The Spear the Cross and the Gun: Milingimbi Yolngu History and the Arrival of Mission and Government

By Djandjay Baker and Bob Baker

Why did the Methodist missionaries seek out the full blood tribal yolngu (Aborihinal) of north-east Arnhem Land who fiercely resisted intruders into their practically unknown and untamed country? One answer was the Bible, and another was by the 1920s the plight of the Australian Aboriginee because of contact with Europeans across wide Australia.
What did happen to the yolngu who lived by their own laws at the time of the arrival of the first Europeans, the Christian mission balanda in 1923, when they settled onto their land?
Yolngu from (law) was enforced by the spear throughout their lands until the missionaries with the Bible and the cross of Jesus arrived. The Australian Police then, although the missionaries were only few in number, began to visit to support new western laws that were being introduced to the yolngu where justice was dealt with by the law courts and enforced by the power of the gun, so when the law was broken there was the possibility of imprisonment, and also in those days there was the most deadliest of all western laws - capital punishment.
With the arrival of the Mthodist Overseas Mission with modern conveniences and living conditions for the yolngu, it therefore attracted many other yolngu clans living on the mainland to come and live at Milingimbi,
The mission in particular became a buffer between the yolngu and the outside encroaching western dominant society, so our yolngu communities began to grow and prosper which was contrary to many communities down south where Aboriginals from their first contact with mainstream Europeans became disempowered, and as their lands were being fenced and taken from them they bagan to die off in large numbers and by the 1920s they were looked upon as a dying race with the possibility of extinction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Nov 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798369493861

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Copyright © 2023 by Djandjay and Bob Baker. 816645

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ISBN: 979-8-3694-9387-8 (sc)

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2023920634

Rev. date: 02/15/2024

Contents

Acknowledgements

Note to the Reader

Introduction

PART 1     MILINGIMBI: MISSION DAYS (to 1972)

Chapter 1   Brief Overview of Arnhem Land and Milingimbi

Chapter 2   Patrol Officers—The Go-Betweens (1930s–60s)

Law and Order (1863–1930s)

Gordon Sweeney

An Elopement, Spear-Throwing, and Resolution (1948–49)

Reports by Patrol Officer Kyle-Little (1948)

Trading Station on the Mouth of the Liverpool River (1949)

Maningrida

The Role of Native Affairs (1950s)

Chapter 3   The War Years (1940–1945)

The Threat of Invasion at Milingimbi

The Second World War

War Diaries and Records

War Diaries 1941–1946

Gordon Birkett’s ADF Records

Wing Commander F. W. B. Mann

The SS Macumba

Excerpt from The West Australian—Perth, 1946

Harold Guy and Elizabeth Hooke

Excerpt from The West Australian—Perth, 1948

Chapter 4   1923–1969: A Summary

The First Missionaries

The Mission’s Activities in the 1950s

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

1958

Chapter 5   Boats, Hunting, Fishing, and Food Supplies

Lipa Lipa

European Boats and Barges

Mission Barges

Flying Boats

Naval Patrol Boats

Crocodile Poachers

Hunting and Gathering from the Sea and Rivers

The Nindjia (Salt Plains)

Agriculture and Livestock

The Gardens: Early Days

Mosese Latu

Livestock

The Rations’ Shed/General Store

Chapter 6   Infrastructure

Air Travel

Airlines

Airport Shelter

Water Supply

Electricity

Roads and Vehicles

The Church

Houses and Other Buildings

The Wharf

Chapter 7   Health, Education, and Training

The Milingimbi Health Clinic

Health Report (1969)

The Work of Beulah Lowe and Sister Ellen Kettle

The Work of Dr John Hargrave

Milingimbi School

History of the School

The Annual Schools Sports Eisteddfod

Adult Education

Linguists

Chapter 8   The Milingimbi Town Report (1970)

