146-631: The Cullin-la-ringo massacre , also known as the Wills tragedy , was a massacre of white colonists by Indigenous Australians that occurred on 17 October 1861, north of modern-day Springsure in Central Queensland , Australia. Nineteen men, women and children were killed in the attack, including Horatio Wills , the owner of Cullin-la-ringo station. It is the single largest massacre of colonists by Aboriginal people in Australian history. In
292-557: A Dunghutti man called Doughboy who had murdered a sawyer named Dan Page. In 1860, Poulden was soon called out again to capture Aboriginal criminals who had laid siege to Mrs McMaugh at Nulla Nulla Creek. Poulden and his six troopers tracked them up Five Day Creek to the ranges where several were killed after a gunfight. An orphaned child was taken after the skirmish and delivered to local Towal Creek squatter John Warne to look after. The native police involved in such raids used to strip naked and would wear red headbands to distinguish them from
438-478: A cattle station at Cullin-la-ringo, a property formed by amalgamating four blocks of land with a total area of 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi). Wills's party, an enormous settlement train, including bullock wagons and more than 10,000 sheep, had set out from Brisbane eight months earlier. The size of the group had attracted much attention from other settlers, as well as the Indigenous people. It
584-405: A humpy , gunyah, or wurley. Clothing included the possum-skin cloak in the southeast, buka cloak in the southwest and riji (pearl shells) in the northeast. There is evidence that some Aboriginal populations in northern Australia regularly traded with Makassan fishermen from Indonesia before the arrival of Europeans. At the time of first European contact, it is generally estimated that
730-646: A non-commissioned officer ranking over a group of 11 other Aboriginal men in a paramilitary force that was to be sent to Tasmania to fight against the Aboriginal people there in the Black War . The detachment was to be headed by the commissary officer at Port Macquarie George James MacDonald , but the colonial authorities disbanded the unit before it was deployed. At Port Stephens , the Australian Agricultural Company had obtained
876-434: A "friendly fire" incident during this dispersal. Dempster, having fallen sick, then allowed Johnson to take charge of his division and lead it to Yamboukal (modern-day Surat ) where a lot of Mandandanji working peacefully on this pastoral station were subsequently killed. As a result of this, Dempster was suspended for 3 months. It appears that neither Johnson nor Dempster faced any legal repercussions. Sgt. Skelton also led
1022-415: A Clarence River squatter was asked if he thought any Aboriginal criminals were still at large, he simply replied "No, I think they are dead." The Native Police were officially withdrawn from the area in 1859. Sub-Inspector Galbraith was dismissed in 1863 for the accidental shooting death of a native girl while out "routing the blacks" near Grafton. In 1854, Sub Lieut. Dempster who was initially stationed as
1168-532: A Gunai clan. Outraged sensibility among the colonists demanded both the rescue of the supposed damsel and the wholesale punishment of the natives involved. A special Native Police mission was organised in September 1846 under HEP Dana that failed to produce the White woman. A private posse of ten armed Aboriginal men and six Whites was then organised under de Villiers which also did not produce the woman. The rumour of
1314-469: A bullock driver known as Tom O'Brien, who had been engaged at Rockhampton. A total of 19 people were killed. The dead were buried at the site of the massacre. Some of the graves have headstones. The six surviving members were Tom Wills , Horatio's son and an outstanding cricketer and co-founder of Australian rules football , James Baker (David Baker's son), John Moore, William Albrey, Edward Kenny, and Patrick Mahony. Those men either were either absent from
1460-589: A collective punishment. His force drove a camp of people, most of them older women and children, across the Edward River, fatally wounding 2 women and a child. By 1853, 12 troopers of Native Police were officially stationed in the Murrumbidgee District under the command of the local Commissioner for Crown Lands. The need for native troopers in this region was soon deemed superfluous and the government dissolved this detachment in 1857. However,
1606-686: A commissioner, and the other was to trial a force of armed and mounted Aboriginal police under the command of White officers. By 1840, the Border Police became the main replacement for the NSW Mounted Police along the frontier, while the Native Police Corps, as the Aboriginal force was known, was limited initially to one division in the Port Phillip District of the colony, around Melbourne . Requests for
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#17327730530041752-414: A consequence, the 1st Division of Native Police under Commandant Walker was sent into the area. Additionally, Lieutenant John Murray and the 3rd Division with the troopers of Sgt. Doolan were deployed by ship to Gladstone to ensure a strong garrison at the fledgling settlement there. The surveyor sent to mark out Gladstone, Francis MacCabe , felt so unsafe that he established the camp in an area close to
