Finding fault: Aborigines, anthropologists, popular writers and Walkabout

Abstract

The popular middlebrow magazine Walkabout was published between 1934 and 1974. Its principle aim was to promote travel to and within Australia and to educate Australians about their continent. It aspired to be an Australian geographic magazine, and to this end it focussed on inland and remote Australia, and natural history. For this reason, and because it was published throughout a period, particularly in the early decades, when only those Aborigines living afar from populated regions were recognised as Aborigines, many of Walkabout's articles were about Aborigines or, more commonly, made mention of them. There are very few critiques of Walkabout, but those that do exist are critical of its portrayal of Aborigines. Notwithstanding that there are many reasons to find fault, it is possible to read this material in a more salutary light, even against the apparent intention of at least one of the contributors, Ernestine Hill. This article considers the work of a number of popular writers and two of the anthropologists who contributed to Walkabout, and finds reason to be less critical and more cautious in our assessment of their narrative representation of Aborigines than is generally allowed. The period of analysis is from 1934 to 1950.

Keywords:

• Aborigines
• anthropologists
• race and representation
• Walkabout
• cultural history
• literary criticism

Notes

 1. Charles H Holmes, We Find Australia, Hutchinson, London, 1932.

 2. Editorial, Walkabout, vol 1, no 1, 1934, p 7.

 3. Editorial, Walkabout, vol 1, no 5, 1935, p 9.

 4. Editorial, 1934, op. cit., p 7.

 5. Arthur Upfield contributed eleven articles between 1934 and 1950, however, Aborigines, if mentioned at all, were incidental to his stories, and hence his work is not considered separately here. Ronald Berndt contributed one article only during this period, a description of a field trip to Oldea Soak and the Aborigines of the region. Ronald M Berndt, ‘Aborigines of the Great Western Desert’, Walkabout, vol 7, no 2, 1940, pp 40–2.

 6. Walkabout's initial monthly print run of 20,000 copies increased to 26,000 by the late 1930s, 30,000 by 1949, and 33,000 in 1950. Its readership almost certainly transcended its print run. It boasted, perhaps not unrealistically, of a readership of 104,000. It was kept in railway, doctors’ and dentists’ waiting rooms and libraries. Jim Davidson and Peter Spearritt, Holiday Business: Tourism in Australia since 1870, The Miegunyah Press, Carlton, 2000, p 82; Mitchell Library, Uncatalogued files from MM550/05 Beresford Box 2 (43), ‘No.51 Australian National Publicity Association Minutes of Board Meeting held in Melbourne on 11th July, 1950’.

 7. See Adam Shoemaker, Black Words, White Page: Aboriginal Literature, 1929–1988, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1989, p 7. Shoemaker goes on to argue that popular literature, such as that by Idriess, also reveals his racial attitudes. This may or may not be so. It is Idriess’ novels that Shoemaker is referring to here, and whilst one can charge the novels with promulgating specific attitudinal positions, these cannot so simply be sloughed on to the author. Further evidence external to the novels themselves would need considering to substantiate the allegation.

 8. W E H Stanner, After the Dreaming, (Boyer Lectures), Australian Broadcasting Commission, Crows Nest, 1968, p 25.

 9. Bernard Smith, The Spectre of Truganini, (Boyer Lectures), Australian Broadcasting Commission, Sydney, 1980, pp 9–26.

10. J J Healy, Literature and the Aborigine in Australia, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1989, p 1; see also Ann Curthoys, ‘Entangled Histories: Conflict and Ambivalence in Non-Aboriginal Australia’ in Geoffrey Gray and Christine Winter (eds), The Resurgence of Racism: Howard, Hanson and the Race Debate, Monash Publications in History, Clayton, 1997, p 124. Stanner did acknowledge that Aborigines were being written about. The silence he noted concerned the failure of historians to consider relations between Aborigines and non-Aborigines, not their omission from other sorts of national stories and assorted literary and popular publications. See Stanner, op. cit., pp 25, 18–29.

