Carl Strehlow
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Carl Friedrich Theodor Strehlow (23 December 1871 – 20 October 1922) was an
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
,
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and
genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...
who served on two
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
missions in remote parts of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
from May 1892 to October 1922. He was at Killalpaninna Mission (also known as Bethesda) in northern
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, from 1892 to 1894, and then
Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort town since 1971. It is situated on the river ...
, west of
Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
, from 1894 to 1922. Strehlow was assisted by his wife Friederike, who played a central role in reducing the high infant mortality which threatened Aboriginal communities all over Australia after the onset of white settlement. As a
polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
with an interest in natural history, and informed by the local Aranda people, Strehlow provided plant and animal specimens to museums in Germany and Australia. Strehlow also collaborated on the first complete translation of the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
into an Aboriginal language (
Dieri The Diyari (), alternatively transcribed as Dieri (), is an Indigenous Australian group of the South Australian desert originating in and around the delta of Cooper Creek to the east of Lake Eyre. Language Diyari is classified as one of the Ka ...
), published by the
British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The Soc ...
in 1897. He later translated the New Testament into the Western Aranda language and also produced a reader and service book in this language. His son Theodor (Ted) Strehlow, who was 14 at the time of his father's death, built his career in part on the researches carried out by his father.


Early life and education

Strehlow was born on 23 December 1871 at Fredersdorf, near
Angermünde Angermünde () is a town in the district of Uckermark in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is about northeast of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The population is about 14,000, but has been declining since its traditional industrial base, ...
, in the
Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, straddles the Uckermark (district), Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. Geogra ...
,
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
, Germany, to the Free
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
village school teacher, Carl Ludwig Strehlow (10 March 1831 – 6 November 1896) and his wife Friederike Wilhelmine Augustine Schneider (3 August 1831 – 3 September 1916). The seventh child of this marriage, Strehlow grew up as the oldest son, two earlier sons having died young of
diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...
. Strehlow's oldest sister, Magdalena, born in 1857, was fourteen years older than him. Little is known about his education other than that until 1886 when he was 14, he was given a sound, basic education by his father at the local Free Lutheran school, set up by the
Old Lutherans Old Lutherans were originally German Lutherans in the Kingdom of Prussia, notably in the Province of Silesia, who refused to join the Prussian Union of churches in the 1830s and 1840s. Prussia's king Frederick William III was determined to uni ...
in opposition to the state school, integrated into the Union of the Calvinist and Lutheran Churches, which had been instigated by the
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n King
Friedrich Wilhelm III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...
in 1817 after the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. Sometime before 1886, Strehlow's local Old Lutheran clergyman, Rev. Carl Seidel, had begun to educate him in the subjects required for
matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...
(
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, Greek, history, English, mathematics, religion and German) during the four-year preparation for
confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
, which was then obligatory. Lessons took place in the
manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...
at the main town of the district, Angermünde, where Seidel was based. A keen linguist influenced by the ideas of
Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...
, Seidel laid the foundations for Strehlow's later interest in linguistics, which is the key to understanding his views on the antiquity of Aboriginal society and culture, and especially its decay from a previous higher level, something Strehlow thought was evident in their languages, of which he mastered three:
Dieri The Diyari (), alternatively transcribed as Dieri (), is an Indigenous Australian group of the South Australian desert originating in and around the delta of Cooper Creek to the east of Lake Eyre. Language Diyari is classified as one of the Ka ...
, Aranda and Loritja.Details from CA Starke, Deutsches Geschlechterbuch Band 38. (Limburg a.d. Lahn, 1962) p. 189. Though a brilliant student, among the anomalies of Strehlow's education was his father's opposition to him having a university education on the grounds that the family was too poor. This opposition may have arisen from bitterness – in 1856 his father was jailed for two weeks for teaching religious instruction while working in the state system in Seefeld in
Farther Pomerania Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (german: Hinterpommern, Ostpommern), is the part of Pomerania which comprised the eastern part of the Duchy and later Province of Pomerania. It stretched roughly from the Od ...
, something forbidden him because he was a member of the Old Lutheran Church. Strehlow senior's older brother and sister emigrated to the United States of America, possibly for religious reasons, though this is not certain. Assisted by Seidel, Strehlow won his father's permission to study for the ministry in any of the mission schools in Germany by November 1887 when he was not quite 16. Since a university degree was mandatory in Germany for the clergy, this meant he could only become a clergyman abroad, which in practice meant working among German immigrants in America. After being rejected by the Leipzig Mission because he was too young, with financial assistance from the Society for Home and Foreign Mission (Gesellschaft für Innere und Äussere Mission) set up so poorer students could study, Strehlow entered the seminary founded by Wilhelm Löhe in Neuendettelsau, Middle Franconia, Bavaria at Easter 1888. Here the three-year curriculum was stamped by the ideas of Rev. Friedrich Bauer, whose ''German Grammar'' ran to 37 editions by 1913, and later became the Duden. After Bauer's death in 1873, the school was run by Rev. Johannes Deinzer, who was heavily influenced by his teachers at Erlangen, including Nägelsbach, von Hofmann, Thomasius, von Raumer and others. The heavy emphasis on classical languages at the seminary resulted in the more academically inclined students reading works by
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
,
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
,
Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...
and others. Strehlow was awarded a "brilliant first" prior to his graduation at Easter 1892, with his final exams delayed possibly because he was thought too young to hold the position of pastor in an American congregation. By then most his class had left for their posts abroad, a number of them to South Australia, but most to America.


