This is the first of two final film productions documenting the Board for Anthropological Research (BAR) expedition to Ernabella, South Australia during 7-24 August 1933. This film title relates to film items (AA 346/9/8/1-20).
The expedition party included numerous Board for Anthropological Research members.
The main BAR party left Adelaide on 3 August and reached Ernabella on 7 August were they met the advance BAR party of NB Tindale (AA 338) and CJ Hackett (AA 122) who had returned to Ernabella on 31 June from the Mann Range Expedition. See: Tindale's journal (AA 338/1/9), pp. 628, 663. and Tindale NB 'Anthropological Expedition to the North-West of South Australia,' p.99.
At Ernabella the BAR expedition members met and conducted physical anthropological tests on participating Australian Aboriginal people. These included groups who had gathered at Ernabella and those that Tindale and Hackett had encouraged them to join them to Ernabella.
The cinematographers were NB Tindale and HK Fry (AA 105). The original master copies of the expedition films were processed in the BAR Film Catalogue as B#21 - B#25. This expedition film was previous held in the NB Tindale and HK Fry collections and were transferred into the BAR collection (AA 346) in December 2005.
The South Australian Museum Archives Master Preservation tape consists of (AA 346/9/8/1 - AA 346/9/8/5). Duration 45 minutes 45 seconds, with intertitles
Note that film taken during the Mann Range (AA 346/9/7) and Ernabella expeditions have been used in both final film productions. Where possible this footage has been cross referenced with the corresponding time codes.
In this summary all intertitles are italicised and within quotation marks. All spelling within intertitles have been left as originally spelt. Language and terms which reflect the author's attitude or that of the period in which the item was produced may be considered inappropriate today.
The method adopted by BAR expeditions to undertake research and record the results involved assigning a unique number to each individual (here called 'individual subject number'). This number was given the expedition symbol as a prefix, and remained consistent throughout the research. This expedition was assigned the symbol 'I.' All individuals recorded during the expedition were assigned an individual subject number, for example [I27]. Where possible the 'individual subject number' of those who appear in film have been noted.
The time coded summary is in minutes and seconds. Following the summary of this film is a list of references. Formats Held: 16mm, SP Betacam, Digital Betacam, Access DVDs.
Summary (Time Coded): Taken from Access DVD 3 (AA 346/9/8/39)
00:00 'Ernabella, SA, 1933'
00:00 'Cultural Sensitivity Warning.'
00:00 'The Museum Board of South Australia © 1933.'
01:00 'Ernabella, 1933. Reel One.'
01:02 'Topical Scenes and Incidents.'
01:05 'Photography by HK Fry.'
01:08 Glimpse of Southern Lake Eyre from the train.
01:13 Landscape of Southern Lake Eyre from a moving train.
01:20 'Oodnadatta. Where the Expedition left the Northern Railway for the 300 miles motor journey west to Ernabella.'
01:28 View of houses at Oodnadatta.
01:34 'Moorilyanna. Leaving camp on a frosty morning.'
01:39 Expedition members driving to Ernabella.
02:00 'Ernabella. Scenes and incidents about the Expedition Camp.'
02:04 Series of landscape shots.
02:17 TH Johnson (AA 161) and JB Cleland (AA 52) conducting physical anthropology tests with a participating Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara woman.
02:21 A large flock of sheep, followed by a dozen or so Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children.
02:30 Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children play and climbing trees.
02:49 A group of Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children play with European manufactured toys which include a doll, figurines, animals, a snake and puppet.
02:58 Close up shot of a Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara boy.
03:14 At the BAR expedition camp a Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara man does vigorous squatting exercises after which he lies on the ground and has his blood pressure taken.
03:32 Three Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara men exchange dingo scalps with BAR expedition member Alan Brumby for flour, tobacco and a pipe, Kunapanti.
04:15 Two Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara women mock fight with digging sticks and by hand, laughing all the while. Children look on with excitement.
04:58 A group of women walk some carry firesticks.
05:07 Paddy Conlay's patent camel buggy built from the chassis of an old motor car with a long central pole fixed to the front wheel and two camels tied in harness abreast. Footage of the buggy in motion and stationary. See: (AA 338/1/9), pp.97-99.
05:31 Camels fighting near the BAR expedition camp.
05:37 Expedition vehicles leave the BAR expedition camp.
05:45 'Return Journey. Exceptional rains make travelling precarious.'
05:50 Expedition vehicles leave the BAR expedition camp, members wave at the camera as they pass.
