Field Trips
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To Director of Welfare, Northern Territory Administration, Darwin, [1959?]
Asks for permission to visit the Aboriginal compound near Darwin so that she may hear Aboriginal singing. Refers to Alice’s first field trip in 1959.
(MS3501/1/2/17)
To W.E. Harney, Ayer’s Rock, NT, 29/07/59
Comments on Alice’s first field recordings which were used as part of a radio feature by the ABC. When she went to Ayers Rock in 1959, the Ranger, W.E. Harney, had helped to facilitate the visit. The European explorer Ernest Giles was the first to have recorded seeing the Rock in October 1872, and it was named by William Gosse after the Premier of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayres, on 19 July 1873. On 15 December 1993, the site was renamed Ayers Rock/Uluru and became the first officially named dual feature in the Northern Territory in recognition of the name used by the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara traditional owners. The order of the dual names was officially reversed to Uluru/Ayres Rock on 6 November 2002.
(MS3501/1/5/46)
To Wanjug[Wanjuk] Marika, Yirrkala, NT, 30/10/62
Thanks him for letting Alice record him and describes her 1962 field trip, which was the second one she made.Wanjuk who was active in the struggle for land rights for his people, the Yolngu, was a great performer, elder and statesman.
(MS3501/1/30/10/62)
To Judith Stokes, Groote Eylandt, NT, 1/11/62
Discusses the field recordings Alice made in 1962 during her first trip to Groote Eylandt. Alice’s statement, ”I hope we shall meet again some day” was prophetic, as Groote Eylandt music became one of Alice’s main research interests. She maintained both a personal and a professional relationship with the missionary linguist, Judith Stokes.In this letter, Alice mentions that she had played her recording of Gula Lalara's Stingray song to the Groote Eylandt people she met at Bagot as well as at a Monash University lecture.
(MS3501/1/1/11/62)
To J.S. Boydell, Secretary, AIAS, Canberra, 19/08/66
Describes planning for Alice’s trip to the Gulf of Carpentaria area and Cape York in 1966. She collaborated with David McKnight in Mornington Island and explains her arrangements for accommodation in Borroloola.
(MS3501/1/23/47)
To E.C. Butler, Manager, Weipa Aboriginal Settlement, Qld., 02/11/66
Comments on her recording of Sam Kilndan at Weipa blowing a bamboo whistle, asking for further information and for a whistle to be made for her.
(MS3501/1/25/6)
To J.S. Boydell, Secretary, AIAS, Canberra, 30/11/66
Demonstrates Alice’s amazing ability to keep a number of projects going and contains a lovely vignette of her stay at Borroloola, Qld. She worked under difficult conditions at Borroloola but produced over 60 5-inch tape recordings - among them, a Galwangara corroboree of the people of Roper River, NT. Alice notes that there is a female didjeridu player at Borroloola, which is highly unusual. For a discussion about women playing the didjeridu, see Barwick, L. 1997. Gender 'Taboos' and didjeridus. In Karl Neuenfeldt (ed.). The Didjeridu: From Arnhem Land to Internet. Sydney: John Libbey & Company, pp. 89-99 [held at AIATSIS Library, BN 481.50/D1]
(MS3501/1/25/17)
To [Harry Giese], The Director, Welfare Branch, Northern Territory Administration, Darwin, NT, 06/12/66
Request to visit Groote Eylandt in order to collaborate with the missionary linguist, Judith Stokes. Alice had a special interest in Groote Eylandt music and visited there more than any other location in Australia. Note that permission to visit Groote Eylandt now needs to be sought from the Aboriginal owners/community leaders.
(MS3501/1/25/22)
To Ken Hale, Yuendumu, via Alice Springs, NT, 03/02/67
Relates her plans to visit Yuendumu while Ken and his family are there, also thanks him for the help he gave her on Warlpiri and other Central Australian song texts. The recordings she made during that trip included a Rain Dreaming ceremony, sections of which were published by Unesco in 1978.
(MS3501/1/27/13)
To Sam Kilndan c/- Rev. W. Johnson, Department of Aboriginal & Islander Affairs, Weipa, Qld., 09/02/67
Thanks Sam Kilndan for allowing Alice to record him and thanks for a whistle he made for her. Alice published a picture of Sam blowing the whistle in the handbook for her recording, Songs from North Queensland. This letter can be read in conjunction with letter MS3501/1/25/6.
(MS3501/27/28)
To Ken Hale, 14/05/67
Expresses her thanks to Ken for his help with transcriptions of music texts and comments on his tape recorder and his use of pitch signals. >Ken Hale deposited his original field tapes at Indiana University > >Archive of Traditional Music, and this letter refers to the numbers used in their catalogue, ie. 4.13.Alice refers to the 'Honey Ant' song series and two singers, Dinny and Sam. 'Yurampi' is the Warlpiri word for Honey Ant.
(MS3501/1/29/11)
To [Ken Pounsett, Audio technician, AIAS, Canberra], 06/05/68
Lists equipment that Alice took on her recording trip to the Kimberleys, ensuring that all contingencies would be covered in the field. It is remarkable that one researcher could travel alone with such an impressive array.
(MS3501/1/36/11)
To the Commissioner of Native Welfare, Perth, WA, 23/06/68
Clarifies her request for access to the Lombadina and Beagle Bay communities. Alice, who was a student at Monash University at the time, had written to the Roman Catholic Bishop Jobst in Broome to request access to the above mentioned missions. Unfortunately, some students at Monash had performed an irreverent act involving the celebration of Easter during that year, and the Bishop, who saw Alice as a representative of Monash, declined her request for access to the communities. Alice arranged a meeting with the Bishop and put her case successfully, disassociating herself from any such activity at the University.
(MS3501/1/37/9)
To Elizabeth May, [Los Angeles], 20/07/69
Expresses Alice’s hopes of getting funding for a study tour and outlines some of her plans. The letter also mentions various colleagues at Monash University. Alice valued her friendship with the ethnomusicologist and music educator, Elizabeth May whose book, Music of Many Cultures: an introduction, was one of the first anthologies of essays about non-Western music.
(MS3501/1/46/25) click here for transcript
To The President, Beswick Council, Bamyili via Katherine, NT, 29/10/76
Asks to meet Hickey Hood Janbuyin, President of the Beswick Council to discuss his ideas for disseminating information about Aboriginal music to school children. At this time, Alice had already done work towards assembling an educational kit for schools.
(MS3501/1/84/42)
To Judith Stokes, Groote Eylandt, NT, 05/11/86
Arranges details for one of Alice’s final trips to Groote Eylandt.
(MS3501/1/129/13)