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Student Research

Katie Goldhammer 2007 (Masters of Museum Studies: ELS802 Special Research Project)

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Object 3: Civilised?

Magazine Article: "Civilised?" in PIX
Vol. 1 No. 21 June 18, 1938
Australian Popular Magazine established 1938-1971
(Object 41000868 Australian History Museum, Macquarie University)

Context of Object:

"Unprotected by its own people, this aboriginal baby is growing up in the Richmond River Station of the mission which has been working among aborigines for forty four years" (Object 41000868, AHM, MU, 34).

Civilisation for Aboriginal Babies:

The article entitled, Civilised?, featured in Vol. 1 No. 21 issue of popular culture PIX Magazine, June 18, 1938, is an example of popular opinion about Aboriginal Australians in the late 1930's (Paperworld, 2004, 1). The article presents many photographs of day to day activities at missions where Aboriginals learnt a colonial way of life. One caption for a photograph of naked children describes "waifs of the wilderness" coming to the mission for clothes and shelter (Object 41000868, AHM, MU, 34); while the colonists work is described as a "courageous experiment of adapting these disinherited Australians to take their place in the society." This printed view varies significantly from that of anthropologist, A. P. Elkin, who finds Aboriginal peoples to be "fair and honest," (Elkin, 1950, 9) and in general, an able and contented people.

Further Research:

At the Mission
Protestant and other Christian religions directed missions that informed Aboriginal peoples of certain skills and habits unfamiliar to their inherent culture. Aboriginal children were dressed in colonial style, as seen in a picture in the article, and taught sewing and nursing as well as hymns and piano. Another picture in the article shows young girls with older men who, from the caption are "married before they were born;" instead they are now wards of the mission (Object 41000868, AHM, MU, 35).

Communities were formed by the wards of the mission, houses constructed at stations such as Quorn in South Australia or Morgan's in W.A. However, anthropologist Elkin finds that Aboriginal peoples "have not our interest in houses, clothes or possessions, (but) they do possess quite marked skills" (Elkin, 1950, 10) suggesting a sufficient yet different way of life.

PIX Historical Review
PIX, established in 1938 as a popular Australian magazine featured politics, culture, sport and news. The publication thrived until merging with People in 1971 after printing more risqué material throughout the 1960's and 1970's (Paperworld, 2004, 1).

The featured article, "Civilised?" ran in the magazine's first year of publication. 1937, the year before, saw the inaugural meeting of the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association or APA, which ran from 1924 to 1927, but was disbanded by police (Paperworld, 2004, 1); the aim of the APA being autonomy and full citizen rights for Aboriginal peoples (Sydney City Council, 2002, 1). Perhaps the building political climate and time in relation to Aboriginal events such as the First Day of Mourning, organized by John Patten and William Ferguson of the APA (Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia 1994, 73), made 1938 a necessarily particular year in popular culture and view.

 

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