1898-500: A land bridge between the island and the rest of mainland Australia during the last glacial period . Estimates of the population of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania, before European arrival, are in the range of 3,000 to 15,000 people. However, genetic studies have suggested significantly higher figures, which are supported by Indigenous oral traditions that indicate a decline in population from diseases introduced by British and American sealers before settlement. The original population
2044-624: A large congregation of Aboriginal people assembled at the Murray-Darling junction. When investigating another murder of a White man near Menindie , Perry had the ring leader tied to a tree and shot dead as an example in "keeping the blacks quiet". It appears that the Native Police units were dissolved in the Lower Darling and Albert Districts by the early 1860s. Lieutenant Perry occasionally sent several native troopers into
2190-645: A man named Robertson, he was shot by the Native Police. The Native Police deployed to this region operated over a large area that included forays across the Murray into the Tumut region right down to the Wimmera . They worked under their own officers such as Cowan, Walsh and Dana while also under the authority of Commissioners like Smythe, Bingham, Powlett and McDonald. In 1843 and 1844, Commissioner Smythe led large punitive missions with forces including Native Police along
2336-422: A million acre land acquisition. In the early 1830s, the superintendent of the company, Sir Edward Parry , established a private native constabulary to augment a small garrison of soldiers. These black constables, such as Jonathan and William, were involved in dispensing lethal summary justice to Aboriginal people accused of murdering a company employee, and were also permitted to shoot armed runaway convicts. Parry
2482-427: A mission that ranged from Georges Creek, Lagoon Creek and then up Five Day Creek to Moy Buck Mountain. When the Aboriginal camp was discovered the Aboriginal fled in all directions. Later in 1864, there is a record of the murderer named Blue Shirt being captured and handcuffed to the stirrup of a horse belonging to a Native Police trooper. The horse subsequently become frightened and kicked him to death. Names of some of
2628-511: A number of Aboriginal men accused of murder and felony. The nearby Fraser Island was being used as a sanctuary for these Aboriginal people (the Badtjala people). It was not until late December 1851 that the force was ready to search Fraser Island. Walker, Marshall, Doolan with their three divisions of troopers, together with local landholders the Leith Hay brothers and Mr Wilmot set out down
2774-825: A number of dispersals across the Dawson River area and down to Ukabulla (also near Surat) where Mandandanji leader Bussamarai was killed. Collisions also occurred between John Murray 's troopers and Kabi Kabi at Widgee and with Walker's forces and the Bigambul south of Callandoon. Native Police were also employed tracking down Chinese coolie labourers who had run away from the stations of powerful squatter capitalists such as Gordon Sandeman . In 1853 several new Sub-Lieutenants were appointed including John O'Connell Bligh , Edric Norfolk Vaux Morisset , Frederick Keen, Samuel Crummer, Francis Nicoll and Frederick Walker's brother Robert G. Walker. The Sydney Morning Herald described
2920-486: A number of gold prospectors that had been murdered by the local Aboriginal people. The search team seized two Aboriginal informers, and when they tried to escape, they were shot by the native police. As late as the 1920s, native constables or trackers as they by then were called, aided White officers and stockmen in massacres of Aboriginal people. A famous example of this is the Forrest River massacre . From 1839
3066-654: A response to the Cullin-la-ringo massacre. The Cullin-la-ringo massacre was the largest massacre of white settlers by Aboriginal people in Australian history, and a pivotal moment in the frontier wars in Queensland . The caption of The Wills Tragedy (an artwork by T. G. Moyle) reads: "The arrival of the neighbouring squatters and Mon collecting and burying the dead, after the attack by the blacks on H.R. Wills ESQ. Stationed Leichhardt district, Queensland." In Archibald Meston 's 1893 short story, "The Cave Diary",
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#17327730530043212-611: A seasonal deployment of native police based at Boisdale . The closeness of the Border Police and the Native Police is demonstrated by officer Windredge who was employed in both forces in Gippsland. In 1845 and 1846, Tyers led extensive punitive raids with his forces around Lake Wellington , up the Avon River and down to the Lakes region. In late 1846 and early 1847, a rumour began that a shipwrecked white woman had been abducted by
3358-582: A sergeant at Grafton with Morisset was ordered to travel to the Macleay River with six troopers and set up a Native Police station near Kempsey . Squatters in the area had recently placed official requests for a section to be garrisoned on the Macleay. The Native Police camp was located at the old Border Police barracks at Belgrave Flat near Belgrave Falls just west of Kempsey. In 1859, 2nd Lieut. Richard Bedford Poulden (sometimes written as Poulding)
3504-527: A short-lived Native Police force in 1852, which was re-established in 1884 and deployed into what is now the Northern Territory . The colonial Western Australian government also initiated a formal Native Police force in 1840 under the command of John Nicol Drummond. Other privately funded native police systems were also occasionally used in Australia, such as the native constabulary organised by
