AMONG THE BLACKS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 90, 13 October 1937, Page 11

AMONG THE BLACKS

INTIMATE STUDY

SCIENTIST'S LONG SOJOURN

ARNtiEM LAND

(From "the Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, October 9.

Dr. Donald Thomson, the prominent Australian anthropologist and Arnhcm Land explorer, has arrived in Sydney after spending about two and a half years living alone with the wildest tribes of aborigines in Northern Australia. He described his exciting experiences, when, by means of pantomime signs and sounds, he.conversed with aborigines who knew no English, travelled alone and unarmed among them, ate their food and lived with them in trees during the wet season until he gained their confidence, participated in their most important ceremonial rites, and left among them a feeling of respect and friendliness towards the white rulers of Australia.

When trouble broke out in Arnhem Land in 1933 after the killing of th» crews of Japanese luggers in Caledon Bay and the subsequent murder -by aborigines jof two white men at Blue Mud Bay and of Constable McColl, who went in search of the murderers, Dr. Thomson volunteered to go unarmed to Arnhem Land and secure the confidence of the then allegedly untameable natives. He was at the time carrying out anthropological research work in Cape York Peninsula under the auspices of the Melbourne University. There were objection? raised to his undertaking what was admittedly a hazardous expedition without adequate protection. Eventually he was granted permission to : make the experiment, which many thought would lead to his murder. . FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE. Dr. Thomson left Cairns at the beginning of April, 1935, and since then, '■ until a fortnight ago, with the exception. Of a short visit, to Melbourne, where he has a wife and twin sons, he has spent' all the time among the natives.; He said that the only firearm he had with him was a rifle for the shooting of food. He was attended throughout by a native companion, and spent most of the time living with and from tribe to tribe. He'walked in all over 1500 miles. He studied all the tribes and their mode of life, from the, Roper River to the northern coastline, including the peoples of Groote Eylandt and of Blue Mud Bay. Dr. Thomson explained that his method of approach to the tribes was to get in touch with the headman of the tribe. "There are no such things as kings or chieftains among, the, aboriginal tribes*" he said. "The headman generally has secured that position by his fighting qualities or his success with his spear. The real headman of the Arnhem Land is Old Man Wong'o, who is a warrior, with warrior sons. He is sometimes regarded officially as the real 'bad man* .of Arnhem Land, but he is now a harmless old man of about 50 years. When I first approached him he could not speak English and I could not speak his language, so the approach had to be by pantomime and sounds. There were then ih the camp about 200 male aborigines. . They apparently thought that one white man would not be able to do them .any harm, and that they could finish him off when they liked, should they decide to do so. After a few days really friendly relations were established and the danger was past. It was then easy to get along i from tribe to tribe, as the natives in their own manner- had .passed the word along that I was to be trusted. REMARKABLE NATIVE WOMAN. "Much help was given me in getting to know the natives, and' them to know me," added Dr. Thomson, "by an aboriginal woman named Clara. This remarkable woman was probably the cause of the rumours that persisted in Northern Australia that there were white women in the Arnhem Land tribes, survivors from the wrecked steamer Douglas Mawson some years ago. Clara was originally a member of the Mara tribe in the Roper River area, who was taken with her husband and a number of other natives. by a trepang expedition to Caledon Bay. The boats were attacked by the natives, but most succeeded in getting away. Clara was captured and became the wife of one of the local tribesmen. She had been taught at a mission, and had a good knowledge of English. She still talks English fluently. She is a shrewd sophisticated woman, and is used as. a means of communication between the Caledon Bay natives and visiting trepangers." Dr. Thomson said that at the request of the Commonwealth Government he had made a careful search for white women among the tribes of Arnhem Land, but could find none. His belief was that the story-was probably concentrated around the myths associated with the doings of Clara, some of which showed remarkable intelligence and cunning for an aboriginal. LIVING IN TREE TOPS. "After being in close contact with these- people of Arnhem Land for over two years," added Dr. Thomson, "associating in their ordinary mode of life, and speaking to them in their own language, 1 have come to honour and respect them. They had such confidence in me that they permitted me to attend some of their most intimate and ceremonial rites. Some of these ceremonies continued for three or four months. One of my most interesting contacts was with tribes in Central Arnhem Land. During the wet season this area becomes a dense swamp, to which thousands of wild geese come. These are the food of the natives during that season. But the land is so damp, and the water generally so deep that travel is only possible by canoes." In the wet season the natives make their homes in platforms on the trees to which they return at night after hunting wild geese. For several weeks I lived with these people in their tree-tops, and hunted with them in their canoes. In the daytime leeches which thronged the swamp at-) tached themselves to all parts of the body, causing excruciating pain." DIET OF THE PEOPLE. Dr. Thomson said that native food consisted principally of vegetables and fruit of the cycad palm, which was pulverised and soaked in water to get rid of the poison. It was then cooked in ashes. Fish, shell-fish, opossums, bandicoots, kangaroos, snakes, and goanas were the solid food of the natives. When with them he ate the [■ same food. He did not altogether relish ', snakes and goanas, "though snake was really not too bad; it tasted something i like eel." Native food was nutritious and capable of sustaining life, but he found it severe both on the teeth and '■ the digestion. His teeth had seriously suffered from his sojourn in Arnhem ', Land. Dr. Thomson added that difficulty was caused in dealing with the ■ aborigines by the visits of pearlinj; : fleets from Japan and Darwin. The pearlers anchored for periods off the ! native camps and made gifts of flour, i tobacco, and clothing to the natives to : get their favour and their lubras. The [ gifts made the aborigines restless. Most trouble was caused concerning lubrns.