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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-06-13 Daily Xml
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LUTHERAN MISSIONARIES

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:36): I rise to speak about the early Lutheran missionaries in the Adelaide area and in Central Australia and their work with the Aboriginal people. In 1838, accompanying Governor Gawler on the ship Caleb to South Australia were two German Lutheran missionaries, Schürmann and Teichelmann. They had been sent out by the Dresden Mission Society to establish a mission to the Aborigines in the Adelaide region, who later became known as the Kaurna people.

Their first task was to learn the language and, within two years, they had printed a grammar and vocabulary containing 2,000 words and phrases. They also started an Aboriginal school on the banks of the Torrens, where they taught children to read and write in their own language. These missionaries and others who joined them also went to other parts of the state and learnt the local languages there.

By befriending the Aborigines and learning their languages, they became interpreters and mediators for the Aboriginal people, and they protected them as the Adelaide settlement grew. In 1846, Governor Grey closed the school and moved the children to an English school, which was very disappointing for the missionaries.

In recent years, the linguistic work of these missionaries has been hailed as invaluable and has become the basis of language reclamation work begun by Dr Rob Amery and others. They found that the grammar and vocabulary published by Schürmann and Teichelmann in 1840 provided the largest and best collection of words and phrases. Today, a small number of people are fluent in the Kaurna language, and this has been an important part of Aborigines reclaiming pride in their identity and culture.

While some settlers went to Central Australia to gain wealth, missionaries of various Christian denominations also went there to work with the Aborigines. Lutheran missionaries Pastors Kempe and Schwartz started a mission at the foot of Mount Hermannsberg, 125 kilometres west of Alice Springs, in 1877. The 1,000-mile journey from Bethany in the Barossa Valley to this very remote place took some 20 months. The name 'Hermannsberg' is taken from the village in Germany where they had been trained. They endured great hardships there. They erected a church and a school, and these missionaries also learned the local languages so that they could communicate with the local Aboriginal population.

From the earliest times, the missionaries realised that the social and physical world of the Aborigines in the area would be forever changed by reason of white settlement. The prevailing view throughout white society at that time was that Aborigines would eventually become part of white society. It was only much later that the view that some Aborigines should continue their traditional lifestyle became popular. The missionaries placed great emphasis on education and work training for the Aborigines.

In 1894, Pastor Carl Strehlow took over the mission. He worked tirelessly with the Aborigines and encouraged them to work on cattle stations. He taught them trades such as carpentry and leatherwork, and he also encouraged Aboriginal art. The famous artist Albert Namatjira was born at Hermannsburg in 1902.

Strehlow not only gained the respect and admiration of his white peers but he also earned the title of 'Ingkata' (which means chief) from the Aboriginal people. He was a particularly talented linguist and did much research into and recording of the local cultural practices. When an Aboriginal named Wapiti was shot by a policeman for spearing cattle, Strehlow nursed him back to health. In gratitude, Wapiti spent much time with him describing Aboriginal folklore. Strehlow was responsible for translating the New Testament into the Western Arrernte language. He is said to have prevented Mounted Constable Wurmbrandt from taking a group of Aboriginals away to be shot.

Pastor Albrecht took over in 1926. The 1920s saw many deaths due to prolonged drought. As a result, funds raised in Melbourne saw a pipeline laid to the mission from the Kaporilja Springs. In 1982 the mission was handed over to the Aboriginal people themselves. It remains a popular tourist stop where people can marvel at the 19th century buildings and revel in the rich artistic history and the great work of the Lutheran missionaries in the area.

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