3650-687: A single founding Sahul group with subsequent isolation between regional populations which were relatively unaffected by later migrations from the Asian mainland, which may have introduced the dingo 4–5,000 years ago. The research also suggests a divergence from the Papuan people of New Guinea and the Mamanwa people of the Philippines about 32,000 years ago, with a rapid population expansion about 5,000 years ago. A 2011 genetic study found evidence that
3796-572: A time when changes in tool technology and food processing appear in the Australian archaeological record, suggesting that these may be related. Mallick et al. 2016 and Mark Lipson et al. 2017 study found that the bifurcation of Eastern Eurasian and Western Eurasian dates back to least 45,000 years ago, with Australasians nested inside the Eastern Eurasian clade. Aboriginal Australian men have Haplogroup C-M347 in high frequencies with peak estimates ranging from 60.2% to 68.7%. In addition,
3942-665: Is complex and multi-layered, but a few examples are Anangu in northern South Australia , and neighbouring parts of Western Australia and Northern Territory ; Arrernte in central Australia; Koori (or Koorie) in New South Wales and Victoria ( Aboriginal Victorians ); Goorie (variant pronunciation and spelling of Koori) in South East Queensland and some parts of northern New South Wales; Murri , used in parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales where specific collective names are not used; Tiwi people of
4088-546: Is estimated that people migrated from the Indonesian archipelago and New Guinea to mainland Australia about 70,000 years ago, as of 2020 evidence of human settlement in the Torres Strait has only been uncovered by archaeologists dating back to about 2500 years ago. Aboriginal people in some regions lived as foragers and hunter-gatherers , hunting and foraging for food from the land. Although Aboriginal society
4234-464: Is now estimated that all but 13 remaining Indigenous languages are considered endangered. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Indigenous languages in the phonology and grammatical structure). Around three quarters of Australian place names are of Aboriginal origin. The Indigenous population prior to European settlement
4380-481: Is required. Genetic studies have revealed that Aboriginal Australians largely descended from an Eastern Eurasian population wave during the Initial Upper Paleolithic , and are most closely related to other Oceanians , such as Melanesians . The Aboriginal Australians also show affinity to other Australasian populations, such as Negritos or Ancient Ancestral South Indians groups, such as
4526-625: Is sometimes used as part of a wider social movement (seen in terms such as " Blaktivism " and "Blak History Month" ). The term was coined in 1991 by photographer and multimedia artist Destiny Deacon , in an exhibition entitled Blak lik mi . For Deacon's 2004 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art , blak was defined in a museum guide as: "a term used by some Aboriginal people to reclaim historical, representational, symbolical, stereotypical and romanticised notions of Black or Blackness. Often used as ammunition or inspiration." Deacon said that removing
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4672-457: Is unlikely as the Indigenous custodians are not expected to allow further invasive investigations. It is generally believed that Aboriginal people are the descendants of a single migration into the continent, a people that split from the ancestors of East Asians. Recent work with mitochondrial DNA suggests a founder population of between 1,000 and 3,000 women to produce the genetic diversity observed, which suggests that "initial colonisation of
4818-617: The Chicago Tribune was discovered in 2021 stating that Tom Wills had bragged about his participation in reprisal killings. The article was published in 1895, fifteen years after Wills' death. In 1862, the Old Rainworth Stone Store was built at Rainworth Station (also in the Springsure area). It was built from stone in order to reduce threats of fire and to act as a safe haven during any Aboriginal raid as
4964-721: The Andamanese people , as well as to East Asian peoples . Phylogenetic data suggests that an early initial eastern non-African (ENA) or East-Eurasian meta-population trifurcated, and gave rise to Australasians (Oceanians), the Ancient Ancestral South Indians, Andamanese and the East/Southeast Asian lineage including the ancestors of Native Americans , although Papuans may have also received some geneflow from an earlier group (xOOA) as well, around 2%, next to additional archaic admixture in
5110-675: The Australian Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag have been official flags of Australia . The time of arrival of the first human beings in Australia is a matter of debate and ongoing investigation. The earliest conclusively human remains found in Australia are those of Mungo Man LM3 and Mungo Lady , which have been dated to around 40,000 years ago, although Indigenous Australians have most likely been living in Australia for upwards of 65,000 years. Isolated for millennia by rising sea water after
