41-637: The Henley-on-Todd Regatta (also called the Todd River Race ) is a "boat" race held annually in the typically dry sandy bed of the Todd River in Alice Springs , Australia . It began – and continues – cautiously as a joke at the expense of the original British colonizers and the formal atmosphere of the British river races which continue today. Every year on the third Saturday of August,
82-728: A research grant from the Australian National Research Council to study Arrernte culture, and to that purpose returned to his home in Central Australia which was stricken by four years of drought and disease that had carried off many people, and emptied the land of wildlife . The tribes of Central Australia had already become the object of worldwide interest through the joint work of exploration and ethnographic enquiry undertaken by Baldwin Spencer and Frank Gillen , whose researches exercised
123-549: A bank-to-bank flow within 15 minutes, and it is possible to follow the leading edge of the flow as it snakes through town at a walking pace. The riverbed contains sites and trees sacred to the local Arrente people including strong associations with Yeperenye (Caterpillar) Dreaming and with certain old red-river gums in the river representing Kwekatja; pre-initiated boys following the river north. The Henley-on-Todd Regatta has been held in Alice Springs annually since 1961.
164-775: A boarding school for country boys of German stock, in Adelaide . He was top of the State in Latin, Greek and German in his final year Leaving Certificate examinations in 1926, and thus won a government bursary to study at the University of Adelaide . At university Strehlow eventually enrolled in a joint honours course in Classics and English , graduating in 1931 with Honours in both. With support from his tutor, and from both A. P. Elkin and Norman Tindale , Strehlow received
205-633: A full professor when awarded a personal chair in linguistics in 1970. He was a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1969. In 1978 Strehlow received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Humanities at Uppsala University , Sweden . In 1958 a nine-year-old girl, Mary Hattam, was found raped and murdered on the beach at Ceduna . The police subsequently arrested an Aboriginal man, Rupert Max Stuart , for
246-408: A local man in 1997 who drowned whilst riding the river on a lilo . Local paddlers have recently taken to kayaking this section of grade 2 to 3 rapids. 23°45′00″S 133°52′38″E / 23.75°S 133.8772°E / -23.75; 133.8772 Ted Strehlow Theodor George Henry Strehlow (6 June 1908 – 3 October 1978) was an Australian anthropologist and linguist. He studied
287-544: A notable impact on both sociological and anthropological theory, in the works of Émile Durkheim and James G. Frazer , and on psychoanalysis , in the thesis proposed by Sigmund Freud in his Totem and Taboo . One of Freud's disciples, Géza Róheim , had actually conducted fieldwork while based in Hermannsburg among the Arrernte in 1929. His first major informants, old and fully initiated men, were Gurra, from
328-518: A review by a Royal Commission . Strehlow's involvement came after a Catholic priest who was convinced of Stuart's innocence asked him for an informed judgement on the language of the evidence by which the Aborigine had been convicted. Strehlow, it turned out, had known during his days as a Patrol Officer at Jay Creek both Stuart's grandfather, Tom Ljonga, and Stuart himself. Ljonga had been his trusted companion through many long journeys through
369-655: A sister, Frederick, Karl, Rudolf, Hermann and Martha, who were raised in Germany. He studied both Latin and Greek as part of his home school curriculum . When Strehlow was 14 years of age his domineering and charismatic father contracted dropsy and the story of the transport of his dying father to a station where medical help was available was recalled in Strehlow's book Journey to Horseshoe Bend . The tragic death of his father marked Strehlow for life. He left Hermannsburg for secondary schooling at Immanuel College ,
410-516: A whole. These names were recorded by TGH Strehlow in "Songs of Central Australia". The Todd is in a very arid part of Australia and has zero to very low flow during 95% of the year. When it does flow, it carries a heavy sediment load picked up from the grazing land around the Bond Springs homestead which lends its waters a milky chocolate colour and renders them completely opaque. The Todd River's English name, and that of its tributary,