Transition to the missionary calling

Among the personalities who resisted the fusion of the Lutheran and Calvinist Churches was Rev. Friedrich Meischel, who arrived in South Australia in 1860. He had earlier been in contact with Neuendettelsau's founder, Wilhelm Löhe, and is thought by some to have been inspired by him. After Stuart's epic overland crossing from Adelaide to what later became Darwin and back again in 1862, Meischel promoted the idea of missionary work among the inland tribes, in particular the Dieri, who had helped Burke and Wills after their ill-fated attempted crossing of the continent. Meischel's dealings were largely with Revs. Christian Auricht and G.J. Rechner of the Immanuel Synod, formed after a split between the first Lutheran clergy to come to Australia, Kavel and Fritsche. A mission supported by both the Immanuel and Australian Synods was duly set up at
Killalpaninna Killalpaninna Mission, also known as just Killalpaninna, or alternatively Bethesda Mission, was a Lutheran mission for Aboriginal people in northeast South Australia, whose site is now located in the locality of Etadunna. It existed from 1866 ...
on the Cooper's Creek north-east of Marree, staffed by personnel from Harms' mission school at
Hermannsburg Mission The Hermannsburg Mission (german: Hermannsburger Mission) was founded as the Hermannsburg Mission Centre (''Missionsanstalt Hermannsburg'') in 1849 in Hermannsburg, near Celle, North Germany, by Louis Harms. In 1977, the independent mission soc ...
in Germany. By the time of Strehlow's graduation, missionaries were recruited from
Neuendettelsau Neuendettelsau is a local authority in Middle Franconia, Germany. Neuendettelsau is situated 20 miles southwest of Nuremberg and 12 miles east of Ansbach. Since 1947 it has a Lutheran seminary ( ''Augustana Hochschule''). Diakonie Neuendettelsau ...
after the Immanuel and Australian Synods decided they could no longer work together, and neither could work with Hermannsburg in Germany, which had aligned itself with the state church and become "unionist". A staffing crisis in 1891, in part due to disagreements between the missionaries themselves, but also conflict with the state governments where Lutheran missions were operating, resulted in Deinzer being asked for a further missionary. Strehlow was as yet unplaced with an American congregation, so was approached to fill the position of teacher at Killalpaninna, which he duly accepted, arriving in South Australia on 30 May 1892 where he was
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
at
Light Pass, South Australia Light Pass is a settlement in the Barossa Valley region of South Australia. It was named by Charles Flaxman in honour of William Light. Light Pass is the site of two Lutheran churches and a public primary school. Immanual Lutheran Church Light ...
., reaching the outstation Etadunna on 11 July 1892, and Killalpaninna itself a day or so after. Being split between several sites, the mission settlements here were known collectively as Bethesda Mission and within six months of arrival at the mission Strehlow learnt Dieri.


