Harvard-Adelaide Expedition: 'Lake Tyers' Victoria, 1938-1939.

Archive Collections / Board for Anthropological Research / Series AA346/09 / Harvard-Adelaide Expedition: 'Lake Tyers' Victoria, 1938-1939.
BAR Expedition Symbol: N

This is the fourth of twelve film titles documenting the Board for Anthropological Research (BAR) Harvard-Adelaide Universities expedition, during 13 May 1938 - 30 June 1939.

This expedition travelled through South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. For a listing of the locations visited by the expedition party see: JB Birdsell's 'Australian Daily Field Journal 1938-1939' (AA 689/1/1) and NB Tindale's Journal 'Harvard and Adelaide Universities Anthropological Expedition, Australia, 1938-1939' (AA 338/1/15/1-2).

'Lake Tyers' is an unfinished film item documenting the BAR expedition to Lake Tyers, Victoria, however it should be noted that this film also includes footage from Yarrabah and Woorabinda (Queensland) as well as footage from Mount Margaret (Western Australia), Cumeragunja (Cumeroogunga) and Boggabilla (New South Wales).

The cinematographer was NB Tindale (AA 338) with possible involvement from both DM Tindale and BG Birdsell. See: (AA 346/9/13/1).

NB Tindale's annotations on the edge of the 16mm film, which usually records the subject, location and the dates of filming have been used to identify the many different locations found in this film.

This expedition film was previous held in the NB Tindale collection and was transferred into the BAR collection in December 2005.

The method adopted by BAR expeditions to undertake research and record the results involved assigning a unique number to each individual (here called 'individual subject number'). This number was given the expedition symbol as a prefix, and remained consistent throughout the research. This expedition was assigned the symbol 'N.' All individuals recorded during the expedition were assigned an individual subject number, for example [N1313]. Where possible the 'individual subject number' of those who appear in film have been noted.

The time coded summary is in minutes and seconds. Following the summary of this film is a list of references.

Formats Held: 16mm, SP Betacam, Digital Betacam, Access DVDs.

Summary (Time Coded): Taken from Access DVD 3 (AA 346/9/13/4/6)

00:00 Harvard Adelaide Expedition: 'Lake Tyers,' 1938-1939

00:00 'Cultural Sensitivity Warning.'

00:00 'The Museum Board of South Australia © 1938-1939.'

01:30 An Australian Aboriginal man sharpens an axe on a rotating grindstone. Lake Tyers, Victoria, 1939.

01:46 A man works out the front of mission houses, trimming timber planks with an axe. Lake Tyers, Victoria. 1939.

01:56 An Australian Aboriginal woman with her two children standing outside her house. Lake Tyers, Victoria, 1939. See: NB Tindale's film notes (AA 346/9/27/6), Reel 35b.

02:06 An Australian Aboriginal woman and her children walk through the interior of the house. Lake Tyers, Victoria. 1939.

02:13 Close up of the woman and her two children, Lake Tyers, Victoria. 1939.

02:25 Distant view of the large wedding party. Yarrabah, Queensland, 1939.
See: NB Tindale's film notes (AA 346/9/27/6), Reel 16c.

02:31 The couple are congratulated by the community who line up to shake their hands. Yarrabah, Queensland. 1939.

02:56 Five flower girls from the wedding party. Yarrabah, Queensland. 1939.

03:02 DM Tindale and BG Birdsell congratulate the bride and groom. Yarrabah, Queensland. 1939.

03:17 DM Tindale and BG Birdsell walk into the maternity hospital. Lake Tyers, Victoria. 1939.

03:26 A woman is tucked into in bed. Two nurses, one holding a new born baby. Lake Tyers, Victoria. 1939.

03:37 Close up of the nurse and new born. Lake Tyers, Victoria. 1939.

03:47 Nora Mullett [N1578] of the Kurnai people leaves the maternity hospital carrying her new born baby. Lake Tyers, Victoria. 1939.

03:58 Girls and boys line up for a school parade, Woorabinda, Queensland. 1938.

04:01 Close up of children as they stand in file. Woorabinda, Queensland. 1938.

04:27 Garfield Reid [N1313] of the Koren Goren people, holds a sign 'Woorabinda, 1312 Doreen Boson, 1309 Gwen Doyle, 1313 Garfield Reid.' Woorabinda, Queensland. 1938.

04:30 Portrait of Gwen Doyle [N1309] of the Jiman and Kungari peoples, and Doreen Boson [N1312] of the Kangulu people. Woorabinda, Queensland, 1938. See: NB Tindale photograph (AA 338/5/15/78).

04:41 Portrait of Gwen Doyle [N1309] of the Jiman and Kungari peoples. Woorabinda, Queensland. 1938.

04:50 Portrait of Doreen Boson [N1312] of the Kangulu people. Woorabinda, Queensland. 1938.

04:59 Portrait of Garfield Reid [N1313] of the Koren Goren people. Woorabinda, Queensland. 1938.

05:08 A group of children outside the schoolhouse. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

05:13 The school principle, Mrs Mary Bennett, at the entrance of the schoolhouse. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939. See: NB Tindale Journal (AA 338/1/15/1-2), p.909.

