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BBC Four Collections,

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specially chosen programmes from the BBC archive.

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For this collection, Sir David Attenborough

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has chosen documentaries from the start of his career.

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More programmes on this theme

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and other BBC Four Collections are available on BBC iPlayer.

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DIDGERIDOO PLAYS

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ABORIGINAL CHANTING

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This is the north coast of Australia,

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but the big modern cities of Australia -

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Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide - they're a very, very long way from here.

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They're several thousand miles southwards,

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that way, across the desert.

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In fact, they're as far away from me here as London is from, say,

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the centre of the Sahara.

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Across here, across the Gulf, lies the huge island of New Guinea.

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I'm sitting in an encampment of a tribe of Aborigines

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called the Gunavidji.

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The Gunavidji are, in pidgin, called solwara folk, solwara people.

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That is to say, people who spend most of their time down by the sea.

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And they come during the dry season,

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and camp here in bark encampments like this one.

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They spend a great deal of their time around in the sea, fishing

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and hunting among the rocks for food.

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The Gunavidji, in fact, are not desert dwellers

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like many Aboriginal tribes, but are primarily seamen.

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Their craft is about as simple as any in the world, a dugout canoe.

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It was in vessels like this that the Aborigines

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first arrived on the shores of Australia,

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some thousands of years ago.

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The seas here are bountiful, there's plenty of fish

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and even more tasty, in Aboriginal eyes, there are lots of turtles.

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Turtles are reptiles,

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and therefore they must come up to the surface to breathe,

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and it's when they do so that you have a chance to harpoon them.

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The steel point of the harpoon has pierced the shell of the turtle,

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and the detachable shaft has dropped off,

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but pulling a turtle in on one line is risky, and a second harpoon

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makes it more certain that the turtle doesn't escape.

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It isn't a big turtle as turtles go,

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but fishermen like this on a good day may catch five or six of them,

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and that's enough to feed all the men's families for a week or so.

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While the men are out at sea, the women may be down on the shore,

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digging for shellfish, or worms, or crabs.

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It's a job in which everyone can take part,

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including the youngest of the children.

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THEY CHAT IN NATIVE TONGUE

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A BOY SCREAMS

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It may not seem much,

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but meat inland is scarce.

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Kangaroos are few and hard to find,

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and there's no other big creature to provide a solid meal of meat.

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At low tide, you can paddle across the shallows to the coral reef,

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and there you will find small oysters.

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Where the rivers meet the sea, they form wide estuaries.

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Here, the muddy shores and banks are tangled with mangrove swamps

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and patches of jungle.

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There's food to be found here too.

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Sometimes in these long, calm stretches of clear water,

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you can see big fish as long as your arm that can be harpooned.

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But not today.

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Up in the trees though,

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there are creatures that are as tasty as the finest fish,

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and with much more tender flesh than cockatoos or parrots.

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RAUCOUS SQUEALING AND SQUEAKING

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Giant fruit bats.

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The houses of the Gunavidji, like their boats,

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could scarcely be more simple.

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Merely shelters of eucalyptus bark strengthened with corrugated iron

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or anything else flat and waterproof that's available.

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By tradition, these people are nomads.

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In the past, they would never stay in one place

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for more than a week or so,

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and would have to move on to find fresh hunting grounds.

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So they never had any need to build anything more permanent than this.

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Nor do they have many possessions - a knife,

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an axe, perhaps, a fishing line.

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But most families do have a didgeridoo -

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the drone pipe which only these northern tribes possess.

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DIDGERIDOO PLAYS

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MAN CHANTS IN NATIVE TONGUE

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It's simply the branch of a tree,

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the centre of which has been chewed away by termites

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to form a hollow tube.

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A length of gas piping would do almost as well,

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and indeed, when the Gunavidji can get hold of a length,

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they often do use it as a musical instrument.

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And while their parents play,

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the children practise the stamping, energetic dance

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that they will later perform in their corroborees -

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the ceremonial dances that still obsess their elders.

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PERCUSSIVE TAPPING

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THEY GRUNT

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THEY GRUNT

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The ritual life of the Gunavidji is extremely complicated.

