As mentioned in the first part of this chapter, the decision to preach to the Dieri people in their vernacular was based on the Lutheran valuation of the native tongue. It is, on the contrary, also, especially in the context of colonial reign as in Australia or South America, an indication towards the colonizer‟s dealing with indigenous ethnics and the relationship with the indigenous people. The Europeans often reinforced their own culture and languages to the disadvantage of native traditions and tongue. As „by-product‟ of missionary work linguistic knowledge about „exotic‟ languages was gained. Repeatedly the transition from missionary to scientifically motivated interest in foreign cultures was smooth. (Wendt 2001:8f) Another factor contributing to the decision of choosing Dieri55 was the location of the mission. Lake Killalpaninna had already been for a long time an important hub of existing trading routes and
55 And not one of the other neighbouring tribes‟ languages Yandrawonta, Yarrawaurka, Auminie or Wongkaooroo (Gason in Taplin 1879:257 in Kneebone 1998:237)
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as a result Dieri was known to most members of the surrounding area‟s tribes.56 (Kneebone 1998:237)
By choosing Dieri as their language of evangelisation, the Hermannsburg missionaries wanted to confirm their independence from the colonial power, from settlers, and ranchers. However, they also did assimilation work and were rewarded with free tenure and protection from the police. (Wendt 1998:25) For quite some time, the decision to learn the vernacular of the Dieri instead of preaching in English was controversial. The additional efforts needed to learn the language of the indigenous people were justified with the Lutheran conviction that the native tongue was the most reliable means of communication for evangelisation. Practical reasons were considered as well. Neither the missionaries, who had rather limited practical knowledge of the English language, nor the Dieri, who only knew English in the narrow contexts of station life, were able make use of English appropriate enough to start successful evangelisation. Additionally, English was considered a bad influence on Dieri culture and language57 and the missionaries did not want to be related to the colonial power of England.
(Kneebone 1998:239)
The decision of the missionaries to use one language of the area as a lingua franca of the mission led to considerable linguistic and sociolinguistic consequences. With choosing one out of a large number of languages the fate of neighbouring dialects and languages was often sealed.58 Mühlhäusler names manifold results of these language policies:
1. it promoted a language that traditionally had no dominant role
2. it created a hierarchy of languages replacing a situation where languages had been equal
3. it set in motion a gradual shift away from the local vernaculars to more powerful mission languages
4. it gradually silenced those who spoke up for small languages
(Mühlhäusler 1996:150) Austin describes a neighbouring language, Pirlapata, which finally disappeared in the 1960s, but had been threatened for a long time, beforehand. Both, the missionaries Schoknecht and
56 “Der Unterricht ist natürlich in der Diaeri Sprache, freilich haben wir Kinder von verschiedenen andern Volksstämmen, deren Sprache zum Teil ebenso stark abweicht von Diaeri als das Englisch von Deutsch, doch verstehen die Kinder alle das Diaeri, antworten aber meistens in ihrer Sprache […]“ (KMB 1868:193 in Kneebone 1998:237 footnote)
57 Luise Homann comments on the influence of English on Dieri: “… und sie leider durch manches schlechte englische Wort ihre Sprache schon sehr verdorben haben.” (HM (Archiv der Hermannsburger Mission) 1868 in Kneebone 1998:239)
58 Mühlhäusler uses the Wemo dialect from the Kâte language as an example which was chosen as the mission‟s standard dialect and gradually replaced all other varieties. Another effect of this “mission language” was that lexically related neighbouring languages of Kâte became either structurally or lexically like Kâte or were completely replaced by it. (Mühlhäusler 1996:147)
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Reuther, provided very short word lists of Pirlapata59 and classified it as a neighbouring language of Dieri. The language died with its last speaker Fred Johnson and seems to have been very closely related to Dieri in terms of lexicon and grammar. (Austin 1990:32f and 40) This could be an indication justifying the assumption, that Pirlapata was one of the languages suffering from the promotion of Dieri as lingua franca in the Lake Killalpaninna region. Dieri was presumably understood by the Pirlapata tribe and children of that tribe probably went to the mission school, as the data of Schoknecht and Reuther suggests.