5256-487: The Australian Agricultural Company in the 1830s. Native Police forces were also officially implemented in the Papua and New Guinea territories administered by colonial Queensland and Australian governments from 1890 until the 1970s. The Australian government also organised a Native Police force on Nauru during its administration of the island from 1923 until 1968. The general template for native police forces in Australia
5402-515: The Champion Bay area. This situation gave Drummond complete freedom to subdue the natives around Geraldton in whatever method he deemed appropriate and a massacre of Aboriginal people conducted by the police and armed stockholders at Bootenal swamp near Greenough was the result. In 1865, Maitland Brown was sent on a search expedition through the La Grange and Roebuck Bay areas for
5548-465: The Condamine River where the "Fitzroy Downs blacks" were routed and another group were "compelled to fly" from the area. One of these skirmishes was described as a dawn raid on an Aboriginal encampment where around 100 native people were killed and two Native Police troopers were fatally injured. Walker found most of the squatters in the region thought the Native Police existed to shoot down
5694-662: The Darling Downs area was slowing pastoral expansion. As a result, the NSW government passed legislation in 1848 to fund a new section of Native Police based upon the Port Phillip model. Frederick Walker , a station manager and court official residing in the Murrumbidgee area, was appointed as the first Commandant of this Native Police force. Walker recruited 14 native troopers from four different language groups along
5840-729: The Darling River where the first Aboriginal attack occurred 100 miles below Fort Bourke at a place called Moanna, resulting in at least 5 natives being killed by the troopers. In 1849 he mobilised his force north beyond the MacIntyre River to conduct missions to police the out-stations. Once arriving on the Macintyre River on 10 May 1849, the force checked the aggressions of the local Aboriginal people, and when trying to capture six Aboriginal men charged with murder, there were "some lives lost". They were then deployed to
5986-500: The Latin ab (from) and origo (origin, beginning). The term was used in Australia as early as 1789 to describe its Aboriginal peoples . It became capitalised and was used as the common term to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Today the latter peoples are not included in this term. The term "Aborigine" (as opposed to "Aboriginal") is often disfavoured, as it is regarded as having colonialist connotations. While
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6132-486: The Maranoa Region , and one roving division. While Walker was away, the squatter at Goondiwindi station, Richard Purvis Marshall , assumed command of the Native Police operations. Marshall, with the native troopers and contingents of armed stockmen, conducted punitive raids at Tieryboo, Wallan, Booranga and Copranoranbilla Lagoon, shooting Aboriginal people and destroying their camps. This resulted in an inquiry by
6278-591: The Orara River at Braunstone 10 miles south of Grafton Morisset was given warrants for the arrest of some Aboriginal people who worked as shearers at Newton Boyd. After arriving in the area on a borrowed horse, he wanted to capture them while they were working in the wool shed. When they saw they police they ran, with two being shot and three captured. This resulted in a government inquiry. The other significant punitive raid occurred in East Ballina , where
6424-616: The Pila Nguru of Western Australia ). Several settlements of humans in Australia have been dated around 49,000 years ago. Luminescence dating of sediments surrounding stone artefacts at Madjedbebe , a rock shelter in northern Australia, indicates human activity at 65,000 years BP. Genetic studies appear to support an arrival date of 50–70,000 years ago. The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in Australia (and outside of Africa) are those of Mungo Man ; they have been dated at 42,000 years old. The initial comparison of
6570-539: The Sahul region. Rasmussen et al. 2011 shows that Aboriginal Australian have a lower proportion of European alleles compared to Asians, which they believe is indicative of a multiple dispersal model. Genetically, while Aboriginal Australians are most closely related to Melanesian and Papuan people, McEvoy et al. 2010 believed there is also another component that could indicate Ancient Ancestral South Indian admixture or more recent European influence. Research indicates
6716-474: The Tasmanian catastrophe genocide". A woman named Trugernanner (often rendered as Truganini ), who died in 1876, was, and still is, widely believed to be the last of the "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal people. However, in 1889 Parliament recognised Fanny Cochrane Smith (d. 1905) as the last surviving "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal person. The 2016 census reported 23,572 Indigenous Australians in
6862-924: The Tiwi Islands off Northern Territory; and Palawah in Tasmania . The largest Aboriginal communities – the Pitjantjatjara , the Arrernte, the Luritja , and the Warlpiri – are all from Central Australia . Throughout the history of the continent, there have been many different Aboriginal groups, each with its own individual language , culture, and belief structure. At the time of British settlement, there were over 200 distinct languages. The Tasmanian Aboriginal population are thought to have first crossed into Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago via