11. See Donald Maclean, ‘The search for the great south land’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 3, 1935, pp 38–41; Donald Maclean, ‘The search for the great south land (Part II), Walkabout, vol 1, no 4, 1935, pp 43–5, 60; Donald Maclean, ‘The search for the great south land (Part III), Walkabout, vol 1, no 5, 1935, pp 46–9; Donald Maclean, ‘The search for the great south land (Part IV), Walkabout, vol 1, no 6, 1935, pp 42, 63–4; Donald Maclean, ‘The search for the great south land (Part V), Walkabout, vol 1, no 7, 1935, pp 47, 61, 63.

12. Editorial, ‘“Walkabout” re-examined: Summary of member's replies to questionnaire’, Walkabout, vol 22, no 9, 1956, p 44.

13. This is not to suggest the extinguishment of evolutionary frameworks which foresaw inevitable Aboriginal acquiescence and demise in the shadows of burgeoning progress and modernity. These notions continued—as exemplified by a postage stamp issued for the Centenary of Victoria in 1934 depicting an Aboriginal man, clad only in loin cloth and carrying spears, standing on a grassy Yarra bank overlooking the river to the arisen city on the opposite bank—and competed with other understandings of Aborigines.

14. In urging people to visit a museum in order to see what Aboriginal designs might be appropriated for use on home furnishings, Preston reassured her readers that such an interest would not be demeaning of them ‘or being kind to [Aborigines]’. Whilst this reassurance was issued in 1925, such sentiments remained current through the 1930s and 1940s. See Margaret Preston, ‘The indigenous art of Australia’, Art in Australia, Third Series, no 11, March, 1925, (unpaginated). For a critique of Preston's artistic appropriation of Aboriginal motifs and symbols see Mitchell Rolls, ‘Painting the Dreaming White’, Australian Cultural History, no 24, 2006, pp 3–28.

15. Smith, op. cit., pp 15–16.

16. Richard White, Inventing Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1981, p 147.

17. Burke, Janine, 2003, Australian Gothic: A Life of Albert Tucker, Vintage (Random House), Milsons Point, p 135.

18. Cited in White, op. cit., p 147.

19. Keith Windschuttle, The Fabrication of Aboriginal History: Volume One: Van Diemen's Land 1803–1847, Macleay Press, Paddington, 2002.

20. Jan Critchett, A Distant Field of Murder: Western District Frontier 1834 – 1848, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1990, p 23.

21. Ion Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride: An Epic of Central Australian Gold Discovery, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1931.

22. Glen Ross, ‘“The fantastic face of the continent”: The Australian Geographical Walkabout Magazine’, Southern Review, vol 32, no 1, 1999, pp 28–9.

23. Ion Idriess, ‘The Kimberleys (north-west Australia)’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 1, 1 November, 1934, p 32.

24. ibid., p 33.

25. ibid.

26. Shoemaker, op. cit., p 139.

27. ibid., pp 54–5.

28. ibid.

29. Ion Idriess, ‘Where the wild men roam: Experiences travelling north of the King Leopold Ranges in the Kimberleys, North-Western Australia’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 3, 1 January, 1935, p 17.

30. Shoemaker, op. cit., pp 56, 139.

31. Idriess, ‘Where the wild men roam’, p 18.

32. ibid., pp 20–1; Ion Idriess, ‘Arnhem land’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 4, February, 1935, pp 32–3; Ion Idriess, ‘Lazy days in crocodile land’, Walkabout, vol 3, no 1, November, 1936, pp 12–13.

33. Idriess, ‘Lazy days’, p 11.

34. ibid., pp 14–15; Idriess, ‘Arnhem Land’, pp 32, 33; Ion Idriess, ‘Darwin, North Australia’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 5, March 1935, pp 37, 38; Ion Idriess, ‘Pearls’, Walkabout, vol 3, no 12, October 1937, p 14.

