WARNING The University of Adelaide Library recognises the moral rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the owners of their knowledge. Please be aware that this thesis may contain sensitive information, including names and images of people who have passed away and which may sadden and distress some Indigenous people. "11311 THE ABORIGINES' FRIENDS' ASSOCIATION AND THE NGARRINDJERI PEOPLE by GRAHAM JENKIN Vol ume II Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts, School of .l976. History, University of Adelaide, May CHAPTER VI. YEARS OF CLIMAX AND DECLINE lB89-l9ll The Staff at Raukkan Eleven men, includjng Char'ìes Eaton Tapìin (another of George Tapììn's sonsl applied for the position of superintendent at 'in Raukkan when Frederi ck Tapì d'ied , but the A. F.A. comm j ttee recom- mended the appointment of David Blackwell, the acting suoerinten- 't dent,' and accordingly Blackwell became superintendent as from I .l889.-2 May The new incumbent had been farm overseer cont'inuousìy since 1879, and also for a previous period, duning r,rhich he had married one of George Taplin's daughters. The first reaction of the Ngarrindjeri (who hadn't been con- sulted in the matter) was similar to their reaction over Frederick Tapììn's appointment: they objected strongìy. Mark lrfilson, then aged nineteen, and already develop'inc as a spokesman for the peopìe, was deputed to write a letter of protest on behalf of the ) Ngarrindjeri." The two major objections which the peop'le of Raukkan had to Blackwel'l , were firstly his lacl: of nredical knowledge and his inabi'lity as a physjcian; and secondly h'is severe ljmitatjons as a religious leader. There were no moral objections to Blackwell, who appears to have been an upright, mechanjcaìly capab'le, but somewhat taciturn and uninspiring indivjdual. Even Frederjck Taplin had been a competent doctor, whereas Blackwelì appears to have had little ex- perience in this field whìch the Ngarrindjeri consjdered, qui be rightly, to be a most importattt one. It is 'interesting to obser'','e the different sets of priorj- ties which motjvated the tl^ro groups of oeople: the Ngarrindieri leaders on Raukkan, and the A.F.A. Committee jn Adela'ide. The Ngarrìndjeri, in 'lodging thejr protests over the appointments of 215. YEARS OF CLIMAX AND DICLINE (I899-I9II ) both the second and third superintendents,were princ'ipa'l1y concerned with moral and religious issues (with the health of the peopìe also considered). But the Comnjttee, in making the appointments, were concerned almost solely with the practical questions: how good a farmer js he? how effic'ient is the iìran as a mechanjc? George Tapìin had observed twenty five years previously that the Ngarrindjeri had always been steeped in rel'igion, and once they adopted Chrjstianity they became comp'leteìy dedicated Christians. They C:d not now want someone who was a competent fellmonger as a pastor: they wanted a competent preacher - and there were severaj among their own ranks who were extremely capable in th'is reEit"d. The question might well be asked as to who needed the missioniìry - the Ngarrj¡djeri at Raukkan, or the grinkaris jn Adelajde? The on'ly reactj on whj ch Mark Wi I son ' s I etter el i ci ted from the Conrnittee was that they dec'ided to puton a showof strength and to send a deputation to Raukkan to formalìy 'install Blackwell.4 This,in turn,evoked a further letter from Mark l^Jilson on the lead- ers'behalf, question'ing the wisdom of the Commjttee's course of ac- E tjon.' However, the matter ended there, for the secretary, C.N. Collison, 'decljned to reply', and the Commjttee supported his ac- tion (or jnactjon) in this regard.6 The Committee deemed it to be beneath their dign'ity to enter ìnto such correspondence with an Ab- origìne, and such a stand indicates a serious flaw in their attitude. This was an att'itude which dìd no nlore than reflect the popular opinion of the t'imes, but it would have been rea:;onable to have j j hoped that the Abori gi nes ' Fr ends ' Associ a L on rn'ight havr-r ri sen above the current attjtudes, and to have developed a relat'ionshÍp of 216. YEARS OF CLIMAX AND DECLINE (I899-I9II ) true friendship wìth the group of Aborig'ines with which it had been associated now for thirty years. Perhaps it is expecting too much of the Committee to observe that there were several outstandjng men of the Ngarrindjeri who had proved that they were capable of carry- ing out the duties of superintendent and pastor at Raukkan; and that the time was ripe for the A.F.A. to allow the Ngarrindjerj to resume the responsìbility of