ISLAND SPLENDOUR

Magnetic Island , off Townsville. Aeronautical Correspondent  Abra  photo. 

 

(Island. Queensland. Abra.)

CANADA'S SHAME ; DITTO TERRA NULLIUS

The above unique illustrated   publication, found  at  the  Mundingburra  monthly market  in  Townsville ,Queensland, deals with  Canadian  Indians and includes  coverage  of   the  Indian residential   schools to which many of  the young  were  removed   in  what was  described as  a  bid   to "kill  the indian in  the  child."   

Produced in  l977 by the Muswachees Cultural College ,Hobbema, Alberta,in assocation with the  University of Calgary Outreach, the publication   marked a milestone in  the history of the  Plains Cree People.

It was  produced in the  Native language as  well as  English and  includes  mention of  the  schools ,  some  related   photographs  and  mention of the  Klondike  goldrush. 

In 2008 , Canadian  Prime Minister, Stephen Harper , in parliament,  apologised for the treatment of  children in the residential schools ,describing it  as  a   sad chapter in  the country's history . 

He said  that for  more than  a century , these schools  had separated  150,000 Aboriginal children  from their families  and communities  Two  primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and  to assimilate them into the dominant culture.  

These objectives were based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, "to kill the Indian in the child".  Today, he continued, it was recognized that this policy of assimilation was wrong, had caused great harm,  and  had  no place in the  country.

One hundred and thirty-two federally-supported schools were located in every province and territory, except Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. 

Most schools were operated as "joint ventures" with Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian or United Churches.  The Government of Canada built an educational system in which very young children were often forcibly removed from their homes, often taken far from their communities.  Many were inadequately fed, clothed and  housed.  

All were deprived of the care and nurturing of their parents, grandparents and communities.  First Nations, Inuit and Métis languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these schools.  Tragically, some of these children died while attending residential schools and others never returned home.

To speed the transition at Maskwacis, Cree children were taken from their parents and sent to Ermineskin Indian Residential School, run by the Catholic Church. Traditional forms of governance were replaced by an elected band council system on each reserve, with the federal government having the power to depose “unco-operative” elected leaders. Cultural practices such as the sun dance were outlawed and a pass system was established so that First Nations people needed permission from an Indian agent to leave the reserve.

In 1915 a delegation from Hobbema travelled to Ottawa to ask for changes to the Indian Act. They wanted “equal freedom with the white man” and protection for their tradition of collective land ownership. The government, they said, “should cease to treat them like children.”

They also brought a cheque for $1200 to donate to Canada’s First World War effort. But little changed. The Indian Act would not be extensively revised until 1951, to allow for the practice of traditional ceremonies, abolish the pass system and allow First Nations to organize and hire legal counsel.

First Nations in Canada did  not  get the right   to vote until  l960. 

In moving towards healing, reconciliation and resolution of the sad legacy of schools , implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement began on September 19, 2007.

A cornerstone of the Settlement Agreement was  the Indian Residential Schools Truth  and  Reconciliation Commission.

Hobbema was  named  after a  Dutch painter .  

At  the  bottom of  the  front   cover of  the  publication is a  hard to  read name , Jessie  Florence ?, October  1977.  

(Canada. Apology. Schools.)

ON STRUGGLE STREET WITH TOBY

Townsville  op  shop  residents  . Vallis photo.

 

(Struggle. Shop. Vallis.)

BETTER CATERING THAN ON THE BOUNTY

Rings  with a  nautical design worn  as  souvenirs by   three  adventurous   Aussies  who  made   a recent exciting  voyage aboard  Venus, a  custom built  fibreglass  replica  of  an Indonesian  traditional  outrigger canoe, a Jukung , powered by  two  outboard  motors.  

Built in Bali, it  was trucked to Jakarta and launched , calling into   friendly places along the  way , sampling  the  exotic  tucker  , including  the mouth watering   variety   shown  below , none of  it  boring  breadfruit. 

Little Darwin received several photographs during the  trip , one showing  work on the outboards.  

The art  of  brewing   coffee  aboard  Venus is  shown  above   and  what seems to  have   been  a  cup  produced  ashore by  a  barista  skilled  in  the  latte art.

(Voyage. Indonesia. Venus.)

MORNING GLORY

Townsville  from  Castle  Hill  by  Aeronautical  Correspondent  Abra.

 (Sunrise. Townsville . Abra.)

PROLIFIC PIONEERING SCULPTOR CAPTURED WILD AUSTRALIA PERFORMER

An intriguing item  spotted  in the  Art Gallery of New South Wales  by  our  wandering  Shipping Reporter is this  l897  head of  an Aborigine, identified as  Kunkardi,  made  by  early   Australian  sculpor   James  White  (l861-1918) ,who produced  many public  sculptures  for  Sydney  and  Melbourne . 

According to the gallery , Kunkardi, from the Gulf region in Queensland, was one of the 27 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men who were conscripted to perform in the exploitative 'Wild  Australia Show' that toured Australia in the 1890s.

White appears to have modelled the   figure, in neo-classical , ennobling  style ,  from a  promotional  photograph of  the  troupe  taken by Henry King in l893. It was originally exhibited in l897 as  Conamdatta, a northern  Queensland  Aboriginal man . 

King's photograph, the   gallery  states, served to identify the subject as  Kunkardi  and  renamed  White's sculpture.

It was   donated to the  gallery  in  l924  by the prominent  Italian artist A.  Dattilo-Rubbo ( l870-l955) ,who established an  art school in Sydney in 1898 which ran for  43 years and  influenced  many  up  and  coming artists.

Recently Little Darwin   ran a post about  a  June  l926 copy of  the  London  art magazine ,Old Master  Drawings,  for students and  collectors  ,  found in Townsville  , which had once  been in  the  A. Dattilo- Rubbo   art  school  in Sydney . The  following  stamped name of the school appeared on many of its pages, presumably to prevent students  from  cutting  or  ripping them out.

                                                    

The son  of a journeyman shipwright  ,James  White   is variously described as  having been   born in  Liverpool, England,  and     Edinburgh ,Scotland. Apprenticed  to  a plasterer , it appears he studied  plaster  modelling  in  South Kensington  , London  , and  made  anatomical models  for  London  hospitals.

While he was  an assistant to the Scottish sculptor John Rhind, he executed a bas-relief of  the   surgeon  John Hunter  for  Edinburgh University . 

About 1884 White came to Sydney  and  with the support of  Sir Joseph Banks, the so called father of  the  Australia federation , became  the  busiest   sculptor  in  the   nation . 

He did works cast in plaster or bronze and carved in marble. Involved in the monument to Governor Arthur Phillip in Sydney's  Royal Botanic Gardens , he also produced the  statuette of a bushranger, large statues of  Queen Victoria and  Prince Albert .

 In 1902  his  group -In Defence of the Flag- resulted in him becoming  the first sculptor to be awarded the Wynne Prize. The enlarged cast-bronze version was sent to Perth as a war memorial the next year. 

His numerous commissions included one from Adelaide for a carved marble statue  in l904  of  the Scottish explorer  John McDouall Stuart who made  the  first  crossing of  Australia  from  the south  through the  Centre  to  the  north  and  return .

White produced a repousse copper figure-Commerce-for the Royal Exchange Building , Sydney . A founding member of the National Guild of Applied Arts and Crafts, he  had moved to  Melbourne by 1906.

(Sculptor. Aboriginal.Italian.) 

SHANGHAI NIGHT RIVER CRUISE

 

 Aeronautical  Correspondent Abra pix..

(Shanghai, Night. Cruise.)