IN THE WAKE OF THE ARNHEM LAND EXPEDITION 08 Thomas, M, 2008. In the wake of the Arnhem Land Expedition. Explore 30(1): 8–11. Reproduced with permission © Australian Museum 2009. www.australianmuseum.net.au Explore March to May 2008 far left: Australian Museum curator Frederick D McCarthy in Arnhem Land. Photo Charles P Mountford, 1948, courtesy of the State Library of South Australia. PRG 1218/34/2835. left: Expedition leader Charles P Mountford operating a magnetic wire recorder in Arnhem Land. Detail of photograph by Howell Walker, 1948, courtesy of the State Library of South Australia. PRG 487/1/2. opposite: The RAAF transport moving the expedition party from Yirrkala to Darwin. Photo Frank M Setzler, 1948. By permission of the National Library of Australia. Sixty years ago, a team of photographers, anthropologists and natural scientists flew to the Top End of Australia for an extended journey through Arnhem Land. The expedition set new standards, leaving behind a rich collection of documents and objects that are proving invaluable for understanding and maintaining Indigenous cultures, as historian Martin Thomas writes. The 1948 American–Australian Scientific Expedition to National Geographic Society had a research fund, and Arnhem Land, as it was officially known, is often described asked if he had an idea worthy of support, Mountford as the ‘last of the big expeditions’. Despite the hype (and replied: ‘I’ve got more ideas than a dog’s got fleas’. An there was plenty of that), exploration – at least in the application was rapidly produced, and with a $10,000 terrestrial sense – was not the main purpose. Rather, it was grant the Arnhem Land Expedition was born. 09 the frontier of knowledge that they hoped to penetrate, It would have been a fairly modest affair had not the and this involved study of both the environment and its Smithsonian Institution decided to send a team of Aboriginal inhabitants. The make-up of the expedition scientists. The Smithsonian is both the national museum encouraged cross-pollination among the researchers, who of the United States and a major research facility. The returned home with major interdisciplinary collections for joint involvement of these two great American icons in their sponsoring institutions. the Arnhem Land venture was too much for Australian politicians to ignore. So the Chifley Government, sensing MOUNTFORD’S MISSION a diplomatic opportunity, signed up as an official partner in the expedition and made a serious commitment of The expedition was the brainchild of leader Charles money, resources and personnel. The government saw a P Mountford (1890–1976), the Adelaide photographer chance to fuse science and geopolitics at a time when the and self-taught ethnologist, who became a well-known bilateral relationship was being reshaped for the post-war authority on Aboriginal art and culture. Towards the era. Lasting for seven months of 1948, the expedition end of World War II, when the Australian Government involved 17 researchers and support staff who worked was eager to obtain favourable publicity for Australia, from three principal bases in Arnhem Land. Mountford was sent on a lecture tour to educate Americans about his native land. BOUNTY asked if he had an idea worthy of In gathering collections, the researchers performed a support, Mountford replied: ‘I’ve got herculean labour. The bounty included 13,500 plant specimens, 30,000 fish, 850 birds, 460 other animal more ideas than a dog’s got fleas’ specimens, and several thousand Aboriginal artefacts and paintings. A significant proportion of the ethnographic In Washington DC, Mountford showed documentaries he material was acquired by the Australian Museum. This had made in Central Australia. They caught the eye of was due to the participation of Frederick D McCarthy Dr Gilbert H Grosvenor, the ‘father of photojournalism’, (1905–1997), the Museum’s long-serving Curator of who for 55 years edited National Geographic magazine. Anthropology, who made a pioneering contribution to the When Grosvenor mentioned to Mountford that the study of Aboriginal material culture. Explore March to May 2008 right: Gulumbu Yunupingu (left) and Nyapanyapa Yunupingu (right) look at digital photos from the Australian Museum. Photo Martin Thomas. far right: On seeing digital photos of objects from the Australian Museum collection, Gulumbu Yunupingu gets out her current weaving projects. Photo Martin Thomas. below: Painted twined basket from Yirrkala, Arnhem Land. Donated by Mr WE Harney. Photo Martin Thomas. E53216. The exquisite paintings and artefacts collected To these must be added the ethical dilemmas of by the expedition have been the focus of my interpreting an event so prominently sited at the interface recent research. Supported by an Australian of Western and Aboriginal cultures. Museum Fellowship, I have been studying In the 1940s, the travails of the scientists were celebrated the collections and associated documentation left by as evidence of Western ingenuity and expertise. But the 1948 team: vast resources of film, sound recordings, 60 years later we must acknowledge that expertise was photography and written reportage. Proudly positioned hardly the preserve of the expedition team. Indigenous at the technological forefront, the expedition was knowledge provided the intellectual capital for so much of ‘multimedia’ long before the term was coined. 