This series contains restricted material.

This items consists of magnetic tape recordings of songs, narratives, conversations and interviews about historical events in the Kaiadilt, Lardiil and English languages. They were made by Norman B Tindale in 1960 during the Board for Anthropological Research expedition to Bentinck and Mornington Islands in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria region of Queensland. Tindale travelled to Bentinck and Mornington Islands with Peter Aitken, a museum scientist, and spent two months undertaking medical, ethnological and other natural history research. This expedition was the first of two to the region in the 1960s: the second took place in 1963 (for details see Tindale's field journal: 'Journal of Visit to the Gulf of Carpentaria by Norman B Tindale. 1963', AA 338/1/25 ).

The contents descriptions given below were taken from Tindale's handwritten annotations on the tape boxes, and are therefore brief. Fuller details of the recordings are found in the S. A. Museum Speech and Sound Collections register (relevant 'AS' reference numbers are listed below) and in the pages of Tindale's expedition field journal: 'Visit to Bentinck and Mornington Islands, Queensland by Norman B. Tindale. 1960' (AA 338/1/23; especially pages pp. 93-99; 165-169; 247; 303; 351-357).

The Bentinck Island series includes the following:
AA 338/11/18/
Reel 1

• 'Dugong song I'
  [CD 1. Tracks 1-2. Tape No. 9610; TT66; Bentinck I. ser. 1; AS 475]
  
  
• 'Song of hook spear II'
  [CD 1. Tracks 3-4. Tape No. 9610; TT66; Bentinck I. ser. 1; AS 476]
  
  
• 'Turtle [banga] song'; 9-10 May 1960
  [CD 1. Tracks 5-6. Tape No. 9610; TT66; Bentinck I. ser. 1; AS 477]
  
  

Reel 2

• Dugong song & turtle [banga] songs
  [CD 2. Tracks 1-4. Tape No. 9610; TT66 & Tape No. 9611; TT67; Bentinck I. ser. 1 & 2; AS 478]
  
  
• 'chant to make a sick man well'
  [CD 2. Track 5. Tape No. 9611; TT67; Bentinck I. ser. 2; AS 479]
  
  
• 'stone fish song'
  [CD 2. Track 6. Tape No. 9611; TT67; Bentinck I. ser. 2; AS 480]
  
  
• 'circumcision song'
  This item is restricted
  [CD 2. Track 7. Tape No. 9611; TT67; Bentinck I. ser. 2; AS 481]
  
  
• 'song about two brothers'
  [CD 2. Track 8. Tape No. 9611; TT67; Bentinck I. ser. 2; AS 482]
  
  
• 'turtle song'
  [CD 2. Tracks 9-10. Tape No. 9611; TT67; Bentinck I. ser. 2; AS 483]
  
  

Reel 3

• 'an invocation to the new moon' with English translation
  [CD 3. Tracks 1-5. Tape No. 9611; TT67; Bentinck I. ser. 3; AS 483.1-483.2]
  
  
• conversations about the island of Baltae with English translation, 27 May 1960
  [CD 3. Tracks 6-9. Tape No. 9611; TT67; Bentinck I. ser. 3; AS 483.3]
  
  

Reel 4

• 'Conversation between Mick Charles of Forsyth Island who speaks first and Jack Tarurukiŋati about killings on Bentinck I.'
  [CD 4. Tracks 1-8. Tape No. 9611; TT67 & Tape No. 9612; TT68; Bentinck I. ser. 4; AS 483.4]
  
  

Reel 5

• 'Conversation continued between Mick Charles & Jack Tarurukiŋati about killings on Bentinck I.'
  [CD 5. Track 1. Tape No. 9612; TT68; Bentinck I. ser. 5; AS 483.4]
  
  

Reel 6

• 'Raft disaster of 1947: Venus questioned by Gully; Dolcie, Dougal's wife's version of the disaster; Sarah's version of the disaster', 3 June 1960
  [CD 6. Tracks 1-5. Tape No. 9612; TT68; Bentinck I. ser. 6; AS 483.5]
  
  

Reel 7

• 'Venus and Sarah sing the song of their late husband Doŋkore:iŋati'
  [CD 7. Tracks 1-2. Tape No. 9613; TT69; Bentinck I. ser. 7; AS 495]
  
  
• 'Percy sings the song of his father Tondorŋati'
  [CD 7. Tracks 3-4. Tape No. 9613; TT69; Bentinck I. ser. 7; AS 496]
  
  
• 'Susie sings the song of her father Minekuriŋati', 8 June 1960
  [CD 7. Track 5. Tape No. 9613; TT69; Bentinck I. ser. 7; AS 497]
  
  

Reel 8

• 'Percy Bentinck and Gully discuss Katjuruko, a being of Bentinck Island'
  This item is restricted
  [CD 8. Track 1. Tape No. 9613; TT69; Bentinck I. ser. 8; AS 498]
  
  
• 'Molly tells of another story from the western end of Bentinck Island', 8 June 1960
  [CD 8. Track 2. Tape No. 9613; TT69; Bentinck I. ser. 8; AS 499]
  
  

Note that occassionally Tindale recorded a spoken version of a song and that English explanations are sometimes provided.

Tindale Tribes: Kaiadilt; Lardiil.