The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1933, Page 90

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90

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

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rolling away stones, pulling away coarse grass and
bushes, so that the two men who were so weak that
they were scarcely able to lift their feet, might be
able to shuffle along. Captain Bertram asked some
of the natives to watch his plane for a fortnight
or so, till he would come back for it. However, he
was delayed for two months; but when he returned,
he found them still faithfully standing guard,
although for the last fortnight they had been short
of food and water. Also from the Hermannsburg
mission-station the story comes of a black boy who
with a small supply of water went in search of a lost
prospector, whom he found and brought in on the
back of a camel, keeping for the lost man’s exclusive
use the water he was carrying, although by the time
he reached his destination he was utterly exhausted
from want of water.

“The natives on whom this high meed of praise

Group of Natives.

is bestowed are such as have been living under the
influence of Christian missions. What is to be said
of those who still live in their wild stage? These
have, of course, at times shown much of those
qualities in human nature that are sordid and cor-
rupt. They have often acted very treacherously.
When Bertram and his friend landed on the desolate
coast of Northwestern Australia, the eyes of the
bush natives, quite unknown to the aviators (they
learned this later from the mission natives), were
riveted upon them, and there is no telling what they
might have done to these ‘intruders’ had not the ap-
pearance of the two men with their motor goggles
and aviation helmets filled them with awe.

“Yet even the heathen native is not only tract-
able, but often even proves a devoted friend. There
are still in the interior native tribes living in their
primeval condition, and a much-discussed question
is whether it would be better to bring them into
touch with civilization or keep them segregated.

Pastor Albrecht of the Hermannsburg mission-
station, in his annual report to the Australian gov-
ernment, deals with this question and draws atten-
tion to the facts that seem to suggest a solution to
the difficulty. He says that the lot of the natives
where they live according to the traditions of their
fathers is a happy one compared with that of those
living in the settled districts. Why, he asks, are the
natives in increasing numbers coming into the
settled areas? He admits that they are partly at-
tracted by the white man’s food, which they find
very much more palatable than their ‘bush-tucker.’
They will often give away their most-treasured pos-
sessions for the white man’s bread and sugar. But
there are other factors that make them leave their
ancient haunts. In cases of young men it is often
sheer curiosity that tempts them to migrate into
the regions of civilization. There are few natives
left who have not heard something about the
white man. Wonderful stories are told of
his way of living, his wealth, his food, his
clothing. The natives hear that they can be
employed by the white man and then may
ride his horses and share his food. It fills
a native. with envy when he sees one of his
race gallop past him and look down upon him.

“Another reason, Pastor Albrecht points
out, why natives sometimes leave their tribal
domains and betake themselves to the settled
areas is that they wish to escape the jurisdic-
tion of their tribe. Formerly, if they had
got themselves into some trouble through
neglect in observing their traditional laws,
they might for a time seek sanctuary in the bush
or with some neighboring tribe. But eventually
they returned to their people, received their punish-
ment, and were readmitted to citizenship. In that
way they were not lost to their race. Now, however,
if anything of the kind happens, they go to the
settled districts, where tribal laws have little or no
meaning for them.

“The reason, however, why whole tribes leave
the interior is, according to Pastor Albrecht, that
through the advent of the white man their old re-
ligious beliefs have been shaken, whereby their
social organization has been undermined. He says:
‘Wherever a white man comes into contact with a
native, he appears so much superior and better,
something he would like to be himself. At the same
time the native observes the white man to have
another belief than he has. Before it was self-
evident to him that his magic was most powerful.
Now he begins to doubt that. If the white man, as