conducting the'ir own affairs'in a grinkari- dominated world. However, jt should not have been beyond reasonable expectations to have looked for some fclrm of Ng arrindjeri participa- tion in selecting a repìacement for Frederick Tapl'in. Congregation- al church councils do have a say in the choice of their pasiors, and it would have been entirely in accord with contemporary practice for the deacons of the Church at Raukkan to have at least been represent- ed at the nreetjng of the Committee whjch decided rvho vras to be the next pastor of their church. Such was not to be; and the Conimjttee arrogant'ly proceeded to impose a spiri;ual and temporal 'leader' on the Ngarrindjeri, wjth no concern at all for the feelings of the peo- pìe themsel ves. Sadly enough, Dav'id Bl ackwel I was almos'ù certainly a well-meanìng, kindly, and morally upright man; but events had con- spired to place him ìn a position to which he was not rea1ly suited. .l892, By April the s'ituatjon had deteriorated to the extent that the Commjttee was forced to send a deputation to Raukkan to in- vestigate the trouble.T It was at this late stage that they at last sought the op'inion of the elders. The elders s'imp1y stated rvhat they had pointed out pricr to Blackwel'l's appointment - that he was incompetent to'lead spiritually, and that he was of l'imited heìp to the peopì e med'ica'ì1y. I ron j cal ìy enough, the commi ttee members who 217. YEARS OF CLIMAX AND DECLINI I 899-l 9l I ). comprised the deputation agreed with them, and reported accordjngjy.B As a consequence of the sub-committee's report, David Blackwell re- s'igned hìs position on l7 April9 brt the commjttee refused to accept his resignat'ion, postponing consideratÍon of it untjl september. In the meantime they sent a further deputat'ion to Raukkan to try to up- hold Blackwell's tattered authority.l0 By 0ctober, Blackwell had been persuaded not to resign at all, and hit r..Ígnation was offi- cially'expunged from the minutes'.ll Thjs dec'ision probably cost him h':¡ life, for a little over two months later (on 2 January lB93) he had a heart attack and dìed, leaving a widow,and eight children al I under fi fteen. I 2 One of Blackwell's iast acts was indicative of his inadequa- cy as an administrator. He complained to the committee that c.G. Gregory, the head teacher who had replaced Walter Hutley, was too old and incomptetent. The committee accordingìy decided to sack Gregory, and told Blackwell to gìve him three months' notj.u,tt while they in turn proceeded to appoint a new teacher. But Blackwell failed to carry out his instructions, with the result that Gregory was unaware that he had been djsmissed until he learned that there vJas a new head teacherl4 - with consequent embarrassment to all concerned. David Blackwell, like Frederick Taplin before him, proved conclusively that the Ngarrjndjeri ejders were much nìore per- ceptive judges of men than were the Cornmittee of the A.F.A.; and his supenintendency proved to be a sad vindication of the stand the el- ders had taken nhen he was fjrst appointed in 1889. Yet, if this fact dawned on the Committee, they failed to mention it ìn any of their records, or to be guided by jt in making future decis'ions. 218. YEARS OF CLIMAX A ND DECLINE I 899-l 9l I T.M. Sutton, who had been superintendent at Point Pearce for thirteen years, was appointed to succeed David Blackwell, and he took up his post ìn mid 1893. He was to be the first of many urho went to Raukkan after service at the sister mission, until -bhe posì- tion oi superintenclent was finally abolished eighty years later. Frederick Leak, a clergyman, followed hjm in lB9B, but lasted only a little over a year before resign'ing, to Ue reptaced by F.l,l. Garnett (1900-05). And finalìy Ambrose Redman, who became farm overseer when Blackwell vacated the position jn lBB9, was pnomoted to the superintendency in 1906. He remajned the superintendent un- ril 19.l2. Except for the years 1897-1903, when he was not in the em- ploy of the A.F.A., the one constant factor throughout thjs crjti- cal twenty three year perìod was the presence at Rairkkan of Ambrose Redman, in one capacity or another; and the contribution th'ls man made as a genuine friend of the peop'le is onìy surpassed by that of George Taplìn himself. He had an enormous capacity for hard work, and although he left beh'ind no journal to give an intìmate insight into the lives of the peop'le, and he wrote no schola.rly anthropo'lo- gica'l or linguistic studies, yet he was ciearly as strong, gsnerous, compassionate and loya'ì a fniend, as any people could wish to have.