The Dieri New Testament

The impetus for this is said to have come not from Reuther but from Strehlow who, as the teacher in the mission school, needed printed material in
Dieri The Diyari (), alternatively transcribed as Dieri (), is an Indigenous Australian group of the South Australian desert originating in and around the delta of Cooper Creek to the east of Lake Eyre. Language Diyari is classified as one of the Ka ...
for his students, a number of whom were older people receiving religious instruction. He had also just received a rebuff in his attempt to marry Frieda Keysser. Given a thorough linguistic training from his local clergyman Seidel before going to Neuendettelsau, Strehlow had the advantage in translation over Reuther, who only spent two years training at Neuendettelsau and had no prior knowledge of Greek, the language of the Koinos New Testament. He also knew no Latin. The resulting translation was a collaboration between the two missionaries and was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1897. It was the first ever translation of the entire New Testament into an Aboriginal language.


Marriage

Strehlow and Frieda Johanna Henrietta Keysser first met when he visited the vicarage at Obersulzbach in Franconia on
Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...
, 14 April 1892, staying only until Saturday 16 when he went to Neundettelsau to receive his Aussegnung on Easter Day. Orphaned since 1889,CA Starke, Deutsches Geschlechterbuch Band 38. (Limburg a.d. Lahn, 1962) p. 160. Frieda, who was only 16, was working as housekeeper for her great-uncle, Rev. August Omeis and his wife, and was busy dyeing Easter eggs with Marie Eckardt, the previous housekeeper, who was about to leave for Australia to marry one of Strehlow's fellow students, Friedrich Leidig. It was love at first sight for the couple. At the end of 1892, Strehlow wrote to Rev. Omeis asking for Frieda's hand in marriage but was refused on the grounds that she was too young, and in any case the couple hardly knew each other. Despite continuing determined opposition from Frieda's family, who thought the whole idea a silly adolescent obsession, Strehlow was eventually allowed to write to her and the two became engaged, but it was made clear she could not marry before her twentieth birthday on 31 August 1895. The entire courtship was conducted by letter. On 5 August she set off with Rev. Omeis and her Aunt Augusta's husband Rev. Gottfried Heckel to take the boat from
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
in Italy, travelling with yet another future missionary's wife, Marie Zahn, to South Australia. On 25 September 1895 she was married by Leidig to Carl at Point Pass on the edge of the Barossa Valley in a double wedding with Marie and her husband Otto Siebert, another of Strehlow's former fellow students now at Bethesda. Despite Frieda's initial doubts about what she had done in marrying a man she knew only from letters, the marriage was happy and blessed with six children: Friedrich (born 1897), Martha (1899), Rudolf (1900), Karl (1902), Hermann (1905) and Theodor aka
Ted Strehlow Theodor George Henry Strehlow (6 June 1908 – 3 October 1978) was an Australian anthropologist and linguist. He notably studied the Arrernte (Aranda, Arunta) Aboriginal Australians and their language in Central Australia. Life Early life ...
(1908).


Move to Hermannsburg

In October 1894 Strehlow was appointed jointly with his friend and former fellow student Rev. John Bogner to take over the abandoned Mission Station of
Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort town since 1971. It is situated on the river ...
in Central Australia, then largely financed by sales of sheep, wool, horses and cattle. It had been newly purchased by the Immanuel Synod. Strehlow arrived on Friday 12 October 1894, still only 22, and with only three breaks for holidays, stayed there until 1922. He was on his own until Bogner arrived with his wife and child on 25 May 1895. Bogner was the manager, in charge of stock and the rebuilding of the structures which were falling into ruin, while Strehlow was the teacher in charge of education, religious instruction and translation. He used his knowledge of
homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
to fight diseases, and had sufficient medical knowledge to set broken limbs. The population were mainly Aranda, with some Loritja from the west. Under Bogner, sheep raising was abandoned in favour of horses and cattle, but the station never made a profit. Although Strehlow took over as manager in 1901 after Bogner had left, he continued to play the dominant role in the religious life of Hermannsburg, which – in keeping with his predecessors – he conceived of as a place of care for the old, cure for the sick, and lastly, but most importantly, a religious centre where the
Aranda people The Arrernte () people, sometimes referred to as the Aranda, Arunta or Arrarnta, are a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the Arrernte lands, at ''Mparntwe'' (Alice Springs) and surrounding areas of the Central Australia regi ...
could hear the gospel preached in their own language. As manager as well as missionary he kept a close eye on all developments – working out policy regarding conversions, station regulations, as well as making sure the stockmen on this property of were not doing deals with the neighbouring
cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...
s.