7008-652: The argument that ‘uncivilized men’ enlisted ‘in defence of order’ would ‘become the victims of their own zeal’. It was disbanded briefly in January 1838 but reorganised in April of the same year with their new headquarters in Jolimont where the MCG carpark is now situated. Due to funding problems, the force was again dissolved in 1839. These issues delayed reformation of the corps until Superintendent Charles La Trobe indicated he
7154-573: The c from black to "de-weaponise the term 'black cunt ' " was "taking on the 'colonisers' language and flipping it on its head". Contemporary Aboriginal arts in the 21st century are sometimes referred to as a "Blak" arts movement, expressed in names such as BlakDance, BlakLash Collective, and the title of Thelma Plum 's song and album, Better in Blak . Melbourne has an annual Blak & Bright literary festival, Blak Dot Gallery, Blak Markets, and Blak Cabaret. Aboriginal peoples of Australia are
7300-435: The didgeridoo . Although there are a number of cultural commonalities among Indigenous Australians, there is also a great diversity among different communities. The 2022 Australian census recorded 167 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages used at home by some 76,978 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At the time of European colonisation, it is estimated that there were over 250 Aboriginal languages . It
7446-519: The language group (such as Arrernte ), or demonym relating to geographic area (such as Nunga ), is considered best practice and most respectful. European colonials from their early settlement used the term "Black" to refer to Aboriginal Australians. While the term originally related to skin colour and was often used pejoratively, today the term is used to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general. It refers to any people of such heritage regardless of their level of skin pigmentation. In
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#17327730530047592-409: The message stick . Weapons included boomerangs , spears (sometimes thrown with a woomera ) with stone or fishbone tips, clubs, and (less commonly) axes. The Stone Age tools available included knives with ground edges, grinding devices, and eating containers. Fibrecraft was well-developed, and fibre nets, baskets, and bags were used for fishing, hunting, and carrying liquids. Trade networks spanned
7738-403: The mitochondrial DNA from the skeleton known as Lake Mungo 3 (LM3) with that of ancient and modern Aboriginal peoples indicated that Mungo Man is not related to Australian Aboriginal peoples. However, these findings have been met with a general lack of acceptance in scientific communities. The sequence has been criticised as there has been no independent testing, and it has been suggested that
7884-439: The "final 2021 Census-based estimated resident population". Of these, 91.7% identified as Aboriginal; 4.0% identified as Torres Strait Islander; 4.3% identified with both groups. The term Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or the person's specific cultural group, is often preferred, though the terms First Nations of Australia, First Peoples of Australia and First Australians are also increasingly common. Since 1995,
8030-483: The "wild blacks", so as to prevent shooting each other by mistake. Not long after this, at the request of prominent station manager John Vaughan McMaugh, the Belgrave Flat Native Police barracks was moved to Nulla Nulla station near Bellbrook. After some cedar cutters were hacked to death and others had their skulls smashed in during an ambush, stockmen and native police troopers went out after
8176-459: The 1830s, Aboriginal men around the Newcastle and Port Macquarie penal settlements were regularly used to recapture escaped convicts. Awabakal men such as Bob Barrett, Biraban and Jemmy Jackass would track down the runaways, disable them with spears or firearms, strip them and return them to the soldiers for payment of blankets, tobacco, clothing and corn. In 1830, Bob Barrett was given
8322-630: The 1970s, with a rise in Aboriginal activism, leaders such as Gary Foley proudly embraced the term "Black". For example, writer Kevin Gilbert 's book of that time was entitled Living Black . The book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community, including Robert Jabanungga , who reflected on contemporary Aboriginal culture. Use of this term varies depending on context, and its use needs care as it may be deemed inappropriate. The term "Black" has sometimes caused confusion as being applied to contemporary African immigrants rather than
8468-474: The 2021 Australian Census, representing 3.2% of the total population of Australia. Of these Indigenous Australians, 91.4% identified as Aboriginal; 4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander; while 4.4% identified with both groups. However, the Government has stated that as of 30 June 2021, there are 983,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, representing 3.8% of the total population of Australia, as
8614-460: The 21st century there is consensus that it is important to respect the "preferences of individuals, families, or communities, and allow them to define what they are most comfortable with" when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The word ' aboriginal ' has been in the English language since at least the 16th century to mean "first or earliest known, indigenous". It comes from