451-560: Is run entirely on a volunteer basis by three Rotary Clubs based in 'the Alice'. The Todd River was named in 1871 by surveyor W. W. Mills after Sir Charles Todd , Superintendent of Telegraphs and Postmaster General of South Australia , who was the driving force for constructing the Australian Overland Telegraph Line from Port Augusta to Darwin . The river is usually dry, but prone to flooding during
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#1732772664586492-589: The Arrernte (Aranda, Arunta) Aboriginal Australians and their language in Central Australia . Strehlow's father was Carl Strehlow , Lutheran pastor and Superintendent , since 1896, of the Hermannsburg Mission , southwest of Alice Springs on the Finke River . (Carl was also a gifted linguist who studied and documented the local languages, and Ted later built upon his work.) Strehlow
533-969: The MacDonnell Ranges , where it flows past the Telegraph Station , almost through the centre of Alice Springs (Mparntwe), through Heavitree Gap at the southern end of Alice Springs and continuing on for some distance, passing through the western part of the Simpson Desert , as it becomes a tributary of the Hale River , and eventually flowing into Lake Eyre in South Australia. The indigenous Arrernte people know this river as Lhere Mparntwe ( Eastern Arrernte pronunciation: [l̪ərə ᵐbaⁿɖʷə] ) where it runs through Alice Springs and Lhere Imatukua ( Eastern Arrernte pronunciation: [l̪ərə imatukua] ) as
574-581: The Alice Springs municipal area is situated on a flood plain of the Todd River, created by flooding upstream of the east-west barrier created by the Heavitree Range, a local segment of the MacDonnell Ranges . The Todd runs south through this range at Heavitree Gap along with the main road and rail links connecting Alice Springs to Adelaide . Heavy flows of the Todd can cut road and rail access, and
615-744: The Central Australian deserts. Four days before the appointed hanging , Strehlow, with the Catholic chaplain, interviewed Stuart at Yatala prison . In the subsequent review process, Strehlow testified several times on what he saw as the incompatibility between the English of the confession and the dialect vernacular Stuart used. Familiar with white men in the Centre who had raped Aboriginal girls of that age, Strehlow did not think this crime fitted with Aboriginal behaviour. Stuart's conviction
656-551: The Charles River, were given by surveyor W. W. Mills , after Charles Todd , then South Australian Superintendent of Telegraphs and Postmaster General of South Australia , who was largely responsible for the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line . The Todd River is integral to the city of Alice Springs, which has its central business district built on the edge of the river. A large portion of
697-493: The Land Rights Council, believed they were the proper bodies for taking over the care and housing of this extensive material. Strehlow felt a personal responsibility for this material, as the man exclusively entrusted by a generation of elders with myths and songs, their secret knowledge and ceremonial artifacts, and held a grievance for what he considered to be the shabby treatment he had received during his life by
738-643: The Lutheran mission at Hermannsburg had sufficient confidence in the Christianised native community to accord them autonomy, and yield church leases on the area to their Aboriginal congregation, many local natives moved out, claimed their tjurunga rights to the land, and began to re-celebrate the older ceremonies. In his final return to the area, he was surprised to discover that his 'twin', Gustav Malbunka, who had once saved his life, and who had not only renounced his culture but become an evangelical preacher,
779-489: The bottle neck effect of the Gap can cause flooding in many parts of the town. There have been numerous cases of people drowning as often people camp in the riverbed and the flooding can occur very rapidly and unexpectedly from heavy rains upstream. Heavy rainfalls in the catchment to the north of Alice Springs cause the river to start flowing through the town around 6 to 8 hours later. The river can change from its normal dry bed to
820-591: The crime. Stuart was convicted and condemned to death in late April 1959. The case quickly assumed the character of a cause célèbre as civil rights groups questioned the evidence based solely on a confession made to the police which the prosecution and officers affirmed had been taken down word for word. The verdict was appealed , went to the High Court and the Privy Council in London and concluded with
