'We are Lutherans from Germany': Music, language, social history and change in Hopevale

Abstract

The excerpt is a transcription of fieldwork footage filmed during the Carols by Candlelight festivities in December 2004 in the Lutheran Australian Aboriginal community of Hopevale, Northern Queensland. It documents the speech given by local Indigenous Pastor George Rosendale in which he reflected on the Lutheran heritage of the former Northern Queensland Hopevale Mission.2 He urged local Indigenous people to seek support in their Lutheran religious heritage of three generations suggesting it might encourage them to reflect on the level of alcohol misuse in the community and alter their ways. He stated that the excessive drinking habits of many local Indigenous people is a negative way in which they seek to imitate white Anglo-Australian culture. As an alternative, Pastor Rosendale advocated that not only should Hopevalians seek support in their Lutheran faith, but that they should also consider Indigenising it through re-introducing the practice of singing Christian songs in their local Indigenous language Guugu Yimithirr, as opposed to English. He also referred to the German heritage of the Lutheran faith and suggests that the loss of faith and the increasing loss of language competency in Guugu Yimithirr amongst the local population are causing a loss of pride. This is because, Pastor Rosendale believes, the singing of hymns in the local language is more meaningful and speaks to the heart as people are better able to understand how they are worshipping.