Staff

Buildings and Maintenance

Renovations

Piggery and Fowls

Maintenance

Future Programme

Conclusion

Mechanical

Store

Pastures and Stock

Pastures

Cattle

Pigs

Mainland Development

Economic

Garden

First Milingimbi Scout News

Chapter 9   Social Activities, Sport, Art, and Music

Fighting and Boxing

General Sport

Art, Crafts, Music, and Dance

Milingimbi Church Choir: Farewell to the Missionaries

PART 2     MILINGIMBI: 1970–2019

Chapter 1   Governance (1970–2019)

History of Recognition of Land Owners

The Intervention

Homeland Movement

Milingimbi Outstations

Investment in Homelands

The Milingimbi Housing Reference Group (MHRG)

Request for a Police Officer in Milingimbi

Charlie Djirarrwuy

Tragedy on the Island: 8 December 2017

Milingimbi War Memorial

Chapter 2   Health and Well-Being (1970–2019)

Population

Medical Staff

New Health Centre and Staff

Fijians and the Church

Clean Houses

Alcohol and Other Drugs

Alcohol Misuse

A Dry Community

Fright Night (Kava)

Dingoes and Dogs

Dingoes

Dogs

The Usefulness of Dingoes or Dogs

Dog Problem in Milingimbi

Good Tucker

Bush Bread

Turtle on the Menu

Bobby (aka Latjin)

Chicken Bottom

Sport

Chapter 3   Organisations and Businesses (1970–2019)

Arnhem Land Progress Association (ALPA)

Private Enterprise

The Traditional Credit Union

Milingimbi Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation

Chapter 4   Education, Training, Employment, and Construction

Milingimbi School

Other Education

Looking Back

The Training Allowance

Construction in the 1970s

Tribute to Michael Sideras

Construction

Housing and Construction 1970s

Construction from the 1990s to 2019

Chapter 5   Environment: Land and Sea

The Beach

Barge Landing and Fishing

Sea Rangers

Fire Safety Advice

A Boat Trip, Christmas 1974

Cyclones

Lost at Sea

Crocodylus Rescue (1975)

Gurriba (1983)

Two Times Lucky (2009)

Box Jellyfish

Crocodiles

Snakes

The Cane Toad

Chapter 6   Road and Air Transport

Air Services

Regular Air Services

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)

Airstrip Shelter and Airstrip Road

Milingimbi Airstrip

Tribute to Hadleigh Smith

Travel to and from Darwin

Transport in the Wet Season

Chapter 7   Law and Order in Milingimbi

Yolngu Law and Police

Yolngu Police Aides

Police Stations

Djandjay’s Stories

A Surprising Encounter

Another Call-Out

Young People Today

PART 3     MUSICIANS, INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE, AND VISITORS

Chapter 1   Yolngu Entertainers over the Years

The Milingimbi Island Dancers

The Gattjirrk Festival

A Tribute to Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy and the Soft Sand Band

Other Musicians and Bands

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Yothu Yindi

Danzal Baker aka Baker Boy

Chapter 2   Influential People

Ada Dangawukpuy

Djawa

George Djilminy

Willy Walalipa

Dr Louise Hamby

Historical Research by Joseph Neparrnga Gumbula

Influential Teachers and Players of the Yidaki

Reverend Larry Bilanya and Reverend Joe Mawundjil

Keith Lapulung

Beulah Lowe

Jillian Moore

Jess Smith

Chapter 3   Visitors to Milingimbi

Doug Peterson

Herb and Esmay Warwick

Beryl Edmunds

Harry Robertson

Jimmy Little

Nowland Family

Brad and Sue Harris

Ms Wilhelmina Van-Der-Staal

Daughters of the Reverend Arthur Ellemor

PART 4    FACING THE SPEAR IN MILINGIMBI

Chapter 1   Culture and Business

Cultural Obligations

Business Camps

Yolngu Law (Rom)

Sign Language

Footprints

Cultural Awareness

When People Pass On

Ceremonies

Caretakers of Land

Gunapipi (Men’s Business Camp)

Dhapi (Circumcision)

Swords or Machetes

The Burala Ceremony

Ngarra Ceremony

Mandiyala Ceremony

Bukulup Ceremony

Hollow Log Ceremony

Chapter 2   The Spears

Chapter 3   Makarrata

Chapter 4   Spear, Cross, and Gun

The Old Days

Nowadays (2019)

EPILOGUE

Milingimbi

The Authors’ Prayer and Promise for the Future

Glossary

About the Authors

127_a_aa.jpg

Djandjay, Bagot Entrant Bougainvillea Festival Queen Competition, Darwin. 1969. Bob Collection.

