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Chez les Sauvages Australiens (1917)

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In native Australia

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This is the entire footage with French intertitles. Highlights include a sequence where young Aboriginal men throw their spears at a target, then form a line and begin moving forwards and backwards, and finally charge with spears raised at the camera.

There is footage of men in dugout canoes, a close up of a man’s traditional body scarring, a man and a small group of women paddling rafts to the shore and a family using rafts to cross the water.

The final sequence is of a very tall Aboriginal man scaling a cliff towering over the ocean to reach an eagle’s nest at the top, with two baby chicks inside. The man holds up the chicks to show the camera.

Intertitle translations:
1.01: A native way of making fire.
1.32: With the help of two sticks rubbed together on dry grass, a flame is produced within two minutes.
1.44: A white feather decoration on one of the natives is the equivalent of the Legion of Honour.
2.31: Military service is obligatory. Young men simulate an attack.
4.02: Montgomery Island. Some Indigenous authorities. (The boat is made of hollowed tree trunk.)
5.16: Arbiter of style. (These blistered scars are made by cutting the skin using a rough shell and filling with ashes or spiders’ webs.)
6.06: There are small corners of 'paradise’ even for native Australians. Here, one happy man is surrounded by four young women who could be the Mary Pickford, Bertini, Norma Talmage or Clara Kimbal Young of this place.
6.55: On the coast, at a height of 300 metres, it is not unusual to find eagles’ nests.

Curator’s notes

The scene where a group of young Aboriginal men throw their spears at a target shows the use of drama to create a dynamic scene simulating an attack by a group of warriors.

The intertitles reflect the respect which the French give the Indigenous culture, treating it as equal to their own.

In the sequence where they are demonstrating the use of traditional watercraft, including both hollowed-out log canoes and fan-shaped rafts (commonly known as ‘Bardi rafts’), the Aboriginal people clearly support and enjoy the filmmaking experience as they perform for the camera, enabling Jackson to capture this imagery.

The Aboriginal man scaling the cliff to get to the eagle’s nest shows the physical grace and athleticism of traditional Aboriginal men at the beginning of the 20th century.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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