8760-467: The 5th Section of the Native Police under 2nd Lieut. Edric Norfolk Vaux Morisset to the Clarence River region. He thought this was a "retrograde step" as he viewed the Aboriginal problem is this area as minor. But under pressure from powerful squatters in the area like William Forster he relented even though the section did not have enough horses. Morisset and his 12 troopers were stationed on
8906-507: The Aboriginal population. Nevertheless, a population collapse, principally from new infectious diseases, followed European colonisation. A smallpox epidemic spread for three years after the arrival of Europeans. Massacres , frontier armed conflicts and competition over resources with European settlers also contributed to the decline of the Aboriginal peoples. From the 19th to the mid-20th century, government policy removed many mixed heritage children from Aboriginal communities, with
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#17327730530049052-411: The Aboriginal troopers into White society. Both La Trobe and William Thomas , Protector of Aborigines , expected that the men would give up their traditional way of life when exposed to the discipline of police work. To their disappointment, troopers continued to participate in corroborees and in ritual fighting, although not in uniform. As senior Wurundjeri elder, Billibellary 's cooperation for
9198-606: The Aboriginal, Papuan and Mamanwa peoples carry some of the alleles associated with the Denisovan peoples of Asia, (not found amongst populations in mainland Asia) suggesting that modern and archaic humans interbred in Asia approximately 44,000 years ago, before Australia separated from New Guinea and the migration to Australia. A 2012 paper reports that there is also evidence of a substantial genetic flow from India to northern Australia estimated at slightly over four thousand years ago,
9344-588: The Eumeralla area and at Captain Firebrace's Mt Vectis property. The Native Police based at Portland Bay were ordered to conduct operations across the border at Mount Gambier in South Australia in 1844. Likewise, South Australian police forces at the same time were used to investigate the rape of an aboriginal boy named Syntax near Portland. The officer involved found that when the boy tried to shoot
9490-523: The Lower Darling and Albert districts respectively. Perry and his troopers, while investigating the death of a White man at Baker's station, threatened and watched four Aboriginal people residing on the property into making confessions. While they were being escorted to prison, they escaped, and after refusing to surrender, one was shot dead. The other three managed to escape but were found at Euston where two more were shot dead. Their hands were cut off and presented as proof of their demise. Perry also dispersed
9636-403: The Macleay region. It was reported as a double murder mystery. Local Aboriginal Left-Handed Billy solved the case by stating that there was a Native Police camp at Nulla Nulla and these two people were some of its victims. Billy offered to take the authorities and show them the other places where people were shot. During this period the Lower Darling district extended from near the confluence of
9782-492: The Maranoa River. Governor Fitzroy noted in the 1851 end of year report that a great many blacks were killed, however no official action was taken to change the aggressive functioning of the Native Police. On 18 February 1851, a meeting of magistrates was held at the newly established town of Maryborough . Three Native Police officers, Commissioner Bidwill and squatter Edmund B. Uhr were present, issuing warrants against
9928-654: The Mary River aboard Captain Currie's Margaret and Mary schooner. Aboriginal people in a stolen dinghy were shot at along the way and the boat seized. The force landed on the west coast of the island where the divisions split up to scour the region. During the night a group of Aboriginal men attempted to surprise Marshall's section resulting in two Aboriginal men being shot. Bad weather hampered operations and Commandant Walker subsequently allowed his division to track down other groups of Badtjala without him. This group followed
10074-478: The Moira area of the Murray, down Mitta Mitta creek and along the Edward River. Other collisions also occurred near Tongala. Further down the Murray, punitive operations were also conducted near McLeod's station in 1846, Lake Bael Bael in 1846 and around Swan Hill in 1850. Swan Hill and Echuca (Maidan's Punt) became bases for Native Police operations. A Wemba Wemba man managed to kill a trooper near Swan Hill. He, in
10220-537: The Murray. There is some evidence that, before outside contact, some groups of Aboriginal Australians had a complex subsistence system with elements of agriculture, that was only recorded by the first European explorers. One early settler took notes on the life styles of the Wathaurung people whom he lived near in Victoria. He saw women harvesting Murnong tubers, a native yam that is now almost extinct. However,
10366-454: The Murrumbidgee was still utilised as a recruitment area for troopers to fight in Queensland with Lieut. John Murray returning to the area as late as 1865 to enlist local Aboriginal men. In 1864, Murray visited the region bringing with him the remaining four living troopers from Walker's first recruitment in 1848. After 15 years service, one of them was lucky enough to be reunited with his father in Echuca . In 1853, Walker reluctantly deployed
