National Museum of Australia - 1926 expedition

1926 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.

Mackay exploring expedition in Central Australia

Donald Mackay, a wealthy pastoralist with a keen sense of adventure, organised an expedition to explore central Australia and invited Herbert Basedow to join him.

Frank Feast and Bert Ollife, who had both accompanied Basedow on earlier trips, were also selected. Transport on the four-month expedition was provided by 25 camels, with a buggy to carry Mackay's and Basedow's personal equipment, including two film cameras brought by Basedow.

While camped at Uluru Basedow studied the area's geology and rock paintings. He also surveyed the country they traversed, and later published a map that included Aboriginal names of features in the landscape.

At Mount Currie, north-west of the Olgas, two local men joined the group for a while, guiding it through difficult terrain. Basedow used his knowledge of the Luritja language to communicate with these men and other Aboriginal people they encountered.

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Map outlining the expedition in 1926 through the Northern Territory and South Australia. The stylised map, in a yellow ochre colour, shows the expedition route as a white line. There are no ground features or other forms of map information, apart from the border sections separating the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. Locations such as Charlotte Waters, Oodnadatta, Uluru, the Olgas and Mt Currie are indicated. A small map of Australia is in the upper right-hand corner of the map. It shows the expedition area as a small rectangle.

Map outlining the 1926 expedition route through central Australia

An Aboriginal man at the Piltadinya Waterhole, Petermann Ranges, Northern Territory 1926. The man is in the centre middle ground of the image, walking toward the camera, holding a spear and shield horizontally behind him. He is dwarfed by two large rough rock faces in the background. Their surfaces show evidence of prolonged weathering and splitting away of large sections of rock. The head of a pass between the rock formations is visible in the upper centre background. The foreground shows tufts of grass growing amongst rocky patches.

Piltadinya Waterhole, Petermann Ranges, Northern Territory 1926

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from film negative
National Museum of Australia

Aboriginal camp of about 20 people, McNicol Range, Northern Territory 1926. About twenty two Aboriginal people sit on the ground, roughly arranged in two groups. The group closest to the camera is mostly men; two children sit with them. Behind the men sits a group of women, partially obscured from the chest down by patches of scrub grass. Some of the men in the group sit around several branches laying on the ground. The ground in front of the men is thinly covered with patchy grass. Behind the women is some open scrub with scattered low bushes and trees. The image has white marks on it indicating possible damage to the print or the negative.

Aboriginal camp, McNicol Range, Northern Territory 1926

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from film negative
National Museum of Australia

At Mount Currie, two local men joined the expedition as guides, staying with the party for several days. They soon came upon this camp of about 20 people and others later joined them. The entire group then accompanied the expedition for a short time.

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Bert Oliffe removing splinter from camel's foot, Yununba Hill, Northern Territory 1926. Four men are gathered around a camel lying on the ground. the camel's underside is toward the camera. A length of rope trails away to the left from its body. One non-Aboriginal man leans over the camel at the left, working on removing the splinter from its foot. Another non-Aboriginal man stand to the right, also leaning over. Two Aboriginal men stand further right, ready to assist. All of the men wear long trousers, boots, shirts and hats. The two Aboriginal men wear coats as well. The ground near the camel is bare earth. In the background are spiny grass clumps. A low ridge line is just visible in the distance.

Bert Oliffe removing splinter from a camel, Yununba Hill, Northern Territory 1926

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from film negative
National Museum of Australia

At Yununba Hill, Bumble Foot, a buggy camel, was found to have a large splinter between the toes of one of its front feet. Camel-handler Bert Oliffe roped the animal and managed to extract it. Departure was delayed until the following day to allow Oliffe to break in a new buggy camel and give Bumble Foot time to recover.

Spotty, a terrier dog, possibly at Ernabella, South Australia 1926. The dog is in the centre of the image, facing to the right, with its head turned toward the camera. Its body is one light colour (possibly white), while its head is a darker colour. On its paws are small handmade boots, just big enough to provide protection for its paw pads and top of each paw. The ground upon which Spotty stands is covered in spiny ground plants that appear to bear many prickles. Spotty's mouth is open, suggesting that the dog is panting.

Spotty, wearing leather shoes, possibly at Ernabella, South Australia 1926

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from film negative
National Museum of Australia

Herbert Basedow packed tiny leather shoes to protect his dog Spotty's paws. They were first used at Ernabella, where burrs and three-corner jack (a spiny-fruited plant) were plentiful. Donald Mackay noted in his diary that the shoes proved a 'good proposition'.

Rock paintings, southern side of Uluru, Northern Territory 1926. The paintings are on a rock wall that curves up gently from the ground. It is in shadow, suggesting that there is a rock overhang above. Much of the visible rock wall is covered in the paintings, which depict customary patterns, figures and animal totems. The paintings have been overlayed, creating a mult-layered effect. Some images are brighter than others, suggesting that they are more recent additions or perhaps in lighter colours. A few loose rocks are scattered in the foreground. One, in the front right hand corner if the image, is quite close to the camera and out of focus.

Rock paintings, southern side of Uluru, Northern Territory 1926

photograph by Herbert Basedow
reproduced from film negative
National Museum of Australia

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