A STORY OF FIRE, CONTINUED ABORIGINAL CHRISTIANITY MAX HART NEW CREATION PUBLICATIONS INC. P.O. Box 403, Blackwood, South Australia, 5051 1997 Published by NEW CREATION PUBLICATIONS INC. P.O. Box 403, Blackwood, South Australia, 5051 Second Edition 1997 © Max Hart, 1988 National Library of Australia cataloguing-in-publication data Hart, Max A story of fire, continued: Aboriginal Christianity 2nd ed. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 0 86408 203 7 1. Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship. 2. Aborigines, Australian—Religion. I. Hart, Max. A story of fire. II. Title. III. Title: A story of fire. 248.2460899915 This book is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher. Cover design: Glenys Murdoch Cover Artwork: Johnny Warrangkula Wholly produced and set up in Adelaide, South Australia Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank all those who contributed to this book, especially all those Aboriginal people who willingly and freely gave their time and made the effort to put onto tape their own experiences and ideas, without which this book would not have been possible. Also, to the many Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men and women who have agreed to be interviewed for the updating of this book; to Bryce Clark, who has given his time and skills to travel to so many places and interview so many people; to New Creation Publications, and to Geoffrey Bingham in particular, for the help and encouragement they have given for the revision. COVER DESIGN This is a design taken from Johnny Warrangkula’s ground painting. The footprints indicate people walking about collecting bush tucker near the various camp sites. The symbol of concentric circles is widely used in Central Australia to signify a camp site which includes a camp fire. The two ‘U’ shapes represent the imprints made by people as they sit down and talk around the camp fire. Instead of one fire there are many fires, showing that the Gospel has spread around the land. Many Aboriginal people in many fellowships feel their hearts warmed by the Spirit of God. Thanks to Johnny Warrangkula and Tula Arts for allowing me to use the painting. Contents Acknowledgements vii Introduction to the First Edition xi Introduction to the Second Edition xv Map xvii 1 The Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship and the Port Augusta Convention 1 2 Ernabella Easter Convention—April 1982 15 3 The Renewal Movement at Elcho Island 27 4 May Day! May Day!—Katherine Convention 39 5 Report from Western Australia 48 6 The Kimberleys—A Fiery Climate 61 7 Joe Lannigan from Halls Creek 68 8 Fires on the Beach 76 9 Different Fires—Stories Told by Murrabuda Wurramarrba 87 10 The Story of Hope Vale—The Need for Training 98 11 Anglican Christians in Cairns—1995 111 12 Spirit Moving in Our Hearts 117 13 Fire at Griffith 130 14 The AEF in Victoria—The Burning Question of Identity 144 15 Family Church in the Lower Murray 152 16 Black Fire Attracts Black—In Central Australia 164 17 The Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress 173 18 Nungalinya College, Darwin—1995 183 19 Some Characteristics of Aboriginal Christianity 203 20 Taking Responsibility 228 21 Conclusions 256 Bibliography 260 Index 262 Introduction to the First Edition I was flying in a small plane between Yuendumu and Lajamanu—then called Hooker Creek, on my annual trip around Northern Territory Aboriginal schools to visit students on teaching practice. There had been some good rains in Central Australia early that year which brought a good growth of grasses and shrubs across the usually dry centre. As we flew across the Tanami country the pilot pointed out the wall of smoke and flame of a bushfire burning steadily across the land and moving slowly but surely without anyone trying to stop it. It was a spectacular sight to see a fire, miles wide, flaring up every now and then as it reached some bush or mulga tree, and relentlessly burning everything in its path. It looked as though it could burn right through the land from coast to coast although that would depend on the direction of the wind, and naturally it did eventually burn itself out. That fire stuck in my memory and I often wondered how it started and what happened to bring a fire like that into a seemingly uninhabited country. How did fire first come into the land? Some years later, up in Arnhem Land, I met an Aboriginal artist who painted on bark the stories of the coming of fire. THE MYTHOLOGY The stories told by the bark paintings have been recorded by Anne Wells1 and by Louis Allen2 who describes the fire spirit as a person who came down from the sky to bring fire to the people on the earth. He saw their need of warmth and cooking but was so fiery that he set alight to everything he touched, the grasses, the bushes, the trees and even the stump on which he sat. Wells describes how some of the animals escaped into holes, into the river and into the sea, and how the people ran away in 1 A. E. Wells, This Their Dreaming, University of Queensland, 1971, pp. 60–62. 2 L. A. Allen, Time Before Morning, Rigby Ltd, Adelaide, 1976, pp. 110–113. XII A STORY OF FIRE, CONTINUED terror. Allen gives an account of the young men who with their fathers and mothers were burnt to death in the blaze. The dilemma of how the fire spirit could safely approach humans was solved by the painting of the fire symbol on the spirit’s body. The form of the elongated diamond shape was used, presumably because it represented the tongues of the flames. Using this symbol, the fire spirit was able to approach people and show them how to use fire. In traditional Aboriginal society fire was used for a variety of purposes. There were special ways of cooking kangaroo, emu or fish and these ways were carefully observed with almost ceremonial precision. Different tribes had their own special methods which, they say, were taught to them by their ancestors, such as this spirit. Hunting was sometimes made easier by the burning of a semi-circle of the bush which forced animals to flee in the direction of the waiting huntsmen. The fires used in hunting, intentionally or unintentionally burnt off the coarse dry grass and, after a rain, brought up the fresh green shoots which attracted the animals to graze. Fires were also used for warmth at night and as there were no blankets before white men came, Aborigines gained warmth by sleeping between two small fires. During the day, when the cold winds blew in Central Australia, the people carried firesticks to warm their naked bodies. These firesticks were used to light small clumps of spinifex and the smoke from these fires indicated to other members of the group just where their companions were travelling. In other places more sophisticated smoke signals were used to convey messages to neighbouring groups. Fire was used in the preparation of weapons in a variety of ways: straightening green shafts by heating them and bending them while still hot, hardening mulga digging sticks by scorching the sharp end, or preparing spinifex gum by melting the flakes of gum to act as a plastic glue, such as for joining a quartz flake onto a spear thrower for a cutting edge. One unusual use of fire was demonstrated at Milingimbi on one occasion when I was there. A small shelter was built on stilts and a smoky fire was lit underneath so that the men could sit up in the house free of mosquitos while the women kept the smoky fire burning underneath. To such people, who used fire so extensively in their everyday lives, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as tongues of fire would be especially significant. Like the fire spirit, Kurta, coming to bring fire to the earth, the gift of the Holy Spirit would bring a great change to their lives and social situations. This book is written to recount, often in the words of the Aboriginal people who experienced this change, what a difference ‘tongues of fire’ are making in their lives and communities. To collect this information I visited INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION XIII Aborigines in their own homes, talked with them and asked them to recount for me onto tape just what happened in their own lives and amongst their own people. From the time when the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship started its annual conventions at Port Augusta in 1970, I have heard stories of people whose lives have been changed. I spoke to two men outside the Port Augusta Town Hall after one of the first convention meetings and they told me how they used to go out each weekend to the sandhills away from the town and get themselves drunk. One day they went out and began discussing their lives, concluding that there must be something better to do than just get drunk, so they left their flagon and came into town where they heard about the AEF meetings. They were surprised to hear that there was an Aboriginal speaker that evening so they went along. Eventually they gave up their drinking and found a new purpose in life—to live for God and for His son, Jesus Christ. A new fire and enthusiasm was evident as they spoke to me. I have deliberately concentrated on recounting the positive effects of the power of God in the lives and communities of Aboriginal Christians.