35. Idriess, ‘Lazy days’, p 15.

36. See ibid., p 15.

37. Idriess, ‘Arnhem land’, p 33.

38. ibid.

39. ibid.

40. Idriess, ‘Lazy days’, p 15.

41. Nicholas Thomas, Possessions: Indigenous Art/Colonial Culture, Thames & Hudson, London, 1999, p 34.

42. See ibid., p 11.

43. Ion Idriess, Outlaws of the Leopolds, Angus and Roberston, Sydney, 1952.

44. Shoemaker, op. cit., p 139.

45. ibid., pp 142–4.

46. Ion Idriess, The Drums of Mer, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1933.

47. Maureen Fuary, ‘A novel approach to tradition: Torres strait islanders and ion idriess’, The Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol 8, no 3, 1997, p 251.

48. ibid., pp 249, 250, and passim.

49. Ion Idriess, The Red Chief: As Told by the Last of His Tribe, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1953.

50. See New South Wales Consolidated Acts: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/alra1983201/sch5.html (Accessed 20 November 2007).

51. Photographs of Aborigines too that have drawn widespread criticism for the apparent violence they do to their subjects are also, for varying reasons, often held in different regard by Aborigines. See Michael Aird, ‘Growing up with Aborigines’ in Christopher Pinney and Nicolas Peterson (eds), Photography's Other Histories, Duke University Press, Durham, 2003, p 23; Jo-Anne Driessens, ‘Relating to photographs’ in Pinney and Peterson, ibid., pp 17–22; Nicholas Peterson, ‘The changing photographic contract: Aborigines and image ethics’, in Pinney and Peterson, ibid., p 137.

52. Mary Durack, ‘The outlaws of Windginna Gorge’, Walkabout, vol 7, no 8, 1941, pp 14–16.

53. ibid., p 14.

54. ibid., pp 14, 16.

55. Mary Durack, ‘North Australia faces a new phase: A pioneer surveys the past’, Walkabout, vol 8, no 11, 1942, p 26; Mary Durack, ‘Thylungra’, Walkabout, vol 12, no 1, 1945, pp 12–13; Mary Durack, ‘River of Destiny’, Walkabout, vol 12, no 9, 1946, p 34; Mary Durack, ‘Kimberley Epic’, Walkabout, vol 14, no 4, 1948, pp 30–1.

56. Mary Durack, ‘The Vanishing Australian’, Walkabout, vol 11, no 10, 1945, p 31.

57. ibid.

58. ibid., p 32.

59. ibid.

60. Shoemaker, op. cit., p 56.

61. Ross, op. cit.; See also Lynette Russell, Savage Imaginings: Historical and Contemporary Constructions of Australian Aboriginalities, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2001, pp 23–37; Jill Barnes, ‘Crystallising identities: The imagining of the centralian patroller tradition for tourism marketing purposes, 1929–1958’, in Michael Cawthorn (ed.), Strehlow Conference 2002: Traditions in the Midst of Change, Strehlow Research Centre, Alice Springs, 2002, pp 151–67.

62. Durack, ‘Kimberley Epic’, p 33.

63. Durack, ‘Thylungra’, pp 12–13; Mary Durack, ‘Golden Days of Kimberley’, Walkabout, vol 12, no 6, 1946, pp 35–6.

64. Durack, ‘Golden days’, pp 35–6.

65. Durack, ‘Outlaws’, p 14; Durack, ‘Thylungra’, pp 12–13; Durack, ‘Golden Days’, p 35; Durack, ‘River’, pp 34–5; Durack, ‘North Australia’, p 26.

66. Durack, ‘Vanishing’, p 32.

67. ibid., p 33.