Missionary work

Strehlow's missionary work was closely bound up with his study of languages, which derived from his role as teacher using, and later translating, material into the local language, which was then printed. This meant he had to work closely with the older generation who were the best speakers of the language, putting him in an unusual relationship with them, since usually they were not interested in Christianity at all. In practice this meant that Strehlow's teaching of Christianity became strongly influenced by them and their knowledge. He concluded that their language "has passed its flowering and is now falling into decay", and felt he had to investigate their culture to understand why. He learned three
Aboriginal languages Aboriginal language may refer to: * Indigenous language * Australian Aboriginal languages * Taiwanese aboriginal languages * Indigenous languages of the Americas * Aboriginal Malay languages The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-P ...
:
Dieri The Diyari (), alternatively transcribed as Dieri (), is an Indigenous Australian group of the South Australian desert originating in and around the delta of Cooper Creek to the east of Lake Eyre. Language Diyari is classified as one of the Ka ...
, Aranda and Loritja. Contrary to much in print he did not go out proselytising, believing that interest had to come from the people themselves: he did not want large numbers of "converts" paying only lip-service to Christianity. Those who converted were expected to reside permanently at the Mission, going away "for a spell" only after arranging it with him; their children had to come regularly to school where they learned to read and write in their own language, and the men had to be gainfully employed. At Bethesda this meant working as shepherds, shearers, trackers, and builders, and at Hermannsburg working as stockmen, branding, mustering, digging out the waterholes during the droughts, droving stock south to
Oodnadatta Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta Track, an outback road ...
, tracking, and also helping to construct Hermannsburg's stone buildings, unlike Bethesda where mud bricks were used. Since the Mission always supplied those working with food and clothes and likewise their families, relatives not working were not allowed to share the food with them. Meals were served three times a day in the Esshaus, supervised mostly by Strehlow himself to prevent arguments. The government gave the Mission an annual grant of £300 to support the aged and infirm; all school children were fed and clothed. Frieda too became a fluent speaker of Aranda and exercised great influence on the young women and girls, opposing the widespread practice of
infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...
(especially the killing of
twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
s), teaching them basic skills like sewing and mending, emphasising the need for hygiene – daily washing, clean clothes, and so on – as well has how to raise their children using nappies. In this way she overcame the high infant mortality which had led anthropologists and others refer to aborigines as a ‘doomed race’. Religious instruction took place in the native languages and was a lengthy process of years, with people baptized only after they had proved that they were serious and not just trying to get food. Increasingly, senior members of the Christian community like Moses Tjalkabota and Nathanael Rauwiraka played a part in instructing new converts, and worked with Strehlow on his translations of religious texts. A vital aspect of Strehlow's work was his attitude to those who did not wish to convert, such as visiting relatives from other parts. Contrary to practice elsewhere, he did not believe in preventing them coming to the Mission, and though not keen on them performing ceremonies, did not interfere as long as these took place some distance from the mission buildings. Initiation continued to be carried out, and is so to this day. These people camped by
Finke River The Finke River, or ''Larapinta'' (Arrernte), is a river in central Australia, one of four main rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and thought to be the oldest riverbed in the world. It flows for only a few days a year and when this happens, its wate ...
to the west of the compound and supported themselves by hunting and gathering edible plants. Some were employed for years but never converted: they received food and clothing for themselves and their families and their children were encouraged to go to school.


