I ran iwconfig and this shows bat0. So I did a little reading about ifconfig.
"cat /proc/net/batman-adv/originators" shows potential nexthops properly. "battool ping ..." works.
I removed the batmand-adv package, and all is well. This must be the userspace version.
In summary:
Install OpenWrt. Create an adhoc network on wifi0. I used LuCI to do this. It will configure an interface ath0.
The openwrt packages required for batman-adv-kernelland to work properly are kmod-batman-advanced and battool (handy; not required). Installing kmod-batman-advanced also inserts the batman-adv module, creating bat0; no insmod or reboot required. "opkg install kmod-batman-advanced battool"
Add ath0 to bat0: "echo ath0 > /proc/net/batman-adv/interfaces"
Configure the batman interface: "ifconfig bat0 10.0.1.x netmask 255.255.255.0"
Do this to two or more openwrt boxes aka "mesh nodes". Be sure that the adhoc network is configured the same on all nodes.