Native Police Corps
The Native Police Corps was a police force in Australia , three quarters of which consisted of about 60 members from Aborigines ; Men from the Wurundjeri and Bunurong tribe served as trackers. It was first built in Port Phillip (then New South Wales - now Victoria ) in 1842 . Other Native Police Corps were established in Queensland , Northern Territory , Western Australia, and South Australia in 1848 .
Victoria
Requests for the establishment of a Native Police Corps were made in Port Philip as early as 1837, when Captain William Lonsdale wrote a letter to this effect to Governor Richard Bourke . The cost of maintaining and supplying the police corps was an obstacle that delayed its establishment until Superintendent Charles La Trobe took over the costs in 1842.
Establishment
Henry EP Dana was selected as the commandant of the Corps, which consisted of a mounted command of ordinary soldiers made up of Aboriginal and European officers. The command was originally established in Narre Warren, an Aboriginal protectorate 25 km southeast of Melbourne , but Dana moved its headquarters to the banks of Merri Creek in March 1842.
There were two goals of this troop: to use the abilities of the indigenous peoples in the search for clues and to assimilate these troops in white society. Both La Trobe and the assistant protector , William Thomas, expected that they would give up their traditional way of life as soon as they were subjected to the discipline of police work. To their disappointment, the troops continued their participation in corroborees (dance rituals) and ritual battles, albeit without uniform.
As an Elder of the Wurundjeri , Billibellary's approval of the Corps proposal was essential to its success. After a period of reflection, he supported the initiative and even signed up as a volunteer himself. He put on the uniform and enjoyed his status by parading up and down the camp, but was careful to avoid the policeman's active duties in order to avoid a conflict of interest with his duties as the Ngurungaeta (leader) of the Wurundjeri.
After about a year, Billibellary resigned from the Native Police Corps when he found out that it was being used to capture and even kill Aboriginal people. From now on he did his best to undermine the Corps and got many of the native troopers to desert; only a few stayed longer than three or four years.
Duties
The duties of the Native Police included searching for missing persons, delivering messages, and escorting dignitaries through unknown territory using forensics called Aboriginal trackers . During the era of the gold rush, they also patrolled the gold fields looking for escaped prisoners. They were provided with uniforms, weapons, food and a rather questionable salary. However, the lure of the gold fields, the poor salary and Dana's death in 1852 led to the Native Police Corps being officially dissolved in January 1853.
Collisions
The Native Police were called in to take part in the massacres of Aborigines in the western districts of Victoria in 1843. On his return to Melbourne, a member of the troops bragged about an incident in which 17 Aboriginal men were killed by the corps. According to reports, it is likely that the commandant, Henry EP Dana, instructed his troops to shoot rather than take prisoners.
- "Captain say big one stupid catch them very good shoot them, you blackfellows, no shoot them me hand cuff you and send you to jail." ("Captain says stupidly they catch, they shoot very well. You black buddy, you don't shoot them, you handcuffs and you go to jail") was reported by a corps member according to Thomas's records.
With fewer reports of attacks in the western districts, two new troop members are hired in Port Fairy in 1845 after two years of Native Police.
There were also clashes between the Native Police Corps and the Gunai in 1846 on the Snowy River .
Queensland
In Queensland, the Native Police Corps was established on August 17, 1848 under the command of Frederick Wheeler , to be deployed beyond the populated districts. By November, Wheeler had recruited 14 Aborigines from four different tribes and language groups from the Murrumbidgee , Murray and Edwards Rivers areas and was preparing to leave the Murray River for Macintyre Land. His crew traveled along the Darling River and reached Macintyre River on May 10, 1849. They were first deployed there and with great success reduced Aboriginal attacks and resistance to the settlers. Wheeler was responsible for one of the largest massacres in Queensland, the Goulbolba Hill Massacre , which killed 300 Aborigines.
In Queensland, southern tribes were used in violent clashes with northern language groups.
South Australia
In 1853 Police Commissioner Alexander Tolmer founded a Native Police Force. She was used to search for clues and police work in remote rural areas of South Australia.
Web links
- Defending Victoria - Aboriginal People in the Victorian Colonial Forces
- Tracking the Native Police , an online exhibition of images and transcripts of documents at Public Record Office Victoria.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Public Records Office Victoria, Dana's Native Police Corps (1842-1853) - Tracking the Native Police (Public Record Office Victoria) ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 2, 2008
- ↑ a b c d e Isabel Ellender and Peter Christiansen, pp. 87-90 People of the Merri Merri. The Wurundjeri in Colonial Days , Merri Creek Management Committee, 2001 ISBN 0957772807
- ^ LE Skinner, Police of the Pastoral Frontier. Native Police 1849-59 , University of Queensland Press, 1975 ISBN 0702209775
- ^ Shirley W. Wiencke, When the Wattles Bloom Again: The Life and Times of William Barak, Last Chief of the Yarra Yarra Tribe , Published by SW Wiencke, 1984, ISBN 0959054901 , ISBN 9780959054903
- ↑ Public Records Office Victoria, Large Variety of Duties of the Native Police - Tracking the Native Police (Public Record Office Victoria) ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 2, 2008
- ↑ Public Records Office Victoria, The disbanding of the Native Police - Tracking the Native Police (Public Record Office Victoria) ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed November 2, 2008
- ↑ Public Records Office Victoria, Western District Clashes - Tracking the Native Police (Public Record Office Victoria) ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . accessed November 2, 2008
- ↑ Public Records Office Victoria, Western District Clashes Imposing Peace - Tracking the Native Police (Public Record Office Victoria) ( Memento of the original from August 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . accessed November 2, 2008
- ↑ Public Records Office Victoria, Gippsland Clashes - Tracking the Native Police (Public Record Office Victoria) ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . accessed November 2, 2008
- ^ LE Skinner, p. 27 Police of the Pastoral Frontier. Native Police 1849-59 , University of Queensland Press, 1975 ISBN 0702209775
- ↑ Ross Gibson (2007): Seven Versions of an Australian Badland, hountet by fear and tragedy, this stretch of a country is an immense, historical crime ..., old passions and violent secrets are lying around in a million of clues and traces . University of Queensland. ISBN 978-0702233494 Available online:
- ↑ LE Skinner, pp28-33 Police of the Pastoral Frontier. Native Police 1849-59 , University of Queensland Press, 1975 ISBN 0702209775
- ↑ Colonial Queensland ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