Linguistic studies

A gifted linguist, Strehlow began his Dieri studies using material produced by earlier missionaries like Koch and Flierl I, while for Aranda he used the existing printed school material as well as Hermann Kempe's 1891 grammar and accompanying vocabulary, published by the
Royal Society of South Australia The Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) is a learned society whose interest is in science, particularly, but not only, of South Australia. The major aim of the society is the promotion and diffusion of scientific knowledge, particularly in rel ...
. This in turn was derived in part from Koch's Dieri studies and also from Meyer's grammar of the
Encounter Bay Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baud ...
language, Narrinyeri. Probably around 1897 Strehlow wrote a comparative grammar of Aranda and Dieri; this was followed by his Aranda-Loritja grammar of 1910. His correspondence with Siebert on these and related matters seems to have been lost, but it is clear he worked closely with him until Siebert returned to Germany in April 1902 due to ill health. Apart from his work in the Aranda language, Strehlow also made the first detailed study of the Loritja (Western Desert) language, drawing up extensive vocabularies and grammars for both languages. His work in the Loritja language became the basis for the various studies of Western Desert languages done in the second half of the twentieth century. Strehlow's vocabularies of the three languages he specialised in are possibly the largest collection of Aboriginal words ever assembled, comprising some 7,600 words in Aranda, 6,300 in Loritja and 1,300 in Dieri, making more than 15,000 words in total. This was intended to be an integral part of Strehlow's book ''Die Aranda- und Loritja-Stämme in Zentral-Australien'' (''The Aranda and Loritja Tribes in Central Australia''). Due to Leonhardi's untimely death on 27 October 1910 two weeks before he and Strehlow were to meet for the first time, the book was left without an editor committed to the original vision, so none of this material was ever published. Instead it became the foundation of his son T. G. H. Strehlow's work, providing much material for ''Aranda Traditions and Songs of Central Australia''. It was also used by later missionaries, including the
Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
at
Ernabella Pukatja (formerly Ernabella) is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands" (the others being Amata, Pipalyatjara, Fregon/Kaltjiti, ...
.


Translations

As a development of his work translating Christian religious material into Aranda and
Dieri The Diyari (), alternatively transcribed as Dieri (), is an Indigenous Australian group of the South Australian desert originating in and around the delta of Cooper Creek to the east of Lake Eyre. Language Diyari is classified as one of the Ka ...
like his antecedents Koch and Johannes Flierl I at Bethesda, and Kempe, Schwarz and Schulze at Hermansburg, Strehlow also recorded the sacred chants used in Aranda ceremonies and translated them into German. This was the first successful recording of this material, thought by Kempe to be in a language which had been lost. Spencer and Gillen famously described the Aranda as "naked savages... chanting songs of which they do not know the meaning", and used it as proof that they were a primitive people left behind in the Darwinist struggle for survival. Strehlow showed that the material was encoded to make it impossible for it to be understood without special instruction from the Old Men, who alone knew its meaning, jealously guarding this knowledge to stop the power ascribed to the chants falling into the wrong hands; this device was effective despite the chants being learned off by heart by the men taking part in the ceremonies. Strehlow was instructed in this by senior men at Hermannsburg, notably Loatjira, whose information is strewn throughout Strehlow's book. He also recorded his informants' descriptions of
ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...
and
initiation rite Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...
s, in places using interlinear texts, thus preserving forms which today have the status of classics due to changes in the language. He took a keen interest in
etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
, and his book is peppered throughout with footnotes explaining etymological points in fine detail. Among the anomalies of Strehlow's career was his refusal to personally attend ceremonies on the grounds that it was unfitting for a missionary, despite his intense interest in them and the detailed descriptions given in his book.