For the smaller, less promoted languages, mission languages meant an ultimate threat for their survival. On the other hand, the missions‟ lingue franche were exposed to direct influences of non-native speakers of the languages. Traditional vocabulary got lost. Alongside the loss of the old beliefs and ways of life, the words for traditional concepts slowly disappeared and the new religion and faith with all its new words and concepts grew in acceptance and power.
The missionaries were, at the beginning, surprised with the seemingly chaotic structure of the language. Gössling writes:
In der Sprache habe ich, nach dem was ich erfahren habe, auch eine größere Ordnung erwartet, sie scheint mir aber so weit ich urtheilen kann, sehr ungeordnet und unausgebildet zu sein. […] Der bei ihnen herrschende Communismus, Freiheit und Gleichheit hat alle Verhältnisse aufgehoben und zerfressen.
(KMB 1867:75 in Kneebone 1998:229) Koch judges differently:
Es ist behauptet worden, […] unsere Schwarzen hätten durchaus in ihrer Sprache keine Ausdrücke für irgend Begriffe, die sie über das Niveau des Alltäglichen erheben, ich muss sagen, wir haben schon nach dieses sechs Monaten Beweise vom Gegentheil. Ihre Sprache ist eine bilderreiche, so bilderreich, daß sie einem mit den Sitten des Volkes Unbekannten lächerlich erscheinen wird, aber ebendeshalb ist es auch schwierig sich in dieselbe hineinzuarbeiten.
(KMB 1869:47 in Kneebone 1998:229) Gössling‟s point of view fitted well into the notion of inferiority of the indigenous people in relation to European culture and language.
As mentioned in chapter II, the missionaries faced great problems in naming concepts not known to the indigenous people. For preaching, naming „God‟ in an adequate way was, of course, central to the missionaries‟ efforts:
Nur für Gott konnten wir keinen passenden Namen finden und Namen von Geistern und Dämonen, die sie schon haben, durften wir nicht nehmen. Wir
59 or Biladapa
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sagten also: goda, Gott. […] Für Gott, den Vater haben wir: Aperi = Vater, pirna
= gross, für Gott den Sohn: Jesu, nattamurra kulno = eingeborener Sohn, der Joa
= Erretter, Helfer, Auslöser. Für ‚heiligen Geist‟ sind wir noch zweifelhaft.
(KMB 1868:150 in Kneebone 1998:241) Interestingly, there seemed to have been no difficulties in naming the devil. Kuchi means „bad spirits‟ and the word is intensified by the adjective madlanchi – kuchi madlanchi. (Kneebone 1998:241) The Dieri did not know other abstract notions such as „sin‟, „injustice‟, or
„punishment‟ either. Here, the missionaries created new words based on their knowledge of the grammatical and phonetic rules. (Kneebone 1998:242)
The next chapter will now move another step further and discuss the influence of literacy on indigenous languages and Dieri in particular.
Page 47 of 164 IV. Literacy
The Australian Aborigines were perceived by the missionaries and colonizers as
„degenerated‟ people. The introductions of cultural assets alongside technical improvements were, for them, necessary tools to lead the indigenous tribes out of their submersion. To reconstruct the assumed „original‟ form of the languages60, standardizing and adding new vocabulary were needed. The Germans highlighted the importance of Luther‟s Bible translation as a means of standardizing the German language and unifying all dialects and varieties. (Kneebone 2001:153)
For the Dieri, the written word bore an immense fascination and led to an eagerness to know more about the European way of life and cultural possessions. An interesting anecdote was reported by Homann who had sent a letter exhorting some of his pupils to return to school:
Der Brief, an einem Stückchen Holz befestig, wie die gewöhnliche Weise ist, und wovor die Eingebornen grossen Respect haben, kam zum Salt Creek […]. Dort sind viele Campingplätze und viele Eingebornen, deshalb waren die Schüler nicht gleich zu finden. Aber andere Schüler die auch schon des Lesens so ziemlich kundig, öffneten den Brief und lesen den Inhalt den erstaunten Eingebornen vor.
Dann ist der Brief von Platz zu Platz gewandert und hat die Schüler aufgesucht, welche, 3 an der Zahl, bald zurückkamen samt dem ganz zerlesenen Briefe, der in kurzer Zeit ca. 200 Meilen gewandert war und der zum großen Erstaunen der wilden Heiden so gut sprechen konnte.
(KMB 21&22 1869:163 in Kneebone 2005:388 footnote)