ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the significance of the Strehlow Collection, an archive composed of over 1,500 sacred ceremonial objects (tjurunga), more than 4,500 Aboriginal song verses and their stories, 25 hours of 16mm film of over 900 ceremonial acts, 160 hours of sound recordings, 150 genealogies, 10,000 still photographs and slides, numerous (4–5,000) Aboriginal site maps, 44 field diaries, dictionary materials and over 10,000 letters. The sacred ceremonial objects have made the Strehlow Research Centre (SRC), where the materials are held, a “dangerous” place, which on different occasions has been “sung” (“cursed”, so as to warn, especially Aboriginal people, not to visit), invoked protest by Aboriginal people, and been accessed for its unique and comprehensive genealogical records of Aboriginal people. Despite these concerns, or because of them, the SRC is a deeply important place for Aboriginal people, invested with both symbolic gravitas and cultural memory. The SRC has also been, and continues to be, the focus for a number of digitization projects related to its archival holdings—both print and media—as a means of better servicing its main constituency, the Aboriginal communities of mainly Aranda descent. This chapter summarizes the controversial life, work and legacy of T.G.H. Strehlow after whom the Strehlow Research Centre takes its name. It tracks the story of how Strehlow came to possess the artefacts, their significance as secret and sacred materials, and the implications of the repatriation efforts of Aboriginal people who live in the Central Desert of Australia and who have a deep connection to the objects.
