A drawing of a kangaroo hunt by dogs and two letters written in Western Arrernte by children from the Finke River Lutheran mission at Hermannsburg, via Alice Springs, in l942-44, are included in the latest list from Douglas Stewart Fine Books, Melbourne . The letters include English translations.
They were sent by Maxina Malbunka and Milton Elatjia to a young boy from a Lutheran family in Kyneton, Victoria, Gordon John Gerhardy (1933-2023), as part of a pen-pal exchange. Later in life Gerhardy would himself serve as a Lutheran missionary in Papua New Guinea.
Maxina was born at Hermannsburg on 24 July 1931, the first child of Alwin Malbunka (Malbangka) and his wife Franziska. In a letter written to T.G.H. Strehlow from Haasts Bluff, 10 February 1958, Pastor Albrecht mentions that Maxina’s father Alwin had collaborated with him on a translation of the Book of Amos.
Milton was born at Hermannsburg on 17 February 1932, the oldest child of Manasse Elatjia (aka Armstrong) (ca.1905-1979) and his wife Eva. Much later, in the early 1960s, Milton’s father Manasse would become one of the first group of Hermannsburg potters.