861-423: The details of all their sacred lore and rites. He was considered a member of the Arrernte people, by dint of his ritual adoption by the tribe. In the following two years, covering more than 7,000 gruelling miles of desert to witness and record Aboriginal ways, Strehlow witnessed and recorded some 166 sacred ceremonies dealing with totemic acts, most of which are no longer practised. His academic stature firmed with
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#1732772664586902-543: The dry riverbed, including the closing ceremony for the 2006 Alice Festival. Camping in the riverbed is illegal, although this law is rarely enforced. A flow of water in the river is quite an event for the people of Alice Springs, who flock to the causeways and the Telegraph Station to play in the fleeting waters. Although the riverbed is wide and of gentle gradient through the town the opaque waters combined with trees, waterborne and man-made hazards make playing in
943-463: The establishment. He set difficult and exacting conditions through many negotiations, and when the issue came to a head, determined to will his private collection to his new family, who would house and conserve it in their own home. Strehlow justified his retention of these objects by the personal expense he had laid out, and by the fact, he insisted, that they had been formally handed into his care by 'surrender ceremonies'. In an apparent paradox, once
984-547: The extinction of the bilby (the key animal in the bandicoot ritual) by introduced rabbits, a metaphor for what was happening to the Aboriginal people and their culture with the spread of white civilisation. He was cremated. His career and his role as the custodian of Aboriginal secrets have been dogged by controversy. A decade later, negotiations between his widow and the Northern Territory government led to
1025-494: The final battle. Traditional teams include pirates and vikings , complete with costumes. Who wins the final battle can be difficult to determine; even the announcers occasionally get a blast. Reg Smith at the Alice Springs Meteorological Bureau proposed an actual regatta along the lines of the famous Henley Royal Regatta (at Henley-on-Thames , thus the name of the regatta) in 1962. The idea
1066-409: The finalisation of the purchase of most of the collection in 1987. It was described by John Morton as containing "some '700 objects' (largely secret-sacred), '15 kilometres of movie film, 7,000 slides, thousands of pages of genealogical records, myths, sound recordings' and '42 diaries', as well as 'paintings, letters, maps' and 'a 1,000-volume library.' " The Strehlow Research Centre at Alice Springs
1107-406: The flowing river dangerous. Upstream from Alice Springs the Todd River descends quite rapidly, dropping 100 metres from Junction Waterhole to the Telegraph Station over 8 km of river length (5 km direct). This is a hilly area, and the river bed is strewn with rocks creating some lively rapids during the short-lived flood events. Many locals are wary of these waters, remembering the death of
1148-468: The northern Arrernte, and Njitia and Makarinja from Horseshoe Bend, later to be joined by Rauwiraka, Makarinja, Kolbarinja, Utnadata and Namatjira, the father of the famous painter of that name . Mickey Gurra (Tjentermana), his earliest informant and last of the ingkata or ceremonial chiefs of the bandicoot totem centre known as Ilbalintja , confided in Strehlow in May 1933 that neither he nor any of
1189-451: The other old men had sons or grandsons responsible enough to be trusted with the secrets of their sacred objects ( tjurunga ) (many of which were being sold for food and tobacco as the native culture broke down), together with the accompanying chants and ceremonies. They were worried that all their secrets would die with them. Several, such as Rauwiraka, confided to Strehlow their secret knowledge, and even their names, trusting him to conserve
1230-641: The publication of Aranda Traditions (1947). This work had been assembled in 1934 but Strehlow delayed publication until all his informants were dead. Soon after, in 1949, he received an ANU fellowship , which, though, as he soon found out, carried with it no prospect for an academic career in Canberra , enabled him to complete further studies in the field, and travel to England for research. His sojourn left him disappointed, both with England, and with many of its leading anthropologists, such as Raymond Firth and J. R. Firth , who in his view failed to extend to him
1271-403: The regatta is held on the dry riverbed , and draws up to 20,000 spectators. Bottomless boats are picked up by the competitors standing within them and running down the course. The regatta carries insurance against the risk of water in the riverbed. The Henley-on-Todd Regatta has been cancelled once, in 1993, due to flooding - the river had too much water for the race. Other events are held in