10512-726: The Murrumbidgee with the Murray, up to the Darling and north to near the confluence of the Warrego. The Albert region was the area west of the Darling River . (By the late 1870s this had changed significantly). In late 1853, Stephen Cole, the Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Lower Darling district had organised six troopers for his Native Police based in Euston . This force was involved in arresting European sly-grog sellers. At
10658-399: The Murrumbidgee, Murray, and Edwards Rivers areas. These first troopers were Jack, Henry (both Wiradjuri ), Geegwaw, Jacky Jacky, Wygatta, Edward, Logan (all Wemba Wemba ), Alladin, Paddy, Larry, Willy, Walter, Tommy Hindmarsh (all Barababaraba ), and Yorky ( Yorta Yorta ). Logan and Jack who were both previously employed in the Border Police, were given the rank of corporal. Although most of
10804-593: The Native Police reduced to great effect Aboriginal resistance against squatters in the Macintyre and Condamine regions. Walker returned to Deniliquin in July 1850 to recruit 30 new troopers in order to enable an expansion into the Wide Bay–Burnett region. With these fresh reinforcements, he created four divisions of Native Police, one based at Augustus Morris ' Callandoon station, one at Wide Bay–Burnett, one in
10950-521: The White woman was proved false, but the results for the Gunai were devastating. Tyers estimated that the two punitive groups killed at least 50 Aboriginal people and wounded many more. At the same time, more regular combined Native and Border Police operations resulted in mass killings of Gunai around Boisdale and on the MacAllister River. There was a large punitive operation in late 1846 at
11096-438: The area that they were harvesting from was already cleared of other plants, making it easier to harvest Murnong (also known as yam daisy) exclusively. Along the northern coast of Australia, parsnip yams were harvested by leaving the bottom part of the yam still stuck in the ground so that it would grow again in the same spot. Similar to many other farmers in the world, Aboriginal peoples used slash and burn techniques to enrich
11242-517: The areas of the Swan and Helena Valleys, was able to capture the perpetrator due to his knowledge of the local tribespeople. As a result, in August 1840 Drummond was rewarded with the title of Inspector in the newly formed Native Police. The Western Australian Native Police was smaller than those of other colonies in that usually only 2 or 3 mounted aboriginal constables were attached to the White officer. It
11388-659: The basal form K2* (K-M526) of the extremely ancient Haplogroup K2 – whose subclades Haplogroup R , haplogroup Q , haplogroup M and haplogroup S can be found in the majority of Europeans, Northern South Asians, Native Americans and the Indigenous peoples of Oceania – has only been found in living humans today amongst Aboriginal Australians. 27% of them may carry K2* and approximately 29% of Aboriginal Australian males belong to subclades of K2b1 , a.k.a. M and S . Aboriginal Australians possess deep rooted clades of both mtDNA Haplogroup M and Haplogroup N . Although it
11534-500: The camp or, in Moore's case, managed to avoid being seen. It was Edward Kenny who subsequently rode away to report the massacre, arriving at Rainworth Station the following day. Moore was the only white eyewitness to the event. "It is not easy that a place so gifted by nature should be the scene of such a cruel massacre". — P. F. MacDonald, squatter who sold Cullin-la-Ringo to Horatio Wills Settlers reacted with shock and horror at
11680-400: The coast, two miles away from any freshwater. As Walker's force originated in this area, native troopers from outside this region were utilised to punish Aboriginal resistance in the Murrumbidgee. For instance, in 1852, after the murder of an American worker at Deniliquin , Sergeant O'Halloran from Moulamein imported both native and White troopers from Victoria to shoot Aboriginal people as
11826-414: The command of White officers appointed by colonial governments. These units existed in various forms in colonial Australia during the nineteenth and, in some cases, into the twentieth centuries. From temporary base camps and barracks, Native Police were primarily used to patrol the often vast geographical areas along the colonial frontier in order to conduct raids against aboriginals or tribes that had broken
11972-504: The company of another aboriginal man, approached a Native Police camp and induced one of the Aboriginal troopers to go fishing. After walking about half a mile, they held the trooper down and excised his kidney fat, leaving him to die. Native Police operations in Gippsland began in 1843 with the appointment of Commissioner Tyers to the region. Tyers had command of a permanent force of Border Police based at Eagle Point augmented with
12118-684: The continent would have required deliberate organised sea travel, involving hundreds of people". Aboriginal people seem to have lived a long time in the same environment as the now extinct Australian megafauna . Some evidence from the analysis of charcoal and artefacts revealing human use suggests a date as early as 65,000 BP. Luminescence dating has suggested habitation in Arnhem Land as far back as 60,000 years BP. Evidence of fires in South-West Victoria suggest "human presence in Australia 120,000 years ago", although more research
