IDNO

P.85612.ACH2

Description

On Catalogue Card for duplicate print P.285.ACH1: “Trial near Adelaide?.”

Aboriginal consultation of an oracle near Adelaide at Encounter Bay. They want to find out who is responsible for the death of a person. The oracle consultation consists of the deceased person tied in to a sitting position on top of vegetation on a platform, being carried on the shoulders of six men, while a seventh man who is a wise man crouches on the ground underneath. The wise man asks the oracle who caused the death. The smallest sound coming from the frame is instantly connected with somebody in the crowd who is then promptly killed or wounded. Behind the men holding the platform is a steep downward hill. A group of spectators sit in a semicircle on the ground to the left, with a European man standing in the background. [JD 23/8/2007, updated WV 7/4/2009]

Place

Oceania Australasia; Australia; South Australia; Adelaide; Encounter Bay

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Muetzel, Gustav [Artist]

Collector / Expedition

von Blandowski, William [Blandowski Expedition to the Lower Murray River, 1857]

Date

1861; 1862

Collection Name

Haddon Collection

Source

?Haddon, Alfred Cort (Dr)

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.84200. to P.84255. and P.85603. to P.85634. were tied together in a bundle.

Bibliographical Reference: Blandowski, William von, 1862. Australien in 142 Photographischen (Unpublished), with the caption “Aborigines of Australia, Plate 221. William v. Blandowski, Australia. Trial near ?Adelaide”. The image is signed “G.M.61”. [JD 23/8/2007]

CUMAA Exhibition: P.84112.ACH2 to P.85713.ACH2 were on display in the SSL as part of the Brook Andrew ‘The Island’ Exhibition, 24th June - 27th September 2008. [JD 25/6/2008]

Bibliographical Reference: For discussion of authorship see: Allen, H. 2006. Authorship and ownership in Blandowski's Australien in 142 Photographischen Abbildungen. Australasian Historical Archaeology 24:31-37. [Jane Lydon, Monash University, 8/7/2009]

Publication: Blandowski, W. 1862. Australien in 142 Photographischen Ahbildungen. Gustav Neumann, Gleiwicz. Edited by Harry Alien. Translated from the German by Lillian Barton. Translation Copyright: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2007. with the caption:
“118. The Aborigines do not believe m a natural death. For example in Encounter-Bay, when somebody dies suddenly the oracle is questioned about who is responsible. The deceased is tied onto a frame m a sitting position and is carried by six men to the assembled crowd. A wise man sits beneath the deceased and asks him: Who caused his death? – The smallest sound coming from the frame is instantly connected with somebody in the crowd who is then promptly killed or wounded. Drawn by G. Mützel.” [WV 6/4/2009]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Jocelyne Dudding 23/8/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Aboriginal Visual Histories Project, Monash University. [Wonu Veys 7/4/2009]