Anthropology

He collaborated with Moritz, Baron von Leonhardi of Gross Karben in
Hessen Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...
, Germany, who also suggested he write his monumental anthropological work ''Die Aranda- und Loritja-Stämme in Zentral-Australien'' (''The Aranda and Loritja Tribes in Central Australia''). With Leonhardi as editor this work became the first publication of the newly founded Städtisches Völkermuseum (Municipal Ethnological Museum) of
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, appearing in eight parts between 1907 and 1920. Strehlow sent what was said to be the best collection in the world of Aboriginal artefacts – both sacred and secular – to Frankfurt, unfortunately largely destroyed in the bombing of the city in
World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, though some fine pieces remain. Due to Leonhardi's sudden death in 1910, Strehlow's linguistic researches intended as part of ''Die Aranda- und Loritja-Stämme'' were never published, though used in manuscript form by his son T. G. H. (Ted) Strehlow and later Hermannsburg missionaries. Strehlow's knowledge of languages and rapport with senior men like Loatjira, Tmala and (for Loritja) Talku enabled him to publish a major tract on the legends, beliefs, customs,
genealogies Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...
, secret initiatory life and magical practices of the peoples on the Mission in his book. The book was published in instalments between 1907 and 1920 and came about as the result of correspondence between Strehlow and the German gentleman scholar Moritz von Leonhardi. To clarify certain confusions surrounding this work: it was written by Strehlow, edited by Leonhardi, and published in sections between 1907 and 1920 under the auspices of Frankfurt's newly established Städtisches Völkermuseum (Municipal Ethnological Museum). Thanks to Leonhardi's contacts with Prof. Bernhard Hagen at the museum, the printing costs were financed by the Anthropological Society of Frankfurt, at that time playing an important role in the cultural life of Frankfurt and supported by wealthy benefactors, some from Frankfurt's prominent Jewish families. In return, the museum obtained a major collection of artefacts and sacred objects at a reduced price, unfortunately largely destroyed in World War Two. These included the usual spears,
boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
s, woomeras, digging sticks, stone knives and everyday objects, but also
tjurunga A Tjurunga, also spelt Churinga and Tjuringa, is an object considered to be of religious significance by Central Australian Aboriginal people of the Arrernte (Aranda, Arunta) groups. Tjurunga often had a wide and indeterminate native significa ...
s, ceremonial objects and decorations of various kinds which were usually destroyed when the ceremony was finished, kurdaitcha boots, pointing sticks and so on with a view to enabling Europeans to get a full and comprehensive picture of Aranda and Loritja people and their inner world in conjunction with the explanations in the book. After the export of Indigenous material was restricted by the Act of November 1913, a collection intended for Cologne's Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum was impounded at
Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
, and was purchased by the
South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultu ...
. Strehlow's genealogical records of long-dead Aranda men and women dating back to around the beginning of the nineteenth century are possibly the most exhaustive for anywhere in Australia and of priceless value to their descendants today; unfortunately, they were heavily cut when published, but the originals survive in the Strehlow Research Centre in
Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
. Strehlow's book challenged some of the findings of
Walter Baldwin Spencer Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer (23 June 1860 – 14 July 1929), commonly referred to as Baldwin Spencer, was a British-Australian evolutionary biologist, anthropologist and ethnologist. He is known for his fieldwork with Aboriginal peoples in ...
and
Francis James Gillen Francis James Gillen (28 October 1855 – 5 June 1912), also known as Frank Gillen and F. J. Gillen, was an early Australian anthropologist and ethnologist. He is known for his work with W. Baldwin Spencer, including their seminal work ''T ...
in their highly acclaimed work ''The Native Tribes of Central Australia'', at that time accepted as the last word on the Aranda. This led to a major controversy in London anthropological circles involving
Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...
, Sir
James Frazer Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. Personal life He was born on 1 Janua ...
,
Robert Ranulph Marett Robert Ranulph Marett (13 June 1866 – 18 February 1943) was a British ethnologist and a proponent of the British Evolutionary School of cultural anthropology. Founded by Marett's older colleague, Edward Burnett Tylor, it asserted that mo ...
, A.C. Haddon, Spencer and later
Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish-British anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropol ...
. Central to the debate was the question of whether Aboriginal people were primitive people on a lower level to Europeans (Frazer and Spencer's view) or a decadent people who had previously been on a higher level of culture (Strehlow's view, based on his knowledge of the language). Strehlow's researches were taken up by Andrew Lang and N.W. Thomas in England, by
Émile Durkheim David Émile Durkheim ( or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, al ...
,
Marcel Mauss Marcel Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociology and a ...
and
Arnold van Gennep Arnold van Gennep, in full Charles-Arnold Kurr van Gennep (23 April 1873 – 7 May 1957) was a Dutch–German-French ethnographer and folklorist. Biography He was born in Ludwigsburg, in the Kingdom of Württemberg (since 1871, part of the G ...
in France, by Fritz Graebner in Germany and Pater W. Schmidt in Austria, and were a major source for Bronislaw Malinowski's ''The Family among Australian Aborigines''. A translation of ''Die Aranda- und Loritja-Stämme'' into English was completed in 1992 by Rev. Hans Oberscheid and is still awaiting publication. Strehlow wrote an account of the 1875 " massacre of Running Waters", in which 80 to 100 Arrernte men, women and children of the Southern Aranda language group were killed by a raiding party of 50 to 60 Matuntara warriors at Irbmangkara, a permanent water stretch of the
Finke River The Finke River, or ''Larapinta'' (Arrernte), is a river in central Australia, one of four main rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and thought to be the oldest riverbed in the world. It flows for only a few days a year and when this happens, its wate ...
.


