From loop-holes to labour: Aboriginal connections to Calperum and Chowilla pastoral stations, South Australia

ABSTRACT

This paper examines Aboriginal connections to pastoral properties on the western central Murray River, with a focus on Calperum and Chowilla Stations. Station histories are presented, oral histories are explored and archaeological sites and material culture from the period are considered. The range of histories, interactions and “zones of encounter” are then compared to relevant interpretive models in order to highlight some of the myriad complexities relating to invasion, colonisation and pastoralism. In particular, we explore a range of themes, including conflict/violence, place names, traditional activities, rations, labour and more to demonstrate Aboriginal engagements and connection to Country throughout the pastoral era, even during times of significant duress – bringing to the fore otherwise “anonymised”, “hidden” and “contested” narratives. This research was undertaken in collaboration with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC).

KEYWORDS:

• Pastoralism
• colonisation
• rations
• labour
• Murray River
• South Australia
• Calperum Station
• Chowilla Station

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support and participation of the Directors of the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC) and the RMMAC cultural advisors who were involved in this project. We also thank Eva Purvis for her volunteer work collecting newspaper articles. Thank you also to staff at the South Australian Museum for assistance with various aspects of this project. Acknowledgements also to Eric Cook for assistance with photographs and captions. The study was approved by the Flinders University’s Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (Project Number: 6618). The interest and support of the Calperum Station (Australia Landscape Trust) management is also gratefully acknowledged. This research was funded by the Australian Research Council (LP170100479). We also thank the anonymous reviewers and the Editors for their helpful suggestions which have improved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Calperum and Chowilla Stations relate to a number of Aboriginal territories. Our primary focus relates to the Erawirung group area (e.g. see N. B. Tindale, 1974), although adjacent territories are also canvassed. As per Roberts et al. (2021, p. 20) we note that “it is acknowledged that Tindale’s narrower group ‘boundaries’ are not without issues”, however “an interrogation of all relevant sources is beyond the scope of this paper”.

2. Tommy Bookmark’s life was deeply impacted by colonisation – numerous police reports attest to arrests for drunkenness in Adelaide (South Australian Register, 1878, p. 3; The Express and Telegraph, 22 April 1901, p. 4), and newspapers report the saga of his arrest and trial for murder at Mannum (South Australian Register, 8 April 1887, p. 7) and record that he worked as a tracker (Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record, 13 December 1929, p. 5). He was ultimately acquitted of the Mannum murder, although two other men of his “tribe”, “Long George” and “Fat Harry”, were imprisoned and died in gaol (Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 8 April 1887, p. 794; Pinnaroo and Border Times, 20 December 1935, p. 3).

3. James Hawker was also a member of the volunteer police party formed in May 1841 which attempted to recover sheep taken by Aboriginal people from an overlanding party (Hawker, 1899/1975, p. 33). Although Hawker was not involved in the Rufus River Massacre (Hawker, 1841–1845), he was involved in the violence of the May expedition.

4. Although Britcher was involved in the frontier conflict period, Schell is incorrect in his reference to Rufus River here, as he was killed at Mount Dispersion as noted previously.

5. Probably from around the Lake Victoria region (e.g. see Empire, 2 August 1871, p. 2).

6. As noted above racist terms and ideas were prominent in this period and extended to names given/used to refer to Aboriginal people.

7. Given that much has been written about the Nanya group, an exploration of their history is beyond the scope of this paper.

8. Descendants of the donor of the object were contacted, however no additional detail was known about its manufacture.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [LP170100479].