06:03 Distant views of homesteads.
06:21 'Lambina Station and the Alberga River.'
06:24 Buildings and the gardens at Lambina Station.
06:48 'The rain-soaked Tableland, known locally as "Central Australia Plain."'
06:53 BAR expedition members stand beside their bogged vehicle.
07:02 Driving around vast pools of water.
07:14 'The expedition arrives safely at Oodnadatta.'
07:18 BAR expedition members stand beside the vehicles.
07:28 End of Ernabella, 1933. Reel One [No intertitle]
07:30 'Ernabella, 1933. Reel Two.'
07:32 'Adelaide University Anthropological expedition. Ernabella, August, 1933.'
07:36 Children's Games and Pastimes.
07:39 A Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara man stands with a young child. See: (AA 338/1/9), p.711.
07:45 A group of Pitjandjara / Jangkundjaral children some of whom jump around and play in the sand.
07:49 Two Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children sit on a large boulder looking with interest at the camera.
07:55 A young Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara woman demonstrates ways of picking up and carrying young children.
08:26 Two young Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara girls one with gumnuts adorning her hair.
08:56 Sequence of shots of Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children.
09:57 'Apara-waltji, popular boys game with bark disc.'
10:01 An Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara boy chops a circular bark disc from a tree with a metal tomahawk, watched by other boys.
10:06 'Cutting disc from the bark of red gum.'
10:11 Precise chopping of the disc into a circle.
10:19 'His toy spear is made from ti-tree.'
10:23 An Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara boy fashions his toy spear.
10:34 'One throws the disc, others "kill" it with cods and spears.'
10:39 Two young Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara boys throw their toy spears at the bark disc, which is set in motion by a third boy. See also Time Codes 46:32-6:33 in this film for additional footage.
11:17 'Sham fighting with toy spears blunted against a stone.'
11:20 Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara boys turn from spearing the bark disc to each other.
11:45 'Sham fighting with tjambi, or porcupine grass spears.'
11:49 Group of young Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara boys next to a porcupine bush on fire.
11:55 'Sharp point of grass blade is fixed in stem of flowering stalk.'
12:01 A Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara boy sharpens the point of his spear, and a group of boys playfully spear each other with porcupine grass blades.
12:22 'Spearing one another indiscriminately; when they strike they stick.'
12:26 Boys show the porcupine spears that hang from their legs.
12:37 'Follow the leader.'
12:40 A group of Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children play follow the leader in a dry creek bed.
12:46 'Native boys like climbing.'
12:49 A young boy climbing a tree uses a tomahawk to detach some bark.
13:04 Witchetty grub shown to the camera.
13:06 'Baby playing with a piece of rubbish.'
13:09 A young boy excitedly plays.
13:22 'Rushes twisted into an axe-shaped mode, then thrown away.'
13:27 Two Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children one of whom is Njinota nja (Tjinota) [I165] of the Pitjandjara people makes an axe shaped object.
14:03 'Kalpi manikunani, girls' game with leaves representing men and women.'
14:09 Three girls play Kalpi manikunani separately.
14:19 'Warmed, rubbed in sand, paired and beaten with sticks.'
14:23 Close up shot of the leaves in the sand, further shots of girls playing Kalpi manikunani together.
14:53 'They play and quarrel like children elsewhere in the world.'
14:58 A group of Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children playing in numerous ways, jumping in the sand, playing with dingo pups and spearing each other with porcupine grass.
17:06 Ernabella, 1933. End of Reel Two.
17:11 'Ernabella, 1933. Reel Three.'
17:13 Technology.
17:15 'Tjewere makes a mimbu or wooden dish.'
17:19 Taldalpanu (Talpapanu) [I29] of the Pitjandjara people walking around and looking.
17:23 'Searching for a tree with a suitable limb.'
17:27 Taldalpanu (Talpapanu) [I29] of the Pitjandjara people with a second man discuss the suitability of a tree limb for their purpose.
17:33 'He cuts through to hollow centre of branch.'
17:37 Taldalpanu (Talpapanu) [I29] of the Pitjandjara people finds a suitable tree limb from which he extracts a portion of bark with a tomahawk. A second man and boy look on.
18:45 'Using a digging stick to lever it off.'
18:49 Using a digging stick to leaver the bark portion away from the tree.
19:06 'Shaped roughly with tomahawk, and finished with an adze.'
19:11 Roughly shaping the bark piece with a tomahawk and later an adze more precision.