Natural history collections

Strehlow sent a considerable number of specimens of both
fauna and flora In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi; ...
to Leonhardi, who lodged it in the Frankfurt's
Naturmuseum Senckenberg The Naturmuseum Senckenberg is a museum of natural history, located in Frankfurt am Main. It is the second-largest of its type in Germany. The museum contains a large and diverse collection of birds with 90,000 bird skins, 5,050 egg sets, 17,0 ...
, with some material also going to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, and the botanical gardens in
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
. Although most was already classified, some was not, and included reptiles such as '' Gehyra moritzi'' and '' Ctenotus leonhardii''. Once World War One had begun, sending material to Germany was no longer possible, so material was sent to Edgar Waite, director of the South Australian Museum including rare species such as ''Ramphotyphlos endoterus''. Other material from Strehlow was obtained via Frederick Scarfe of the Adelaide firm Harris, Scarfe & Co.


Baldwin Spencer and Hermannsburg

For Strehlow and his wife Frieda, the period 1912 to 1922 was dominated by Spencer's attempts to shut the Mission down. In his 1913 report as Special Commissioner and
Chief Protector of Aborigines The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...
, Spencer proposed taking all Aboriginal children away from their parents and setting up reserves where the children would be denied any contact with their parents, be prevented from speaking their languages and made incapable of living in the bush. While recognising that "this will undoubtedly be a difficult matter to accomplish and will involve some amount of hardship so far as the parents are concerned”, Spencer justified it on the grounds that "once the children have grown to a certain age and have become accustomed to camp life with its degrading environment and endless roaming about in the bush, it is almost useless to try and reclaim them". So he thought it essential to take them away, for "then they will gradually lose the longing for a nomad life and will in fact become incapable of securing their living in the bush". He was particularly keen to make sure that "
half-caste Half-caste (an offensive term for the offspring of parents of different racial groups or cultures) is a term used for individuals of multiracial descent. It is derived from the term ''caste'', which comes from the Latin ''castus'', meaning pu ...
" children had no contact with camp life. Hermannsburg was to be taken away from the Lutherans and "serve as a reserve for the remnants of the southern central tribes where they can, under proper and competent control, be trained to habits of industry". A series of investigations was arranged to give the Mission a bad name. However when the
Administrator of the Northern Territory The Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory, Australia. They perform functions similar to those of a state gov ...
,
John A. Gilruth John Anderson Gilruth (17 February 1871 – 4 March 1937) was a Scottish-Australian veterinary scientist and administrator. He is particularly noted for being Administrator of the Northern Territory from 1912 to 1918, when he was recalled afte ...
, came down from Darwin in 1913 to see whether these negative reports were true, he was impressed with what he saw and decided that the Strehlows and the Mission should remain. From 1914 Ida Standley was running her half-caste school in Alice Springs, so the next plan was that she should take over at Hermannsburg. Strehlow's response to her when she visited was: "To separate the black children from their parents, and forbid them to speak Aranda to each other, and where possible drive the old people away from the station, I will never consent to. My mission instructions are, to preach the gospel to the whole creation, which is only possible in an effective way in the native language. This practice is followed in missions everywhere too, except in Australia, which takes a unique position on this as in much else".


