ILL-USED ABORIGINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20338, 20 August 1929, Page 11

ILL-USED ABORIGINES.

HERDED AT. A MISSION -

OUTBREAK OF BERI-BERI.:J'::

NEWSPAPER'S EXPOSURE*' j

The hard lot of semi-civilised in Central Australia lias been brought! under public notice by the Melbourne Argus, which lately sent a special representative into that region.

The writer points out thai clothing has a very bad effect on the blacks, who by giving up their original nudity become a prey to pneumonia and other diseases and lose the hardiness that is their heritage.

Both the Government and the missionaries, with one or two exceptions, advo* cate the wearing of clothes. No person; irf Central Australia is permitted to eirtfrloy; an aborigine without providing him with "food, clothing and boots." Yet ifc is not compulsory to provide* the aborigines with shelter. The aborigines, male and female, employed even at tho houses in Alice Springs, sleep under the stars every; night, in spite of the fact that during tho last few \veeks there has been ico onf the pools on several mornings. Blacks Sent Away. When tho railway lino was approaching.: Alice Springs tho aborigines camped j there, who had lived in the'district alfj their lives, were told to "go bush" io(~ order that they might not come into con-** tact with the men engaged on construction. This was.very harsh. had become accustomed to white fof>d,i and they had forgotten much of their 1 ) hunting lore. Most Gt them walked 80 miles to Hermannsburg and attached'J themselves to tho mission station. of tho remainder obtained rations and ' work on surrounding stations, but many! suffered, and are still enduring, ferribl*

privations. Many semi-civilised aborigines are worlw ing for whites on the stations, \\ ell-Sink* ing, and at various houses in Alice Springs. They do not over-exert them-* selves, but when it is considered that they receive only food, clothing and 5s a week they probably give a fair enough return. As they have become_ acctis- ;i.| tomed to white food and clothes it would bo cruel to turn them into the bush on to an aboriginal reservo, though they go occasionally for a few .weeks' 1 Walkabout, " as they call it, much in the same way as the white goes for his annual holiday. All that can bo done to help them is to subject them to medical inspection at intervals, with compulsory treatment in an aboriginal hospital if disease bo manifest. Should they loss their employment they should be sure ofj receiving rations so that they may nofr. starve. = Pitiful Scenes at Mission. Hermannsburg, one of the largest abori- 1 ginal mission stations in 'Australia, lies 80 miles due west of Alice Springs. There are at present about _ 350 aborigines camped around the mission, 200 being "mission blacks" and the remaining 150 aborigines transferred to Hermannsburg: from Alice Springs. The Government rations consist of flour, sugar, tea., rice,;. . barley, peas, coffee and matches, and tha \ mission supplies in addition dried fruits and dripping. _ Until the present drought, which, has, now lasted for more than five years at; Hermannsburg, the meat ration was sup*, plied from the mission cattle, there being;' < 3000 head of stock on tha mission pas-' toral area. At that time four bullocks' were killed weekly for food. Now there is neither grass nor water for the mission stock, which have been reduced fo_ f6wer than 300, and the mission authorities are trying to mnster the remainder to remov® them for agistment to the north of-tha MacDonnell ranges, where the drought is less severe. ' . The Rev. R. W. Albrecht and Mr.. A* Heinrich, both of whom speak the Arunta 1 language, are doing their best to make: up the deficiency in meat. They insist' upon all able-bodied aborigines'"going-out hunting, but.owing to the drought, native game is very scarce, and one or two kangaroos a week will not give a meat ration to 350 people. In tho meantime, beriberi has seized upon the under-nourished bodies of the aborigines. Many of;' tha victims are boys and girls. V-. _ ; It is a pitiable sight to visit the wurlies' (bough shelters), and to see the sufferers! lying listlessly in the sun, with swoller: knees and carmine-red tongues. The younger ones have a pathetic faith in th'flr mission authorities, who, however, will find it difficult to prevent the spread of the disease until they can return to the meat ration. Government's Defence. When the article was submitted to officials of the Homo Affairs Department at Canberra, they pointed out that a definite policy had been laid down by the Federal Ministry \inder a comprehensive ordinance, in the administration of which great care was taken and much expense was involved. The department was determined to persist in its efforts to. give the aborigines better conditions and to do all in its power' to prevent and relievo distress, and it is now engaged in working out the of a plan which is expected to achieve this purpose. Referring to the aborigines who are under the care of the Hermannsburg Mis-< sion, the Minister of Home Affairs (Mr* Abbott) said that if the mission authorities could not car© adequately for tha. aborigines, the department would remove them from tho mission and placo them in: a compound superintended by a Government officer. This mission received al subsidy of £4OO, and it was asking for £4000," but tho department considered that it would bo more economical to placo thesa •• blacks under -its own caro than to increase the subsidy to cover tho total cost; of maintaining them at the mission. Officials of tho department state that, tho aborigines who were camped near; Alice Springs when tho railway line was approaching were not told to "go bush.'J They wero moved to the mission by the department's officers. The sick and infirm were transported in trucks, and tho ablet bodied ones walked. Dr. Gilruth Indignant. A different commentary was provided by Dr. J. A. Gilruth, formerly administrator of tho Northern Territory, iu a letter to tl)o Argus. "We have tho spectacle," he says, "of 350 natives herded at one spot. . Scanty totally unsuitable rations are supplied by Government at a cost of less than 3s a week a head. The native game has disappeared for tho same .reason that the cattle have become reduced—no food and no water. Is it surprising, therefore,' that the native is starving, tlmt lie is racked by disease, particularly by a disease (beri-beri) well known to be induced only, by lack of essential food values? And ■ we call ourselves civilised -while such a state of affairs exists among our fellow human beings! Reee.itly wo have had official, including Ministerial,, assurances that tho natives are well provided for.But tho Argus special representative tells a totally different story, which everyone who knows the centre of Australia realises is true. What is being dono to remove the stigma on our humanity!"