05:18 Close up of school principle, Mrs Mary Bennett. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

05:25 Inside the schoolhouse, the children work while Mrs Bennett and her assistant help the children. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

05:36 Children at the blackboard conducting multiplications. They randomly point with a stick at a grid which is numbered 1-12 and write down on the blackboard a multiplication of the picked number. See: NB Tindale's film notes (AA 346/9/27/6), Reel 27c.

06:39 Playing tennis. Mount Margaret, Western Australia.

07:24 Close up of a woman bouncing a tennis ball on her racket. Mount Margaret, Western Australia.

07:29 Australian rules football. Cumeragunja (Cumeroogunga), New South Wales. 1938. See: NB Tindale Journal (AA 338/1/15/1-2), p.89.

07:43 A man shovels earth into a stamping battery. Gold mining operation Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939. See: NB Tindale Journal (AA 338/1/15/1-2), pp.909-913.

07:55 Close up of the stamps crushing the ore. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

08:01 Steam stamping machine, with five stampers, in operation. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

08:05 The crushed ore slurry is washed over copper plates. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

08:20 Applying mercury to copper plates. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

08:28 Smelting operations. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939. See: NB Tindale's film notes (AA 346/9/27/6), Reel 28b.

09:27 The gold nugget. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939. See: NB Tindale's film notes (AA 346/9/27/6), Reel 27a.

09:35 Smelting operations continued. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

09:57 Washing the gold nugget. Mount Margaret, Western Australia. 1939.

10:07 A procession of children in military uniforms followed by cars and floats. Children dressed as the nationalities of the British Empire. Cars and floats with paper streamers. A gum leaf band. Children pulling rickshaws and children riding bicycles made to look like a boat and an air craft. Empire Day Parade, Cumeragunja (Cumeroogunga), New South Wales. 24 May 1938. See: NB Tindale Journal (AA 338/1/15/1-2), p.89. See also: NB Tindale's film notes (AA 346/9/27/6), 2b.

10:52 An Australian Aboriginal man stands with four children. Cumeragunja (Cumeroogunga), New South Wales. 1938.

10:57 Empire Day Parade. Cumeragunja (Cumeroogunga), New South Wales. 1938.

11:08 An Australian Aboriginal family fishing MacIntyre River. Boggabilla, New South Wales. 1938.

11:41 End of footage.


  1. HARVARD-ADELAIDE: 'LAKE TYERS,' 1938-1939. MASTER NEGATIVE
    Characteristics: 16mm, B&W, silent, 350ft.
    Notes: This item was previously held in the NB Tindale (AA 338) collection as [Master Negative 6A]

  2. HARVARD-ADELAIDE: 'LAKE TYERS,' 1938-1939. MASTER PRESERVATION
    COPY

    Format: SP Betacam
    Duration: 10 min 10 sec
    Transfer Date: 1/07/2006
    Generation: Copy of AA 346/9/13/4/1

  3. HARVARD-ADELAIDE: 'LAKE TYERS,' 1938-1939. DUBBING / LOAN COPY
    Format: Digital Betacam
    Duration: 10 min 10 sec
    Transfer Date: 1/07/2006
    Generation: Copy of AA346/9/13/4/2

  4. HARVARD-ADELAIDE: 'LAKE TYERS,' 1938-1939. PRESERVATION DVD 1 [TIME CODED]
    Format: DVD
    Duration: 10 min 10 sec
    Transfer Date: 1/07/2006
    Generation: Copy of AA 346/9/13/4/3

  5. HARVARD-ADELAIDE: 'LAKE TYERS,' 1938-1939. PRESERVATION DVD 2
    Format: DVD
    Duration: 10 min 10 sec
    Transfer Date: 1/07/2006
    Generation: Copy of AA 346/9/13/4/3

  6. HARVARD-ADELAIDE: 'LAKE TYERS,' 1938-1939. ACCESS DVD 3 [TIME CODED]
    Format: DVD
    Duration: 10 min 10 sec
    Transfer Date: 1/07/2006
    Generation: Copy of AA 346/9/13/4/4

  7. HARVARD-ADELAIDE: 'LAKE TYERS,' 1938-1939. ACCESS DVD 4
    Format: DVD
    Duration: 10 min 10 sec
    Transfer Date: 1/07/2006
    Generation: Copy of AA 346/9/13/4/5

  • NB Tindale Journal 'Harvard and Adelaide Universities Anthropological Expedition, Australia, 1938-1939.' (AA 338/1/15/1-2)

  • NB Tindale Photographs (AA 338/1/15/1-2)

  • NB Tindale 'Notes on Partly Processed 16mm film, examined by NB Tindale, July 1974, (AA 346/9/27/8)

  • NB Tindale notes for the editing of Harvard Adelaide film (AA 346/9/27/6)

  • NB Tindale annotations on the edge of the 16mm film regarding subjects, dates and locations.

CreatorBoard for Anthropological Research
ControlAA 346/9/13/4
Date Range01 May, 1938  -  01 June, 1939
Quantity 15.5cm,   7   film items. Formats: 16mm, Betacams, DVDs
Series AA346/09