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Their tribe is divided into several separate totemic groups,

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each claiming a special or intimate relationship

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with some animal or plant.

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The seasons of the year are marked by very involved rituals,

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which may extend over a period of months.

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The fertility of the people and of the land,

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of the plants and the animals,

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the cycles of the wet and dry seasons,

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all must be safeguarded by the regular performance of dances,

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sacrifices and ordeals, the full meaning of which

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are often properly understood only by the old men of the tribe.

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Each man owns highly sacred objects which belong to him

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and to him alone, and which no other man

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belonging to another totem may see.

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He keeps them hidden away, in secret places in the bush,

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and goes regularly to anoint them with pig fat,

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or with the sweat from his armpits,

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and to sit in silent communion with his ancestors and his gods.

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Scientists say in fact that the Australian Aborigine

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is the most ancient branch of mankind still surviving in the world.

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They are still living at a cultural level

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of that which was followed by prehistoric man in Europe

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for over a million years, before he devised agriculture.

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These people have no traditional knowledge of growing fields,

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of planting fields for food, or of domesticating animals.

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They have no more permanent settlements

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than these flimsy bark shelters by which I'm sitting.

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Yet, psychologists say that the Australian Aborigine

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is a highly gifted and intelligent person.

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They say that, in any group of them,

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you find as many bright, intelligent people and as many stupid people

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as you would find in a similar group from almost any other race.

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There's the famous case of the estate down in the south,

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where there was a mission in which the pupils of that mission

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topped the examination results

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of this entire state for over three years.

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It's true, too, that the missionary responsible said afterwards

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that the effort involved was so great,

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that he could never tackle it again.

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But why, if these people are so intelligent,

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should they remain so primitive?

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Well, the answer may be

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that they were never able to develop agriculture

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because their land is so harsh and so sterile.

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That they were never able to get for themselves domesticated animals

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because there are no large animals here suitable for domestication,

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like sheep or cows.

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Yet the world of the Aborigine is now changing very rapidly indeed.

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Only a few hundred yards up this beach,

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the Australian government is building a settlement.

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Two years ago,

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there was nothing here but mud flats and eucalyptus scrub.

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Now, teams of Europeans are building a hospital, a school, a store,

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and houses, that together will form one of the most modern and up-to-date

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of all the Aboriginal welfare stations in Australia.

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The Aborigines themselves are helping in the work,

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and are quick to learn under the instruction of the European builders.

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Every few weeks, stores arrive by sea from Darwin,

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300 miles away to the west.

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Boat days are exciting occasions for everybody.

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For the Aborigines, newly arrived from the bush, it's a revelation.

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The ship has come from a place they have never seen,

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and can't imagine, and it brings real treasure -

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cloth and flour, tea and sugar.

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For the Europeans on this remote outpost, boat days mean mail

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and fresh supplies of food and drink.

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Drums of petrol for the cars,

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and kerosene for refrigerators are towed ashore in a long floating line.

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Here in this small plot on the rim of Arnhem Land,

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the government is sending drugs and tinned fruit, books and machinery,

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tractors and transistor radios -

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the most modern products of 20th-century technology.

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Yet you don't have to walk far beyond the station boundary

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to find country that no European may have seen before.

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Inland from the station, the Aborigines are being shown

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how to coax the dry, sandy soil into fertility.

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Special strains of drought resisting grass,

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selected and developed by government research workers,

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have been sent here to be planted in experimental plots.

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A small donkey engine pumps up water from the creek

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to provide moisture for the grass cuttings.

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Soon they hope this land, sterile since history began,

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will be covered by pasture rich enough to support herds of cows.

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In the station itself, water pumped into sprays makes it possible

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to grow cabbages and coconuts,

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melons and oranges, bananas and carrots.

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None of these vegetables and fruits

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were known to the Aborigines before the white man came.

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None could have survived here,

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except by the use of modern techniques

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of watering and fertilising. The men who now tend these crops

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were, a mere 20 years ago,

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simply gatherers of wild roots in the desert.

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It had never occurred to them, until now,

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that mankind was able to dominate nature,

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and plant, cultivate and harvest.