Acknowledgements

Authors: Djandjay and Bob Baker

The ways of the world are moving so fast it seems few of us can take time or even care to investigate the history of the place where we live.

The history of a place—for example, like the ancient Yolngu island of Milingimbi—to outsiders on arrival may seem like a world apart from the rest of Australia. Yolngu (Aboriginal) have always been dominant, and historians have described how they lived in the past, how they live today, and what is to be expected from visitors in respect of their relationships with the people of Milingimbi, and their future, if any, with the local people, whom we acknowledge as caretakers of their motherland.

It is an honour for us to record some of Milingimbi’s history since the arrival of the Balanda (European), and we hope we are not insensitive in our research by intruding into anyone’s personal life or workplace. Perhaps we can become all the richer by experiencing some of the happenings in the lives of different peoples at Milingimbi—peoples from different cultures: Macassan, Dutch, English, Torres Strait Islanders, Fijian, Tongan, and the Japanese, being from Indonesia, the Netherlands, England, the Torres Straits, the Pacific, and North-East Asia.

Milingimbi Island is situated in the Top End, close to the north coast of North-East Arnhem Land in northern Australia and is also known as the home of the Yan-Nhangu (Matha).

The tribal Aboriginals of North-East Arnhem Land are the Yolngu.

We wish to acknowledge the ancient Yolngu Rom (law) of the traditional land owners in the past, which was the only law until the arrival of the Methodist Overseas Mission which consisted mainly of Australian English people, when the elders of the village council and the population were introduced to Balanda laws, and made the newly arrived Balanda mission staff aware of the Yolngu laws that would apply to them.

The Methodist Overseas Mission received an Australian Government subsidy for its training and work programmes on the mission station 1923–1972. After which, there were changes to governance and funding, which are described in detail in Part 2: Chapter 1 of this book.

We wish to acknowledge the missionaries who, at their request, were allowed by Yolngu onto their island. Christian missionaries sought to obey God’s words in the Bible, which appeared to be about love, power, and intrigue. They sought to share a Christian faith, which set an example of a loving Jesus, empowered by their Father, God, rather than an overbearing religion being placed upon the people—a method that had been used by missionaries and others during the early years of first European settlement in other areas of Australia.

Standing back and looking at the big picture of years gone by, we acknowledge that there has generally been good work done between Yolngu and Balanda. Cultural activities often took place on the mission station with Balanda showing respect towards Yolngu customs, and Yolngu in turn showed respect to the Balanda in their role as missionaries responsible for the station operations.

But to hold onto these good works, these days there is a need to continue what was done in the past for people in respect to the parental care of children—whether Yolngu or Balanda—within the basic family structure of the children having a father and a mother to grow and teach them (wherever possible). There is also the essential need for law and order to continue to be upheld, for the parents, or caretakers, of our children are responsible for their behaviour when they are young. Are we to fall into a decadent world which stands threatening? Such are the challenges today.

Personal Acknowledgements

First and foremost, we need to acknowledge Jimmy Burriyalil and Sally Wanburma, the Walamangu traditional owners of the land where this community has grown since ancient times and which their ancestors named as Milingimbi. We were closely associated and supported by both Jimmy and Sally, brother and sister, and we are indebted to them. Sadly, they passed away whilst we were doing the research for this sequel to our first book, The Spear and the Gun.

We acknowledge and thank the NT Government and the NT history grants programme for their support.

