Moses Tjalkbota URAIAKURAIA

URAIAKURAIA, MOSES TJALKABOTA, ('BLIND MOSES') (b. Laberapuntja, near Hermannsburg, Central Australia c. 1869, d. Hermannsburg, NT, 6 July 1954). Aboriginal evangelist.

Son of Tjeta of the 'Tnurangatja' (witchetty grub) totem, and Araniljilka, of the Western Aranda tribe, Moses was about eight years old when Lutheran missionaries founded Hermannsburg in 1877. One of the first school pupils, Moses enjoyed singing hymns and hearing Bible stories which led into learning the rudiments of reading and writing. Impressed by this new teaching, he passed on his knowledge to others until forbidden to do so because of conflict with traditional beliefs. He was withdrawn from school, but was later allowed to return to his lessons. With four others, he was baptised on 26 Dec 1890. Shortly afterwards, Moses was taken away by tribal elders for circumcision and initiation into Aranda ritual and the meaning of the sacred 'tjurunga'. This experience only confirmed his Christian belief and faith in God, to which he held firmly to the end of his life.

After leaving school, Moses helped to tend the mission flock of sheep for several years until eye disease left him totally blind. Forced confinement brought new direction to his life. He had people read the Bible to him so that he could learn passages by heart, especially St Paul's Epistles. He became an assistant teacher at the school, helping to prepare adult classes for baptism. He was an excellent linguist, and helped with interpreting and translating. He was one of Carl Strehlow's (q.v.) chief assistants in the missionary's study of Aranda and Loritja language and customs, and in his preparation of the Aranda New Testament.

Moses was a gifted story-teller and a compelling preacher. Pastor Friedrich Albrecht (q.v.) (1950) 'often listened with rapt attention to some of his addresses. To him the New Testament just lives, and he knows how to make it live again before his hearers. To his natural gift he has added a lot of hard work'. In the early 1920s, Moses urged Hermannsburg Christians to go out to other Aboriginal communities and share the gospel. Despite his blindness he led the way, travelling hundreds of miles on foot and by donkey, with his wife or another companion to guide and support him. A journey east to Jay Creek, Alice Springs and the goldfields of Arltunga, then south to Horseshoe Bend might cover 600 kilometres. Widely known throughout the region, he visited Aboriginal workers and their families on cattle stations, groups who had moved near white settlements and railway camps, as well as those still living in their own communities. He preached and ministered to the spiritual needs of those away from the nurture of the mission station. Although he lived most of his life at Hermannsburg, he spent his last ten years at Jay Creek near Alice Springs, preaching and instructing school children until his final illness.

He was humble yet fearless, tireless and faithful. When he disapproved of something, 'he could be very definite and outspoken, even blunt', but his sincerity deflected offence. He was widely respected, and 'his kindly disposition won him friends among the white people as well as among his own Aranda' (Albrecht, 1954). Moses married Sophie (Sofia) in 1903. They had ten children, but he outlived them all, many dying during the severe drought in the late 1920s. He was survived by Sophie and three grandchildren.

F W Albrecht, 'The Gospel and the Nomadic Aranda in Central Australia', (Roneo, 1950); F W Albrecht, 'Old Blind Moses', LH, July 1954, 215-7; H A Heinrich, 'Moses', LH, 16 Feb 1925, 52-3

ROBIN RADFORD