Arrernte Tjintjingalla Ceremony footage (1901) – W. Baldwin Spencer

Production : Museums Victoria

Source : three extracts from this material, as well as more general information about the tjintjingalla ceremony are available on the Museums Victoria website here

Although Spencer shot considerably more footage of the Arrernte, most of this was of secret ceremonies and therefore is not now normally available to anyone other than initiated Arrernte men.  The tjintjingalla, on the other hand, was neither sacred, nor secret and was open to women and children, as well as to modern viewers.

This material was shot in April 1901 and is one of the earliest sets of moving images made of Aboriginal people.

Text : Cantrill and Cantrill 1982Henley 2013b, Gibson 2015.

© 2018 Paul Henley