We also acknowledge the following Yolngu and Balanda people:

• Makarrwala—Wangurri headman of the community

• Badaltja—Wangurri elder and leader and Methodist Mission translator

• Djawa—Gupapuyngu elder and headman of the community

• Dumarin—skilled mission worker and Wangurri elder

• Joseph Banguli—Wangurri elder and Methodist Mission school teacher

• Djilmin—Gupapuyngu elder

• Bunguwuy—Gupapuyngu elder

• Djuma—Gupapuyngu elder

• Raiwala—Mildjilngi Gupapuyngu

• Mathew Dhulumburrk—Gaykamangu elder, mission worker, and community spokesperson

• Keith Lapulung—Jambarrpuyngu Gundanguri leader, community spokesperson, liaison, and entertainer

• Joe Mawundjil—Birrkili Gupapuyngu elder, community spokesperson, and local Uniting Church minister

• Larry Bilanya—Birrkili Gupapuyngu elder, skilled mission worker, and local Uniting Church minister

• Joe Neparrnga—Gupapuyngu elder and local historian

• Jerry Jangala—community elder and pastor of local Baptist Church Lajamanu Walpiri Community in Central Australia

We sincerely thank

• Ken and Judith Nowland for the information they contributed to this book. Ken, a builder, was superintendent of the mission for a time in the early seventies. He has provided information regarding the missionaries has reported his experiences whilst training Yolngu men in the construction of community buildings and their own houses.

• Missionary Jillian Moore, who was first employed by the Church Missionary Society as a nurse to relieve their mission nurses, and later with the Department of Health when she worked at Milingimbi in 1969 during the Methodist mission years. We thank her for her encouragement and the article she has shared with us for inclusion in this book.

• Missionaries Ann and Edgar Wells, Harold and Ella Shepherdson, Gordon and Olive Sweeney, Harold and Elizabeth Guy, Jessie Smith, Beulah Lowe, Russel and Ruth Beazley, Doug and Hazel Peterson, John and Lynn Neville, Jim Blythe and Goldie, Alan Fidock and wife, Tom Curnow and wife, Jim and Mary Porter, Les and Jocelyn Shepherd, Mosese and Vika Latu, Ray Bell and wife, Bill Russel, Doreen Lawton, Beryl Edmunds, and Herb and Esmay Warwick.

• The many other missionaries who are too numerous to mention who, together with the traditional land owners, helped to bring peace when numerous Yolngu from other clans attracted by the mission arrived to live in Milingimbi and caused conflict within the community for many years. The Methodist missionaries first arrived in Milingimbi in 1923 and remained until 1972.

• Dr John Hargrave, former medical superintendent treating leprosy patients at East Arm Leprosy Settlement Darwin.

• Graham Webb, Crocodilus Darwin.

• Damien Lumsden and Mark Hughes for sharing with us their personal experiences, which have been written into the section ‘Lost at Sea’ in Part 2, Chapter 5.

• Gwenneth Robinson for sharing extracts from her brother Max Kenyon’s diary, which provides a wealth of information of the Japanese attack on Darwin and the threat to Milingimbi in 1942 prior to its bombing.

• Gordon Birkett, of ADF Serials (online). We give full acknowledgement and accreditation to him for the information he provided for the section entitled ‘Gordon Birkett’s ADF records’, ‘War Diaries and Records’, in Chapter 3 of Part 1.

• Sharon L Norris, author from Nhulunbuy, for her kind support and guidance.

• Crocodile Islands Rangers and Milingimbi and Outstation Progress Resource Aboriginal Corporation for their articles and kind support.

• Ted Egan, formerly a patrol officer in his younger years and in more recent times an administrator for the NT, is a man well known, especially to the older generation of people in Arnhem Land and throughout the Territory. When he greets the public, he tells of his experiences in the early days with the Yolngu, and this opens up a world of wonder, which still surrounds North-East Arnhem Land and the tribal Aboriginal people who live in such remote regions. We thank him for his contributions.

• John Japp, formerly of East Arnhem Regional Council, who was a dedicated promoter of the history of North-East Arnhem Land. We admire the work he did towards the construction of War Memorials in Yolngu communities.

• Alastair King, CEO of the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation in Darwin, for his support and encouragement to Djandjay and I as we were delving into and documenting the recent years of Yolngu history at Milingimbi.

