Museum Metadata Exchange

Names

Name PrimaryThe Cunningham Collection

Name AlternateThe John Cunningham Collection

IDs

ID LocalWAM 11

ID UriOffline Only

Descriptions

Brief DescriptionA small collection of 20 objects and 36 images compiled by John Cunningham in the 1950s at Cundeelee. Cunningham was a member of State parliament and joined trips into the Great Victoria Desert to evacuate Aboriginal people to Cundeelee prior to the atomic bomb tests at Maralinga.

Full DescriptionIn the 1950s John Cunningham, a Member of the Legislative Council in WA's State parliament, was asked by Reverand Bob Stewart (superintendant of the Cundeelee Mission) to check with the then Department of Native Affairs for a list of the inhabitants of the Great Victoria Desert. The request had been initally made to Bob Stewart by an old Aboriginal man, Mr Jamison. The enquiry drew a blank but Mr Jamison insisted on there being people still in the desert country to the east. Six trips into the desert were mounted and Cunningham participated on three. This small collection of artefacts and photographs documents Cunningham's experience of these events. They are a snapshot of life on a remote desert mission in the 1950s.

RightsSome material may be subject to copyright.

AccessAvailable by appointment – http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/about/contact-us

Subjects

local20th century; Aboriginal culture; Boomerangs; Tools; Tourist art

aptAboriginal culture; Aboriginal peoples (Australians); Evacuations; Missions (church settlements); Nuclear weapons tests; Photography; Tools

scotAboriginal peoples; Artefacts; Evacuation; Missions; Nuclear weapons; Photography; Tools

pontBoomerangs; Clubs; Photographs; Shields; Toys

person_orgJohn Cunningham; Mr Jamison; Reverand Bob Stewart

Coverage Spatial

TextMaralinga; Cundeelee; Great Victoria Desert; Western Australia

Coverage Temporal

From1950

To1960

Related Collections

isPartof

Dates

Date Record Updated2012-05-30 23:42

Date Created in MME2011-03-24 17:13