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It was the inability to solve this problem

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that prevented the Aboriginal

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climbing onto the first rung of the ladder

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that leads to civilisation,

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and doomed them, until now, to remain nomads.

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But though the country is so poor in edible fruits,

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it still possesses riches highly prized by the modern world.

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In the station's sawmill,

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huge hardwood trees,

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felled in the surrounding bush, are cut into planks.

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These planks, when shipped to Darwin, will fetch a good price,

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and offset to some extent,

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the enormous sums of money being spent here by the government.

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The Aborigines who work here, and on the land, in the gardens,

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and on the construction, receive a weekly wage,

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and they spend it at the station's store.

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MEN CHATTER IN NATIVE TONGUE

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In return for their money, they buy mostly tobacco and tea,

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knives and sugar.

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MEN CHAT IN NATIVE TONGUE

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Every man who works, receives each day regular meals for himself

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and his family.

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In the past, most of his time was spent hunting for game,

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or gathering food away in the bush.

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Now that the government is changing his way of life,

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his family would starve unless food were provided for them.

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Only those men who work on the station projects

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are entitled to food.

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When Aborigines from the bush come in,

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they will receive food for a week free,

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then, if they want to continue taking their rations,

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they must start work on the station.

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If they don't, then their rations are stopped.

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That's the theory. In practice, no-one is ever turned away.

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Very special rations are given to the children,

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and, every morning, they gather outside the hospital.

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BACKGROUND CHATTER AND LAUGHTER

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There's powdered milk and, when it's available, pawpaw,

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or some other fresh fruit from the station garden.

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As more people from the surrounding country

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are attracted into the station,

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and desert their old nomadic way of life,

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the problem of housing them all becomes more and more acute.

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Some of the wood from the sawmill is retained for building.

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The new houses, so different from the shelters

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that have served these people until now,

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are highly valued and, as yet, they are in very short supply.

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This one belongs to the foreman of the sawmill,

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and no-one could be more meticulously house-proud than he.

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The hospital is staffed at the moment by girls from the tribe,

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under the guidance of two European nursing sisters.

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A doctor pays regular visits by air, to advise on difficult cases.

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And in an emergency, an aeroplane can be summoned by radio

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to take a patient who is seriously ill back to Darwin for treatment -

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a mere three hours away by air.

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The station's main concern, however, is with the children.

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And the building which dominates the place at the moment is the school.

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Here, each day, the children come for extra rations of milk and fruit.

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The history of the Aborigines in Australia is a tragic story

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of total misunderstanding and too often of brutality.

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A century ago, battles between them and the white settlers

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were so frequent as to be almost unremarkable.

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It was a fight between boomerangs and rifles,

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between spears and chemical poisons put secretly in waterholes.

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And the outcome of such unequal battles could never be in doubt.

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When Europeans first arrived here,

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there were about 250,000 Aborigines in Australia.

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Now, a mere 45,000 are left.

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Few Europeans wanted to settle

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in this barren, savagely hostile wilderness of Arnhem Land,

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and so this is one of the last places

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where the Aborigines have survived in any number.

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The teacher at the school is the wife

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of one of the government staff administering the station.

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CHILDREN CHATTER IN NATIVE TONGUE

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TEACHER CLAPS

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That's good.

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Good morning, boys and girls.

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CHILDREN: Good morning, teacher.

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How are you today?

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THEY ANSWER

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Very well, thank you. Now we'll say our prayer.

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- We thank you, God... - CHILDREN: We thank you, God...

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- ..for the world so sweet. - ..for the world so sweet.

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- We thank you for... - We thank you for...

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- ..the food we eat. - ..the food we eat.

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- We thank you for... - We thank you for...

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- ..the birds that sing. - ..the birds that sing.

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- We thank you, God... - We thank you, God...

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- ..for everything. - ..for everything.

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THEY SING: # Land of freedom Land we cherish

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# Wearing beauty like a crown

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# Where in Heaven, brightly shining

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# All the stars of God look down

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# Like a vision they abide

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# Symbol of our hope and pride

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# Send our songs to Heaven above

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# Land of mine, freedom's shrine

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# God be with you Dear land we love. #

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Yet, in a way, it's not just the Aboriginal who has to be educated.