Henley-on-Todd Regatta - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-667: The support and interest his research required, since they were critical of his lack of formal anthropological credentials. He toured the continent and lectured, with considerable success, in France and Germany, and met up with his siblings and mother in Bavaria . He gained recognition for the linguistic work which his father had begun. After the war, in 1946, he was appointed lecturer in English and Linguistics, and then Reader in Linguistics at Adelaide University in 1954, and became
1353-498: The three most significant books ever published on Australian anthropology. The last three decades of his life were intermittently troubled by the question of the ownership and custodianship on the objects, and records on the Aboriginals which he had accumulated during his fieldwork over a long career. The Government and two universities, who had subsidized his labours, and, towards the end, a younger generation of Aranda people on
1394-521: The town holds a mock regatta which large numbers of locals and tourists attend. Food and drink are sold at stalls, "no fishing" signs are put up, and the celebration takes all day. It is the only dry river regatta in the world; thus, in 1993 the event was cancelled for the year due to water in the river. However, the Alice Springs Hash House Harriers and Katherine Hash House Harriers running groups put their boat entry into
1435-524: The water and completed the course under protest of the track officials. This was televised by ABC and shown around Australia on the nightly news. "Boats" are made from metal frames and hung with banners and advertisements, and teams of "rowers" run their boats in races through the hot sand. Races are also held in washtubs , human-sized hamster wheels and at the final event, modified trucks decked out as boats are driven by teams armed with flour bombs and water cannon . Many bystanders end up as casualties of
1476-415: The wet season. Mills also named a waterhole in the bed of the Todd River as Alice Springs for Todd's wife, Alice, and this name was subsequently used for the telegraph station , and later the town . Todd River The Todd River ( Arrernte : Lhere Mparntwe / Lhere Imatukua ) is an ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory , central Australia . The origins of the Todd River are in
1517-465: Was born, a month premature, at Hermannsburg, the native place name being Ntaria . He was raised trilingually , speaking, in addition to English, also Arrernte with the Aboriginal maids and native children, and German with his immediate family. After a family visit to Germany when he was three years old (1911), he returned with his parents, and grew up parted from his four elder brothers and
1558-407: Was capable of singing tjilpa ( totemic quoll ) verses that once formed a key part of rituals that Strehlow thought were extinct. The culture, even among Christian converts, had been secretly passed on. Strehlow died of a heart attack in 1978, just before the opening of an exhibition of his collection of artifacts, while conversing with Justice Kirby and his friend and colleague Ronald Berndt on
1599-425: Was established for the preservation and public display of these works. The collection is often accessed by Arrernte people as well as other Central Australian Aboriginal groups. Contemporary anthropologist Jason Gibson has shown how Strehlow's collection is actively used and interpreted by descendent Arrernte and Anmatyerr communities. He has also recorded how Strehlow is remembered and respected by some senior men as
1640-528: Was taken up by the Rotary club of Alice Springs, and despite the fact that the town was 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) from the nearest large body of water this was never seen as a problem. Watching seemingly sane people race in bottomless "eights", "Oxford tubs", "bath tubs" and yachts through the deep coarse sand of the Todd River is a unique spectacle amongst world sporting events and attracts many local and international participants. The Henley-On-Todd Regatta
1681-451: Was upheld, but he escaped the death penalty . In November 1971, after many years of difficulty due also to the special fonts required to reproduce his text, he published Songs of Central Australia , a monumental study of the ceremonial poetry of the Arrernte tribes. Although reviewed with condescending hostility in the TLS , it was acclaimed by Australian experts like A. P. Elkin as one of