Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows scenes of Indigenous Australian people in modern-day Numbulwar in south-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, and also features archival film from the 1950s, including footage of a baptism being conducted in the Rose River and of Indigenous people in dugout canoes. The narrator, Tom E Lewis, describes Numburindi social structure, and Junggayi Moses Numamurdirdi tells the story of the establishment of the Rose River Mission. Subtitles are included when Kriol is spoken.

Educational value points

• This clip provides insights into life in an Aboriginal community at Numbulwar in the Northern Territory. Numbulwar is located on the western coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria at the mouth of the Rose River. It consists of a store, a police station, a school, a health clinic, an engine repair shop and a small airport, and is home to about 1,200 residents. Alcohol is prohibited in this community.

• The clip opens with footage of a four-wheel-drive hurtling along a dirt road, illustrating how 'Toyotas’ (often used as a generic term for 'motor vehicles’ across Arnhem Land) have affected travel in the region. The commentator makes a joke in Kriol about how beneficial the shift from two legs to 'four legs’ (wheels) has been for travel. As Numbulwar is usually accessible only by air or sea during the wet season, these shots would have been taken in the dry season (April–October).

• The clip shows traditional forms of travel including the dugout canoes, with and without sails, that are often used for water transport by Indigenous Australian peoples. The use of sails here is indicative of the centuries-long relationship – including trade and mutual borrowing – between the Indigenous peoples of the northern coast of Australia and the Macassan people of Sulawesi in Indonesia, who regularly came to Australia to seek 'trepang’ (sea slugs).

• The Numburindi people belong to various clan groups, which are arranged into two 'moieties’ (from the Latin for 'half’), or 'skin groups’. In Numbulwar, the moieties are called 'Mandirrija’ and 'Mandhayung’, or 'Water’ and 'Fire’, with the shark and the crocodile as their respective totems. The general terms used by Yolngu people across Arnhem Land referred to in the clip are Dhuwa and Yirritja, implying among many other things descendents of differing Creation Ancestors.

• The kinship system organises social life in Indigenous communities by defining kin relationships and providing a sometimes strict guide for individual behaviour. According to this system it is forbidden to marry someone from the same moiety. The narrator notes that violation of this taboo means that children born into such marriages, and their children, will 'have no songs’, meaning that they will 'be bereft of cultural identity’.

• Junggayi Moses Numamurdirdi recalls coming with his family to the new mission at Rose River. Missions often provided the first point of contact between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

• Christian missions were established widely in parts of Australia with a predominantly Indigenous population, and the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) set up the Rose River Mission at Numbulwar in 1952. This mission continued operating until 1978. The CMS recently released a translation of the Bible in Kriol, illustrating the ongoing work of the missions.

• The archival footage features a Christian baptism ceremony involving complete immersion in the Rose River. The baptism ceremony symbolises purification and the baptised person is admitted into the community of Christians. The meaning of this activity may have been unfamiliar and alien to the Indigenous participants.

• While the primary purpose of the missions was to spread Christian thought and belief, some missions carried out government policies, such as the removal of children from their families, and encouraged the decline of Aboriginal cultural practices. Today, some missions are highly valued for their contribution to the European-style education of young Indigenous people enrolled in their schools.

• Narrator Tom E Lewis, born at Ngukurr in south-east Arnhem Land, has a wide range of artistic achievements to his credit. He is a gifted musician, has worked extensively in the theatre, and his film credits include the lead role in Fred Schepisi’s The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978). In 2005, Lewis was awarded the Bob Maza Fellowship by the Australian Film Commission for his co-authored short documentary film, Yellow Fella.

Shots of a four-wheel drive in the countryside and then a map with Numbulwar marked.
Tom E Lewis (voice-over) Numbulwar is about 35km from Wandu. In the old times it would be a day’s walk to get there. But today, we have Toyotas.

The four-wheel drive continues through the countryside.
Indigenous man speaking Kriol (voice-over, English subtitles) A long time ago we walked by foot on two legs. But today we have trucks with four wheels and five gears. When you start that truck or motor, it goes and you can get to that country real quick.

Aerial view of the countryside, then shots of the town and locals playing football on the sand.
Lewis (voice-over) There are 12 clans in Numbulwar. Our society is divided into two groups called moieties. The two moieties in Arnhem Land are commonly known as Dhuwa and Yirritja. Water and fire. Shark and crocodile. But in Numbulwar, they’re known as Mandirrija and Mandhayung. You cannot marry in the same moiety group. Otherwise your children and their children will have no songs.

Moses and Don sit cross-legged on the ground.
Lewis (voice-over) Moses is from the Numamurdi clan. Don is from the (inaudible) clan and is married to Moses’s sister.
Junggayi Moses Numamurdirdi Like this time now, we’ve got township here – we just call Numbulwar, establish way, way back. I never been with white people, you know?

Shots of Moses talking are interspersed with historic film from the 1950s including scenes of a baptism being conducted in the Rose River and of Indigenous people in dugout canoes.
Moses (voice-over) When missionary came, there was mention about ceremony for Numburindi people. They’re used to moving around, way, way back. When they came in, I wasn’t there. I was in the bush with my father and few old ladies. We didn’t know two boat was coming. Some people was on, Aboriginal people, and some travel by dugout canoe and walking. And they met us at the side, and they told us there will be a mission. Then we coming towards this way with dugout canoe with my family now, because we know. We’re told already. There’s a mission at Numbulwar.