68. Durack, ‘North Australia’, p 26; Durack, ‘Thylungra’, pp 12–13; Durack, ‘Kimberley Epic’, pp 30–1.

69. Durack, ‘Golden Days’, pp 35–6.

70. See for example Ernestine Hill, ‘Mining mica in Central Australia’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 9, 1935, p 38; Ernestine Hill, ‘Glory of the islands: Being the last of a series of three articles featuring a 3,000-mile voyage along the west coast of Australia’, Walkabout, vol 2, no 2, 1935, pp 37–8.

71. Hill, ‘Glory’, pp 37, 38.

72. See for example Ernestine Hill, ‘Driving around Darwin’, Walkabout, vol 2, no 9, 1936, p 10.

73. Ernestine Hill, ‘The pack-bells of John McKinlay’, Walkabout, vol 5, no 1, 1938, p 16.

74. ibid., pp 13–18; Ernestine Hill, ‘Along the last lost border: Strange tales of no man's land’, Walkabout, vol 5, no 7, 1939, pp 40–2. For exceptions where Hill acknowledges provocation behind murders see Ernestine Hill, ‘Pandora's Box: (Kimberley Gold)’, Walkabout, vol 9, no 5, 1943, p 11; see also Ernestine Hill, ‘Bos Buffelus’, Walkabout, vol 10, no 3, 1944, p 7.

75. Ernestine Hill, ‘Crocodiles and pink lotus’, Walkabout, vol 5, no 3, 1939, p 16.

76. Hill, ‘Along the last’, p 43.

77. Ernestine Hill, ‘Christmas in the outback’, Walkabout, vol 9, no 2, 1942, p 15; see also Hill, ‘Bos Buffelus’, p 8.

78. Ernestine Hill, ‘Black Man's Day’, Walkabout, vol 6, no 10, 1940, p 29.

79. Ernestine Hill, ‘North-Westward Ho!’, Walkabout, vol 11, no 4, 1945, p 6.

80. Smith, op. cit., p 16.

81. Berndt, op. cit.

82. Ross, op. cit., p 29.

83. Ursula McConnel, ‘Cape York Peninsular: (1) The Civilised Foreground; Being the first of three articles on Queensland's far North’, Walkabout, vol 2, no 8, 1936, pp 16–19; Ursula McConnel, ‘Cape York Peninsular: The Primitive Background; Being the second of three articles on Queensland's far North’, Walkabout, vol 2, no 9, 1936, pp 11–15; Ursula McConnel, ‘Cape York Peninsular: Development and Control; Being the last of three articles on Queensland's far North’, Walkabout vol 2, no 10, pp 36–40.

84. Ross, op. cit., p 29.

85. McConnel, ‘The Primitive Background’, p 14.

86. ibid., p 13.

87. ibid., p 14.

88. McConnel, ‘Development and Control’, p 37.

89. ibid., pp 36–40.

90. Ross, op. cit., p 29.

91. McConnel, ‘Development and control’, p 36.

92. ibid., p 38.

93. ibid., pp 37, 38.

94. ibid., p 37; see also pp 38, 39.

95. Hill, ‘The pack-bells’, p 16.

96. McConnel, ‘Development and Control’, p 36.

97. ibid.

98. See White, op. cit., pp 140–57.

99. See Bain Attwood, Rights for Aborigines, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 2003, p 54; pp 54–73.

 1. ibid., 81–101; White, op. cit., p 146.

 2. Donald Thomson, ‘Across Cape York Peninsular with a pack team: A thousand-mile trek in search of unknown native tribes’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 2, 1934, pp 21–31; Donald Thomson, ‘The Story of Arnhem Land’, Walkabout, vol 12, no 10, 1946, pp 5–22; Donald Thomson, ‘The Australian Aboriginal as Hunter and Food Gatherer’, Walkabout, vol 16, no 12, pp 29–31.

