Brien, Alan Murdock, Colin Goldsworthy, Kerryn Goldsworthy, Murl Parsons, Doreen Kartinyeri, Rose Dixon, and Phoebe Wanganeen shared their time, experience and knowledge. John Poynter lent and allowed me the use of his maps of Yorke Peninsula. Chester Schultz shared miscellaneous historic information, in particular Narungga place names. Jane Simpson provided detailed translations of Narungga personal names. Philip Clarke helped with botanical information. Tom Gara passed on the reference numbers and information of relevant photos held in the South Australian Museum Archives, Mandy Paul did likewise for paintings in the Mitchell Library. John West-Sooby gave advice on French translations. Deb Kelleher lent precious books, and Christina Eira provided sound advice. Staff at the South Australian Museum, in particular Lea Gardam, Tara Dodd and Ali Abdullah-Highfold, efficiently helped with locating Museum archives, artefacts and records. I would like to thank Janet Campbell for proof reading several chapters, and Henry and Mary Krichauff and Sam Crawford for reading various drafts and greatly helping at home. Sam, Emily, Jemima and Hamish Crawford and Mary Taylor (and family) enthusiastically accompanied me on several site visits, as did Alan Murdock. The staff and post graduates in the Discipline of History at the University of Adelaide gave feed back on various presentations. I’d particularly like to thank my supervisor Robert Foster for his constructive and helpful advice. v Introduction This thesis examines the history of the Aboriginal1 people of Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, who, by 1899, became known to Europeans as the Narungga. This research was initiated by the Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association (NAPA). NAPA is a community organization based on Yorke Peninsula which is governed and run by people who identify as Narungga. For the past three years I have been reporting my findings to NAPA, whose involvement has highlighted the relevance of the past in the present, the politics involved in the writing of history, and the ethics involved in historical research involving Aboriginal groups. Oral histories go back to the early twentieth century, but very little is known about nineteenth century Narungga life. NAPA instigated this project hoping the archives would reveal information which might bring to present generations an empathetic awareness and pride in their forebears. Upon completion, this thesis will be rewritten in a less academic form for NAPA and the wider community. Life for both Narungga and non-Narungga people has changed dramatically over the past 160 years. The devastating impact of European colonization on Narungga society has left contemporary Narungga people with a fragmented knowledge of ‘traditional’ life. Unlike other South Australian groups such as the Dieri and Ngarrindjeri, the Narungga have never been the focus of detailed historical or anthropological investigation. Many Narungga people today look enviously at the disproportionate representation of other Aboriginal groups in institutions such as the South Australian Museum, and the prominence of such groups in the wider, non-Aboriginal community. Some Narungga question why their forebears and their culture were never deemed worthy of academic investigation, why they have been ‘forgotten’. The pros and cons of being the focus of academic study can be widely debated but there is little doubt information gathered systematically over a prolonged period of time provides a precious resource for many contemporary Aboriginal people. Attempts to reconstruct ‘traditional’ Narungga life rely largely on sketchy and contradictory information collected in the nineteenth 1 ‘Indigenous’ is currently accepted by scholars as the appropriate term for describing the original inhabitants of Australia and their descendents. However, the people I am working with feel this is a non-specific, global term. They prefer ‘Aboriginal’ which they identify with as exclusively Australian. In respect of these sentiments, ‘Aboriginal’ is used throughout this thesis. 1 century by European men who responded to questionnaires sent by distant ‘anthropologists’. 2 They answered questions which were framed in culturally, historically and gender specific ways – we learn as much about the interests of nineteenth century, well-educated men as we do about traditional Narungga customs and beliefs. In 1899, ethnographer Frank Gillen made several field trips to Point Pearce but the valuable information he collected was never published and is not widely known.3 Anthropologist Norman Tindale visited the Peninsula in 1935 and interviewed Louisa Eglington – ‘the sole survivor’ of ‘the Southern Yorke Peninsula natives’.4 The experience and knowledge Tindale brought to the interview is

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