20:19 One of the men lights a fire using spear-thrower.
20:34 Taldalpanu (Talpapanu) [I29] of the Pitjandjara people with another man and the newly fashioned bark dish.
20:39 'Carried to camp, moistened and buried in hot sand beneath the fire.'
20:45 Water is sprinkled on the dish and it is placed in the hot sands beneath a fire to be baked.
21:04 'After baking it is stayed and decorated with red ochre.'
21:20 Two stick are placed across the inside to keep it in shape while it dries. Decorating the dish with red ochre. 'Fry secured cinema photographs of the making of a wooden dish. When finished Taldalpanu (Talpapanu) [I29] places two sticks across the inside to keep it in shape while it was drying.' See: (AA 338/1/9), p.723.
21:58 Demonstrating how the finished article is used.
22:02 'Spear Manufacture.'
22:05 Two Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara men walk with their dog.
22:12 'Orutjan, (Tecoma doratoxylon) from which spears are made.'
22:17 A Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara man removes a long branch of Urtjanpa Tecoma doratoxylon.
22:27 The foliage of this bush.
22:30 'Long stems are broken off near the ground.'
22:34 Several Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara men demonstrate how they reach into the centre of the bush to remove the stems near the ground. All leaves are then removed and the initial bending is begun to straighten the stem.
22:57 'After heating and straightening, the bark is peeled off'.
23:03 Wangenga [I35] of the Pitjandjara people, softens the stem over a fire, then removes the bark.
23:29 Footage of a Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara man digging in a burrow. See also Mann Range, SA, (AA 346/9/8/7) Time Codes 11:59-12:05.
23:31 Further preparations of the stem.
23:40 'Incised lines and ochre paint form the decoration.'
23:45 Further preparations of the stem.
23:58 'A ti-tree peg fixed with kangaroo tendon forms the barb.'
24:03 Fashioning and fixing the peg.
24:07 'Obtaining tendons from the tail of a wallaby.'
24:11 'The terminal joint is broken with the fingers.'
24:15 Drawing tendons from a wallaby tail.
24:24 'Drawing tendons from a more proximal joint.'
24:28 Further drawing of tendons.
24:41 'Making string, puturu, of wallaby fur.'
24:44 Removing fur from wallaby.
25:05 'Fur is beaten with a stick on firm wetted ground.'
25:10 Restricted Content Starts.
25:15 Restricted Content Ends.
25:15 The fur is beaten on firm wetted ground.
25:40 'Cross sticks form spindle and winder for the string.'
25:44 Preparing the spindle, teasing out the fur and starting the hair string. Attaching the hair string to the spindle and spinning the spindle to make string.
26:42 'The string may break and the fur requires further beating.'
26:47 Further beating of the wallaby fur.
27:11 'Making a Pubic Tassel, Maranga, with string.'
27:15 A Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara man demonstrates how to make a pubic tassel with hair string.
27:49 Restricted Content Starts.
28:22 Restricted Content Ends.
28:22 'Ernabella, 1933. End of Reel Three.'
28:27 'Ernabella, 1933. Reel Four'
28:29 Restricted Content Starts.
32:37 Restricted Content Ends.
32:37 'Decorating large wooden hairpins with a live coal.'
32:42 Man burning designs in a hairpin. See also Mann Range, SA (AA 346/9/8/7) Time codes 21:41-21:45.
33:19 'Building wet-weather hut, Kanko (note completed example in background).'
33:24 Two men construct a wet-weather hut.
33:57 'Piling branches, sticks and leaves on ti-tree bushes to form the hut.'
34:03 Further construction of the wet-weather hut.
34:37 'Striking flakes from a stone to make lancets.'
34:42 Stone flaking sequence.
34:47 'Women sharpening digging sticks: burning one side of extremity.'
34:52 Women use a stone to sharpen the charred end of a digging stick.
35:08 'Charred wood is rubbed away on a stone.'
35:11 Further sharpening of the digging stick with a stone.
35:16 'Toilette.'
35:19 'A man's chignon based on emu feather pad over which the hair is bound.'
35:26 Men prepare their hair.
36:07 'Grooming the beard.'
36:10 A man grooms his beard. See: (AA 338/1/9), p.693.
36:30 'Using a stick to clean the teeth.'
36:33 A child with a stick in her mouth, a man cleans his teeth with a small stick.
36:51 Restricted Content Starts.
37:08 Restricted Content Ends.
37:08 'Women and girls adorn their hair with gum-nuts.'