World War One

Owing to the remoteness of Hermannsburg, in 1910 the Strehlow children were taken by their parents to Germany to receive a proper education. Only the youngest – Theo (Ted) – came back with them in 1911. During the war Germans and persons of German descent were subjected to a sustained campaign of denigration and oppression, with many interned in camps where at times they received harsh treatment. With the eldest son Friedrich in the German army from mid-1915, the Strehlows became the target of rumour, despite Carl being naturalised in 1901, and many attempts, some inspired by Spencer, were made to discredit him and the Mission with a view to shutting it down. The transfer of the Northern Territory from South Australia to the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
on 1 January 1911 meant that discriminatory laws were harder to introduce there. Strehlow was fortunate in having the support of Sergeant
Robert Stott Robert Stott (13 July 1858 – 21 April 1928) was a constable and later police commissioner in the Northern Territory of Australia. Early life Robert Stott was born in the blacksmith's croft at Nigg in Kincardineshire, Scotland, the son ...
, the policeman in Alice Springs, and most importantly, Administrator Gilruth, who was an admirer of his work at Hermannsburg, much to Spencer's chagrin, who had put his former colleague name forward for the position in 1911. However, after the war, finding a successor for Strehlow was almost impossible due to a ban on German immigration. Although originally contracted to stay only until 1920, when he, Frieda and Theo (Ted) would return to Germany, Strehlow was obliged to stay on indefinitely.


Death and legacy

In September 1922 Strehlow became seriously ill with
dropsy Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...
, and despite efforts to get a car to transport him to Adelaide, on 20 October 1922 he died at Horseshoe Bend Station, halfway to Oodnadatta while trying to reach medical help. The trip by horse and buggy and Strehlow's painful death is described in his son Theo's prize-winning book, ''Journey to Horseshoe Bend''. It was turned into a
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...
of the same name by Gordon Williams and Andrew Schulz, and premiered in the
Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
in 2003, performed by the Hermannsburg Ladies Choir. The first half of a double biography of Strehlow and his wife Frieda, ''The Tale of Frieda Keysser'', based in large part on Frieda's diaries from the period, was published by grandson John Strehlow in 2012, with the second volume published in 2019.


Works

*J.G. Reuther, C. Strehlow ranslators ''Testamenta marra : Jesuni Christuni ngantjani jaura ninaia karitjimalkana wonti Dieri jaurani'' *Strehlow: ''Die Grammatik der Aranda-Sprache'', comparison of Aranda language with Dieri and Encounter Bay *Strehlow: ''Woerterbuch der Aranda und Loritja Sprachen'' *Strehlow, Kempe: ''Galtjindintjamea-Pepa Aranda Wolambarinjaka'' (book of worship) *Strehlow: ''Pepa Aragulinja Aranda Katjirberaka'' (School primer, published 1928) * *''Ewangelia Lukaka. (Gospel of St. Luke in the Aranda or Arunta language.)'', 1925. London: B. & F.B.S. * ''Ewangelia Taramatara''(four gospels in Aranda), 1928 London: B. & F.B.S.


See also

*
History of the Lutheran Church of Australia The history of the Lutheran Church of Australia is the sequence of events related to divisions, mergers and affiliations of Lutheran church organisations from the time Lutheranism first arrived in Australia, to the time of unification of the two ...


Footnotes


References


Further reading


PDF
* Strehlow, Ted (1969)
Journey to Horseshoe Bend
'


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strehlow, Carl Friedrich 1871 births 1922 deaths German Lutheran missionaries Australian Lutherans Lutheran missionaries in Australia Missionary linguists German emigrants to Australia German anthropologists People from Märkisch-Oderland