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The white man has to be educated, too.

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For the Australian government has embarked on a policy of assimilation.

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The Australian Aborigine is not to be cut off

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in his own tribal reserves, like some living museum specimen,

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he is to be encouraged to become assimilated into the community

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around him, and to take his place in the 20th century.

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Yet you don't have to go far in a town to find people

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who will tell you that the Aboriginal is dishonest,

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drunken - if he gets the chance - unreliable,

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and little better than an animal.

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It's these people who will have to be educated to realise

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that the problems of leaping within the space of a couple of generations

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from prehistory into the 20th century are enormous.

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To realise that these people here have their own code of behaviour

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and morals, which they adhere to strictly,

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and which are suitable to a primitive nomadic existence.

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And that to change these morals to the morals suitable for

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a 20th-century town, to make such a change, is enormously difficult.

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Yet, in spite of this prejudice,

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the Australian government is going ahead with its bold policy.

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Already, legislation has been passed to give the vote to the Aborigine.

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Now, people, I've come along here today

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to tell you about a new law which gives to you,

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the Aboriginal people, the right to vote,

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and elect members of the Legislative Council in Darwin,

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and the member in the House of Representatives,

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which is the Commonwealth Parliament in Canberra.

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Now, I've brought along with me these pictures,

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and I'm going to use them, in my talk to you, to tell you about

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these elections, and the meaning and purpose of voting.

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Now, this first picture that I have here,

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it shows the position, as it has been in the past.

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You'll notice here that this is a building,

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and outside is a sign with the words "polling booth".

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Now, you will see white people here

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are going into this polling booth,

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and they are going in there to elect, or choose the men

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who will go into the Legislative Council,

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and make the laws which we must all obey.

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Now, over here, you will see Aboriginal people...

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..standing out here under the tree,

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and they have had no right to have a say

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in who these men will be

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that are chosen to go into the Legislative Council.

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Now, I have here two men who you all know, Peter and Mick -

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two of your own people, and they understand about it,

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and they will talk to you, if you sit down with them,

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and help you to learn and understand about this voting.

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HE TALKS IN NATIVE TONGUE

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Now there has been a new law which gives to Aboriginal people,

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those who are 21 years of age or more, the right to vote...

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'to have a say in choosing these men who sit in the Legislative Council,

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'and also to have a right to say who will be the member

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'for the Northern Territory in the House of Representatives at Canberra.

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'Now, this next picture that I have shows you one of these men

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'who have accepted this right -

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'an Aboriginal man, he has accepted this right -

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'and he is advancing up the stairs,

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'because this is a step forward.

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'Now, before we can do this, we must learn

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'and understand about elections, the purpose and the meaning of elections,

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'and how you vote. And to do this, this is why I have come along here

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'to ask you people to sit down with us here and talk about it'

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until we understand about voting,

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and that's just what this picture shows you.

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It shows men and women,

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because women have just as much right to vote as men,

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but it shows them sitting down and talking about it,

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learning about it, and understanding about it,

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so that, when the time comes, they can make a free choice

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of whether or not to accept this right and get on the roll,

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so that they can vote when an election comes along.

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People, now that I have explained this voting

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and election to you...

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..I'm going to ask you now to go away

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and think about it and talk about it.

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And for those who do not understand,

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I would like the others to explain to them.

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I'm not going to say much more now, except this.

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I think that this right that you have been given

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is the most important right possible that could have been given to you.

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I have told you before that you have the right to accept it

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or reject it, that is your choice...

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..but it is very important that you think very carefully about it.

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Thank you very much.

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DAVID: Perhaps it's too much to hope that many of the adults

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on this station will ever fully understand

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their responsibilities as voting citizens,

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or be in any position to fulfil the obligations

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that joining the society of the 20th century imposes on them,

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but the rights of these people, the first Australians,

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are the rights of all human beings.

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And the full effectiveness of Australia's policy

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will be apparent not now, but in 20 years' time.

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DIDGERIDOO PLAYS AND ABORIGINAL CHANTING