10 what was accomplished. To this cultural contribution we must add the practical assistance given by Arnhem Landers UNDERSTANDING THE EXPEDITION – as guides and carriers, and as subjects in thousands of photos. This input is immediately apparent to people in The challenge of interpreting the expedition Arnhem Land today. Unsurprisingly, they 60 years later requires the full range of regard the collections and data amassed collected material to be considered. by the expedition as part of their own Arnhem Land artist Mawalan Marika, cultural heritage. regarded as one of the brightest stars of mid-twentieth century Australian art, The Museum Fellowship funded me to was among the painters whose work was visit Arnhem Land where I interviewed collected. His works on bark are superb key knowledge holders. The terrible objects in their own right, but McCarthy, reality of Aboriginal life expectancy is who was intensely interested in how such that few people remember the things were made, also collected samples expedition directly. But interest in the of ochre and examples of brushes used collections and documentation could by painters – all held in the Australian not be stronger. To find out about Museum collection. To these we can people’s current understandings of the add film footage of works being painted Museum collections, it was necessary to and notes on some of the localities and draw upon the multimedia quality of myths depicted in the paintings. the expedition itself. I went to Arnhem Land with a laptop computer laden with This evidential richness adds to the digital images of artefacts and extracts excitement – as well as the difficulty from film and photographic archives. – of researching a history of the In this way, a mountain of information expedition. The sources are dispersed could be readily transported back to its across many institutions in the US and place of origin. Australia. With so many objects and documents, assembled by a diverse team, Thus equipped, I gave senior knowledge the logistical challenges are immense. holders virtual ‘tours’ of the Museum Explore March to May 2008 Port Essington Nhulunbuy Darwin Yirrkala Oenpelli Liverpool River ARNHEM Groote Eylandt LAND 200 km Northern Territory showing Arnhem Land and expedition collecting areas. Map Jeremy Austen. collections. These sessions were videoed and recorded so Gulumbu is among the many people in Arnhem Land that contemporary perspectives on the historic collections who believe that digital technology can help strengthen could be added to the Museum database. The most prolific Indigenous culture. In Yirrkala, the former mission town contributor was Gulumbu Yunupingu, a distinguished where the 1948 expedition was based, the Aboriginal artist and weaver who won first prize in the 2004 Telstra community recently launched the Mulka Project, a digital National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. knowledge centre that makes film, photos and sound She invited me to her camp near the mining town of recordings from archives around the world immediately Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula in north-east Arnhem accessible to traditional owners. Photos from the Land. Gulumbu is not old enough to recall the expedition Australian Museum collection have been added to the 11 itself, but she could identify many of the people in the Mulka Centre’s ever-expanding database. films and photographs and provided detailed information The work with Gulumbu and other Arnhem Landers has about scores of the objects and paintings collected by resulted in a collaborative process that is beneficial to Mountford and McCarthy 60 years earlier. everyone involved. Naturally, Indigenous communities Gulumbu spoke of her delight at derive interest and pleasure from seeing how their forebears interacted with outsiders.200 km Their testimony is seeing the beautiful work0 done by 500 having a profound impact1000 Miles on my project of trying to 0 500 understand1000 the 19481500 Kilometresexpedition from both Aboriginal and an earlier generation and the pride non-Aboriginal perspectives. But what this type of research she feels in maintaining this