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federal politics and his contacts with Commonwealth ministers and senior public servants were sometimes used to
alleviate tension and to smooth relations between Darwin and Canberra. Moreover, his diplomacy, good humour
and sense of duty not only preserved the dignity of his office but also parliamentary and administrative propriety
in a rapidly evolving political context.’
The Englands were a popular couple and when they left the posting in December 1980 they voiced their
affection and hope for the Territory. In a farewell press interview England emphasised the Territory’s role in
Southeast Asia and expressed the view that increased competitiveness was needed, saying he was heartened by
progress made since self-government. He also praised the Territory’s multicultural aspects. ‘Darwin undoubtedly
sets an example’, he said, ‘to the rest of the Commonwealth in the assimilation of ethnic groups.’ Polly England
admitted that she had taken up the Northern Territory posting with ‘some trepidation’ but added that it had turned
out to be ‘one of the best things that ever happened to us.’ She and her husband worked on the principle that the
office of Administrator was a ‘two people job’. ‘We have grown’, she continued, ‘to love this vast country and
from the MacDonnell Ranges to Arnhem Land and the Top End wetlands to the Tanami Desert, it is a fascinating
experience. And the great asset is the people with horizons as big as the country, who are prepared to have a go.’
England retired to Grenfell and was elected Secretary of the Federal Council of the National Party in 1981.
He died in June 1985, leaving his wife and four children to survive him.
P F Donovan, At the Other End of Australia, 1984; A Heatley, Almost Australians, 1990; Who’s Who in Australia, 1980; various newspaper
reports in the biographical index, National Library of Australia.
BARBARA JAMES, Vol 2.
ERLANDSON, ELNA ANNIE: see ANGELES, ELNA ANNIE
ERLIKILYIKA (variants ERLICKILYKA and ERLIKILIAKIRRA and ORKNADINJA); also known as
JIM KITE and ‘THE SUBDUED’ (c1865–c1930), artist, linguist, interpreter and tracker, was a Southern Aranda
man from Charlotte Waters. He was almost certainly born a short time prior to the construction of the Overland
Telegraph Line in 1870–71 and, at the time of his young manhood, had contact with the Kaititj Aborigines some
700 kilometres further north. It is probable that he assisted teamsters or Overland Telegraph Line maintenance
crews for a time, as he learnt the Kaititj language as well as English, and came to know localities well north of his
traditional country.
In 1901–1902 he assisted Spencer and Gillen in their anthropological expedition from south to north across
northernmost South Australia and the Northern Territory. Gillen, who gave him the nickname ‘The Subdued’,
described him as a ‘splendid black boy’—a man who was ‘good’ and ‘reliable’. He assisted in the erection of
windbreak shelters and bough sheds, location of water, the tracking of horses, mail collection, shooting of game
and the recording of ethnographic details. In the latter instance he made sketches, which were ‘not without interest’,
recorded Gillen, who encouraged his artwork. He also assisted with interpretation of various dialects in at least
two distinctive languages: Spencer described him as ‘first rate’ and Gillen noted that he was ‘really a great help—
especially in ferreting out traditions of a certain character’.
Herbert Basedow, during the course of his ethnographic studies, found Orknadinja—a name used in addition to
Erlikilyika—an excellent friend, one of several old men who explained and interpreted Aboriginal culture to him.
He also described him as ‘an unusually talented person’—a probable reference to his artistic skills.
It appears that Gillen’s encouragement to Erlikilyika’s sketching had led to further development, for in the
1910–20 period he worked in soft stone and wood. The ornithologist S A White, and another traveller J R B Love,
both commented on his work in stone, the latter reporting: ‘This blackfellow carves pipe-bowls in imitation of
horses’ hoofs, claws and whatever takes his fancy. Native birds, insects and animals he has carved with astonishing
accuracy, and further completes his work by colouring the creatures with ochre and various pigments he obtains
from plants known perhaps to himself alone.’
Although a well known figure himself, little is known about his family: a brother, Jack Kite, was present at
Charlotte Waters in 1935, and took part in a ‘corroboree send-off for the local police officer (later Inspector)
W McKinnon.
Erlikilyika retained his traditional knowledge and interests throughout his life. However, he also adapted well
to the great changes that eventuated as a result of European occupation of Central Australia. His skills as a linguist,
interpreter and tracker were acknowledged by the scientists and other observers whom he assisted, and he was a
conscientious worker, but his artistic works were perhaps his greatest achievement. His early skills in sketching
were developed and, with encouragement, he became Central Australia’s first Australia-wide recognised artist, his
sculpting in stone being keenly sought.
Sketches are reproduced in Gillen’s Diary (1968), and examples of Erlikilyika’s sculpting are held in the South
Australian Museum. An example of his tone sculpture appeared in the Great Australian Art Exhibition of 1988.
A photograph is reproduced in The Aboriginal Photographs of Baldwin Spencer, Jim Kite being the man on the
right.
H Basedow, Knights of the Boomerang, 1935; F J Gillen, Gillen’s Diary, 1968; W B Spencer, Wanderings in Wild Australia, 1928; G Walker
(ed), The Aboriginal Photographs of Baldwin Spencer, 1982; P Jones, ‘Means to a Scientific End’, Age Monthly Review, February 1998;
Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 1 November 1917; H Pearce, ‘South Australian Aboriginal and Historic Relics Administration Remote
Sites Documentation Report 1’, 1980.
R G KIMBER, Vol 1.