• Michael Toomey, general manager in 2017 of the Royal Flying Doctor Service Central Operations in Alice Springs, for his support in our research, and his promotion of Milingimbi’s history, including the sacrifices and fighting spirit shown by the RAAF as it defended Milingimbi and fought the Japanese Imperial Forces.

• John Neville, ex-missionary, who is more like a member of our own family than only a friend. He has generously contributed numerous photographs.

• Vanessa Campbell who, before she passed away, sent numerous images to Elizabeth Wurrrulnga who shared those images with us. Both Vanessa and John Neville helped bring the past to life with their photographs, and including many of those photographs in this book has given colour and beauty to our research.

Note to the Reader

The co-authors, Djandjay and Bob Baker, declare that Djandjay, as a Wangurri elder, is associated with the Walamangu traditional land owners, and we have been given their blessing to publish the information in this book, just as we had permission to publish the information in our first book, The Spear and the Gun, published by Bob Baker in 2017.

All ceremonies described in this book are based on Djandjay’s experience where she and her family, including our children, have taken part in those ceremonies, and the only ceremonies described in this book are those that are open to the public. Our sons have also been involved in Yolngu business camps in Milingimbi but these have been sacred men’s business, and the women in our families have also been involved in women’s business camps, but as those ceremonies are not open to the public, they have not been described here.

The legitimisation of Bob Baker’s place with the Yolngu people is through Yolngu acceptance of his marriage to Djandjay in 1969, since which time Bob has never been required to obtain a permit to visit or live within the Arnhem Land Reserve.

The co-authors that when we have referred to here, or this area, or the/this island in this book, we mean Milingimbi. We note that the decisions made regarding the spelling of certain Yolngu terms, names, or other words have been our own.

The co-authors also note that the decisions made to retain, in some passages and/or quotes, certain words that may be considered offensive by some readers are our own. We have made those decisions in order to retain historical accuracy in terms of the words used historically in the Northern Territory prior to 2019. We apologise in advance for any words or phrases in this book that cause offence to any reader.

Introduction

Authors: Djandjay and Bob Baker

What is more worthwhile in life than in giving a helping hand, just to satisfy that need within oneself to do some good towards others? No matter what belief, faith, or religion one has, there is something special in giving one’s own time, whether privately, publicly, or in the workplace, to assist those around us—in this case, the Yolngu.

In 2009, we began researching the history of Milingimbi since the arrival of the missionaries. This resulted in a large amount of information, too large for one book. We compiled the written content about the military history of Milingimbi into The Spear and the Gun¹, which is about Yolngu history and the war effort on the island of Milingimbi during the 1940s, and some information in that book was based on our experiences with, and records of, the Methodist Overseas Mission, which remained on the island until 1972. This was published in 2017. Then between 2017 and 2019, we compiled the rest of the material we had gathered into this second book, The Spear, the Cross, and the Gun.

The Spear and the Gun was published with the blessings of the Walamangu landowners. The East Arnhem Regional Council purchased one hundred books from me and distributed them throughout North-East Arnhem Land Yolngu communities. The Royal Flying Doctor Service purchased one hundred books and offered them for sale. Libraries and businesses in the Territory and elsewhere in Australia also purchased copies of that book.

We completed writing and compiling this book in 2019.

It has been an honour for us to document some of Milingimbi’s history since the arrival of the Balanda with the Methodist Overseas Mission, and to recall and present our own life experiences and research about our people, both Yolngu and Balanda at Milingimbi. We hope this book will bring back to life some of the Christian spirit that we both witnessed in people’s lives on the mission station during the early days.

Our lives become richer by hearing about the experiences of people of different cultures who have been involved with the Yolngu at Milingimbi; those peoples include the Macassan, Dutch, English, Torres Strait Islander, Fijian, Tongan, and Japanese, from countries such as Indonesia, the Netherlands, England, the Torres Straits, the Pacific, and North-East Asia. We hope we have not been insensitive in intruding, through our research, into others’ personal lives or workplaces.

Djandjay

In this book, my husband and I have looked back into Milingimbi’s past. I can remember from a long time ago to the days of my grandfather, Makarrwala, even though I was a very young girl then. I can still remember seeing him when Makarrata, the Yolngu law of punishment and peacemaking, was still in force at Milingimbi. I remember seeing it in action but from a distance as our mothers would always keep us back and far away from any danger.

