National Museum of Australia - 1920 May expedition

1920 May expedition

Warning: This exhibition and website contain some images of nudity and people in distressing circumstances. Visitors should also be aware that the exhibition and website include names and images of deceased people that may cause sadness or distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Third medical relief expedition

In 1920 Herbert and Nell Basedow travelled to Marree in north-eastern South Australia to prepare for the third and final medical relief expedition.

The expedition's purpose was to inspect the health of Aboriginal people on pastoral stations between Marree and Charlotte Waters, just over the border in the Northern Territory, and as far as Alice Springs, Hermannsburg and Arltunga. The party was away from May to September. Joining the expedition en route were 17-year-old Frank Feast, who worked as a general assistant, and Arrerika, who looked after the camels.

The expeditioners travelled in a hooded van drawn by four camels. Along the way, Basedow visited places of scientific and general interest, taking photographs with a glass plate camera and two film-based cameras.

Basedow examined more than 850 Aboriginal people on this expedition, and once again found that those living in settled districts were less healthy than those living away from European influence.

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Map outlining the third medical relief expedition, 1920, Northern Territory and South Australia. The expedition routes are shown as white lines against a dull yellow background. Locations such as Marree, Oodnadatta, Charlotte Waters and Alice Springs are shown. The borders of the Northern Territory, South Australia and the south west corner of Queensland are indicated. To the left is a small map of Australia showing the main map area covered.

Map outlining the third medical relief expedition route in 1920 in north-eastern South Australia

Aboriginal man Arrerika watering expedition camels, central Australia 1920. Three camels in the image centre drink from a waterhole. Arrerika stands to the right watching them, dressed in trousers, boots, shirt, hat and a cotton scarf around his neck. In the foreground the edge of the waterhole is deeply eroded. In the background are low trees and scrub leading to the horizon.

Arrerika watering the expedition camels, central Australia 1920

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from glass plate negative
National Museum of Australia

$Arrernte man with badly united fracture on his left leg, Henbury station, Northern Territory 1920. He sits on the ground facing the right of the image. His right leg is tucked up under him; his left leg is extended and bent at the knee. The fracture is just above the ankle. Improper healing has left his lower leg with a permanent backward bend. His left foot rests flat on the ground as though he were standing up.$

$Arrernte man with badly united fracture on his left leg, Henbury station, Northern Territory 1920. He sits on the ground facing the right of the image. His right leg is tucked up under him; his left leg is extended and bent at the knee. The fracture is just above the ankle. Improper healing has left his lower leg with a permanent backward bend. His left foot rests flat on the ground as though he were standing up.$

Arrernte man with badly united fracture, Henbury station, Northern Territory 1920

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from glass plate negative
National Museum of Australia

This man gashed his right thigh and broke his left leg when he was thrown from a horse he was breaking in and it rolled on him. The limb was never set and after the bones knitted he walked with an awkward limp. According to Herbert Basedow he received no assistance following the injury from the station he was working on.

An elderly Aboriginal man, Henbury station, Northern Territory. He sits on his haunches on the bare, fine soiled ground, facing the low sun beyond the right of the image. He wears a close fitting cap made from emu feathers and human hair string. A customary wooden shield as at his left side while a digging stick lies at his right side. The out of focus background has some scattered boulders leading to the horizon which slopes from right to left.

Kai Kai, a Western Arrernte man, Henbury station, Northern Territory 1920

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from glass plate negative
National Museum of Australia

A clever man and the oldest Aboriginal male Herbert Basedow met at Henbury, Kai Kai could recall the arrival of the first non-Indigenous people to the district. Here he is wearing a cap of emu feathers and human hair-string, called a 'memba', to cover his baldness.

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Aboriginal women and children leaving Hermannsburg church, Northern Territory 1920. The church is to the right of the image, behind two trees. The people leave in a large stream, mostly walking right to left across the image. They all wear European cothing. Two other buildings can be seen in the left background. The bare ground in the image foreground is dimpled, possibly from many footsteps and horse hooves.

Women and children leaving church, Hermannsburg, Northern Territory 1920

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from glass plate negative
National Museum of Australia

Frank Feast driving an expedition wagon through flooded country, central Australia 1920. The wagon, travelling left to right, is pulled by four camels. It has a cover and open sides; the front of the cover is turned up. Large shallow sheets of water lay on the ground. The wagon is being driven through one of them. In the background is the dead flat horizon, at about two thirds of the way up the image. The wagon and camels straddle the horizon line.

Frank Feast driving the expedition caravan through flooded country, central Australia 1920

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from glass plate negative
National Museum of Australia

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