37:14 Young Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara girls prepare gum-nuts for adorning their hair.
37:19 'After drilling nut with a stick the tip of a lock of hair is wedged in.'
37:25 Attaching the gum-nut to the hair.
37:30 'A second nut may be added to same lock.'
37:34 Further attachment of gum nuts, a Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara girl with a fringe of gum-nuts.
37:44 'Ernabella, 1933. End of Reel Four.'
37:49 'Ernabella, 1933. Reel Five.'
37:52 'Sign Language.'
37:53 'No Water Here.'
37:57 A Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara man signals from the top of a hill that there is no water. See also Mann Range, SA (AA 346/9/8/7) Time Codes 08:10-8:30.
38:04 'I claim a wife intention announced by carrying meru under arm. Girl then seized by arm.'
38:11 Man stands with a spear thrower under his arm.
38:15 'Dog - Papa.'
38:18 Sign.
38:22 'Spear - Katji.'
38:24 Sign.
38:27 'Spear thrower - Meru.'
38:29 Sign.
38:32 'Wooden dish - Mimbu.'
38:34 Sign.
38:37 'Digging stick - Wana.'
38:40 Sign.
38:43 'Rabbit - Rabita.'
38:46 Sign.
38:49 'Pussy Cat - Putji kata.'
38:52 Sign.
38:56 'Grass seed - Wanganu.'
38:59 Sign.
39:01 'Fig - Ili.'
39:03 Sign.
39:07 'A circumcision ceremony was held here.'
39:10 Sign.
39:20 'Snake - Wami.'
39:23 Sign.
39:26 'Man - Wati.'
39:29 Sign.
39:31 'Woman - Kunka.'
39:34 Sign.
39:37 'Child - Tjitji.'
39:40 Sign.
39:43 'Fire - Waro.'
39:45 Sign.
39:51 'Water - Kapi.'
39:54 Sign.
39:59 'Emu - Kalaia.'
40:02 Sign.
40:03 'Kangaroo - Malu.'
40:06 Sign.
40:09 'Wallaby - Waro.'
40:12 Sign.
40:15 'Bandicoot - Windaru.'
40:17 Sign.
40:20 'Physiology.'
40:22 'Analysis of walking and running in women and men.'
40:27 Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara women and men walking back and forth, then running back and fourth. Some slow motion shots.
42:19 'Shuffling gait when walking over prickly ground.'
42:23 Two men walk over prickly ground.
42:29 'Characteristic postures.'
42:31 Standing and sitting postures.
42:43 'Lifting and carrying children.'
42:46 Demonstrating the lifting and carrying of children.
43:26 A Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara man walks around carrying his dog behind his back. See: (AA 338/1/9), p.693.
44:01 'Articulation.'
44:03 'Oua (meaning yes).'
44:06 Close up of a man articulating.
44:08 'Tjanamiltjan.'
44:11 Close up of a man articulating.
44:13 'Nganandaruka.'
44:15 Close up of a man articulating.
44:17 Restricted Content Starts.
45:04 Restricted Content Ends.
45:04 'Ernabella, 1933. End of Reel Five.'
45:08 'Episodes in life history of the camel.'
45:12 Camels mating.
45:35 A Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara man walks then aims his spear at a burrow in the ground and walks around in a circle.
45:54 Scenes from the morning camp. See also Mann Range, SA (AA 346/9/8/7) Time Code 2:38- 2:48.
46:01 Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara children eating meat. See also Mann Range, SA (AA 346/9/8/7) Time Code 25:50-27:20.
46:22 Children running after a woman who carries a small tin can. Footage appears to be shot during the Mann expedition but not included in the final film production.
46:27 Still image of a Pitjandjara / Jangkundjara mother carrying a child on her back.
46:32 Children throwing toy spears at a rolling bark disc. See also Time Code 10:39-11:16 in this film for additional footage.
46:34 Restricted Content Starts.
46:40 Restricted Content Ends.
46:40 Playing on stones arranged in lines near a waterhole.
46:44 End of 'Ernabella, 1933. Reel Five.' [No Intertitle]
Tribal / language groups recorded during this expedition as recorded in the Data Cards (AA 346/4/15).
Tindale Tribes: Antakirinja; Jangkundjara; Kukatja (NT); Ngadadjara; Ngalea; Pitjandjara
AIATSIS Tribal / Language Groups: Antakarinja; Luritja; Ngatatjara; Pitjantjatjara; Yankuntjatjara.