Stories about my grandfather have been passed down to us, his family. He was with Bunuyura, the Walamangu traditional landowner, to greet the first missionary Europeans to arrive at Milingimbi. The missionaries received permission from us to settle here and serve our people and, at that time, Yolngu law alone ruled our people on our island.

Over the years, the Methodist Overseas Mission left the five mission stations of Milingimbi, Galiwin’ku, Yirrkala, Lake Evella (Gapuwiyak), and Ramingining in North-East Arnhem Land. Since then, we have heard comments by one or two outsiders, mainly Balanda, that the mission and the missionaries had a bad effect on Yolngu. However, most of those comments have not been grounded in the truth and the Balanda who have made them never lived on the mission stations.

As with most organisations, there are usually a couple of bad apples to contend with. Bob and I were both employed by the mission at Milingimbi during the 1960s and experienced some of the ins and outs of their operations whilst visiting our families on other Methodist mission stations, including those in North-West Arnhem Land, Goulburn Island (Warruwi), and Croker Island (Minjilang). Although some missionaries were regarded by Yolngu as being tough and strict, looking back at our experiences overall, Bob and I do praise the mission and the missionaries for their valuable efforts in adapting Yolngu to Balanda society.

The Australian Government provided a small subsidy to the Methodists from the beginning of their operations in 1923, and over the years as the mission stations developed and prospered, the government increased its financial assistance to them accordingly. We do not know the reason for the subsequent funding cuts by the government, but because of those cuts, we lost some long-time mission friends who had been devoted to working side by side with Yolngu people as equals and were loved by many for doing so.

Since the first Europeans arrived with the missionaries in 1923 and to this day (2019), not one Balanda has been born and lived out their entire life here at Milingimbi.

Bob

I had never met a full-blooded tribal Aboriginal person when I had lived down south in Newcastle, and I had been taught very little about them at school. When I arrived in Milingimbi in 1968, it was all new to a city slicker like me, and I began to see our country and its people for the first time from a broader perspective.

Although I am not of Yolngu heritage, I was accepted into the Yolngu blood line as Dhua when I married Djandjay, who was a Yirritja, in 1969. Djandjay was a Wangurri elder associated with the Walamangu traditional landowners. Of course, all our children and grandchildren are also of Yolngu bloodline.

Djandjay comes from a long line of mission Yolngu going back to the days of the mission’s first arrival in Milingimbi, when her grandfather, Makarrwala, was the community’s spokesperson. At that time, he found it necessary to instruct the missionaries in how best to work with his people, and he continued to do this in subsequent years when, with Bunuyura’s passing, Makarrwala became headman.

Djandjay’s father, Badaltja, and grandmother, Ada, worked closely with the mission as did many others in Djandjay’s family throughout the years of the mission’s presence on the island.

Many sections of this book written by Djandjay are based on her memories. They include Djandjay’s descriptions of ceremonies that were open to the public, that she and our children had taken part in. Our sons have also been involved in Yolngu business camps (sacred men’s business) and the girls have been involved in women’s business camps; however, these types of ceremonies are not open to the public, so those ceremonies have not been documented in this book.

Before she passed away in November 2019, Djandjay showed all the material in The Spear, the Cross, and the Gun with the Walamangu traditional landowners. They gave her their blessings to publish the content in this book.

Both Yolngu and Balanda experienced the impact of living in two worlds at Milingimbi, especially during the early days of the Methodist mission. Missionaries were aware of the disastrous results of European contact with Aboriginal people down south, which they believed would result in the extinction of those people, so they strove to educate the Yolngu about the outside world whilst showing a respect towards the Yolngu lifestyle. They encountered successes but there were failures as well.

We Balanda, with our sense of law and justice, for the first time stood alongside the Yolngu Rom. I worked with the mission for only a short period of time due to marrying Djandjay in Darwin and then living in two isolated Australian Government-run Aboriginal communities. But I saw progress (from a Balanda point