 3. Ross, op. cit., p 29.

 4. Cited in ibid., (See Thomson, ‘Across Cape York’, p 31).

 5. Cited in ibid., (See Thomson, ‘The Story’, p 22).

 6. Cited in ibid., (See Thomson, ‘The Australian, p 29).

 7. Nicolas Peterson, ‘A Biographical Sketch of Donald Thomson’ in Donald Thomson (ed.), Donald Thomson in Arnhem Land, The Miegunyah Press, Carlton, 2005, pp 1–21.

 8. Thomson, ‘The story’, p 22.

 9. Cited in Attwood, op. cit., p 103.

10. ibid., p 124.

11. ibid.

12. Idriess, ‘Lazy days’, p 15.

13. Attwood, op. cit., pp 126–7.

14. Thomson, ‘Across Cape York’, p 24 (Photo caption).

15. ibid., p 26.

16. ibid., p 31.

17. ibid.

18. ibid.

19. ibid., p 26.

20. Hill, ‘The pack-bells’ p 16.

21. Thomson, ‘Across Cape York’, p 31.

22. Thomson, ‘The story’, p 5.

23. ibid., see also Peterson, op. cit., pp 7–11 for description of the protracted negotiations behind Thomson's fieldwork in Arnhem Land.

24. Thomson, ‘The Story’.

25. ibid., p 18.

26. ibid., p 21.

27. ibid, p 22.

28. Ross, op. cit., p 29.

29. See ibid., p 30.

30. Thomson, ‘The Australian’.

31. ibid., p 29.

32. ibid.

33. ibid.

34. Thomson, ‘The story’, p 5.

35. Graham Pizzey, ‘Morrison, Philip Crosbie (1900–1958)’ in Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol 15, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 2000, pp 418–20.

36. Philip Crosbie Morrison, ‘Among the stone-age men’, Walkabout, vol 6, no 5, 1940, p 51.

37. ibid., p 52.

38. ibid., pp 51–2.

39. Gilbert M Wallace, ‘Primitive poetry’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 8, 1935, p 46.

40. ibid., p 46, 63.

41. K H Waters, ‘Dunbabin, Thomas Charles (1883–1973)’ in Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol 8, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1981, pp 365–6.

42. Thomas Dunbabin, ‘Cliff-Climbers of Tasman Isle: Men who dared the Southern Ocean in boats of bark’, Walkabout, vol 1, no 8, 1935, pp 33–4.

43. Ewen K Patterson, ‘Aboriginal “Houses”’, Walkabout, vol 5, no 11, 1939, pp 55–9.

44. A D M Busby, ‘Our vanishing possessions’, Walkabout, vol 5, no 4, 1939, p 52; pp 51–6.

45. ibid., p 51.

46. ibid., p 56.

47. Helen Skardon, ‘The house gins’, Walkabout, vol 3, no 5, 1937, pp 46, 49.

48. Shoemaker, op. cit., p 58.

49. ibid., p 139.

50. Editorial, ‘“Walkabout” re-examined’.

51. Shoemaker, op. cit., p 58.

52. See the first footnote 5.

53. Skardon, op. cit., pp 46, 49.

54. Idriess, ‘Lazy days’, p 12.

55. Hill, ‘Mining mica’, p 38.

56. Hill, ‘Glory’, p 36.

57. Hill, ‘Driving’, p 10.

58. Hill, ‘Overlanders’, Walkabout, vol 6, no 3, 1940, pp 37, 38.

59. Hill, ‘Travellin’ Cattle’, Walkabout, vol 9, no 7, 1943, p 6.

60. Hill, ‘Wings to Borroloola’, Walkabout, vol 11, no 12, 1945, p 8.

61. Durack, ‘Thylungra’, p 12; ‘Kimberley Epic’, p 30.

62. Arthur W. Upfield, ‘Pearling town of the North-West’, Walkabout, 1949, pp 29–30.

63. Thomas, op. cit., pp 11, 34.

64. Shoemaker, op. cit., p 58.

65. Smith, op. cit., p 16.