12264-536: The continent, and transportation included canoes . Shelters varied regionally, and included wiltjas in the Atherton Tablelands , paperbark and stringybark sheets and raised platforms in Arnhem Land , whalebone huts in what is now South Australia, stone shelters in what is now western Victoria, and a multi-room pole and bark structure found in Corranderrk . A bark tent or lean-to is known as
12410-624: The distinctiveness and importance of Torres Strait Islanders in Australia's Indigenous population. Eddie Mabo was from "Mer" or Murray Island in the Torres Strait. He was a party in the Mabo decision of 1992. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also sometimes refer to themselves by descriptions that relate to their ecological environment, such as saltwater people for coast-dwellers (including Torres Strait Islander people ), freshwater people , rainforest people , desert people , or spinifex people , (the latter referring to
12556-554: The establishment of a Native Police Corps were made from as early as 1837 when Captain William Lonsdale proposed legislation for its formation. In October 1837, Christian Ludolph Johannes de Villiers was appointed to command the first official Native Police troopers from their station at Nerre Nerre Warren, in spite of warnings against the use of native police from the House of Commons Select Committee on Aborigines based on
12702-504: The generations after colonisation. The word "community" is often used to describe groups identifying by kinship , language , or belonging to a particular place or "country". A community may draw on separate cultural values and individuals can conceivably belong to a number of communities within Australia; identification within them may be adopted or rejected. An individual community may identify itself by many names, each of which can have alternative English spellings. The naming of peoples
12848-593: The headquarters was at the Aboriginal Protectorate Station at Nerre Nerre Warren, near to present day Dandenong about 25 kilometres (16 mi) south-east of Melbourne. The force made use of Aboriginal men from the Wurundjeri and Bunurong tribes and was made up of 60 members, three-quarters of whom were "natives". There were two goals in such a force: to make use of the indigenous peoples' tracking abilities, as well as to assimilate
12994-425: The indigenous peoples. Living Black is an Australian TV news and current affairs program covering "issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians". It is presented and produced by Karla Grant , an Arrernte woman. A significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people use the term " Blackfella " and its associated forms to refer to Aboriginal Australians. The term blak
13140-516: The intent to assimilate them to what had become the majority white culture. Such policy was judged " genocidal " in the Bringing Them Home report (1997) published by the government in the late 20th century, as it reviewed human rights abuses during colonisation. There are a number of contemporary appropriate terms to use when referring to Indigenous peoples of Australia. In contrast to when settlers referred to them by various terms, in
13286-457: The last 500 years. The population was split into 250 individual nations, many of which were in alliance with one another, and within each nation there existed separate, often related clans , from as few as 5 or 6 to as many as 30 or 40. Each nation had its own language, and a few had several. Australian native police Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal troopers under
13432-449: The last Ice Age, Australian Aboriginal peoples developed a variety of regional cultures and languages, invented distinct artistic and religious traditions, and affected the environment of the continent in a number of ways through hunting, fire-stick farming , and possibly the introduction of the dog . Technologies for warfare and hunting like the boomerang and spear were constructed of natural materials, as were musical instruments like
13578-457: The law and punitive expeditions against Aboriginal people. The Native Police proved to be a brutally destructive instrument in the disintegration and dispossession of Indigenous Australians. Armed with rifles, carbines and swords, they were also deployed to escort surveying groups, gold convoys and groups of pastoralists and prospectors. The Aboriginal men within the Native Police were routinely recruited from areas that were very distant from
13724-412: The local Aboriginal people across to the east coast where they "took to the sea". The force returned to Maryborough in early January 1852 and Captain Currie received a reward of £10 for his contribution. The year 1852 saw further recruitment and expansion of the Native Police to eight divisions. Forty-eight new troopers were signed up mostly from the northern inland rivers of NSW. Lieutenant John Murray
13870-557: The local Crown Lands Commissioner and a vaguely worded official reminder from the NSW Attorney General to only shoot in "extreme cases". In 1851, Commandant Walker with his newly appointed officers Richard Purvis Marshall, George Fulford, Doolan and Skelton conducted wide-ranging and frequent operations resulting in many dispersals and summary killings. Dispersals of large numbers of Aborigines occurred at Dalgangal, Mary River, Toomcul, Goondiwindi and at various places along
14016-402: The locations in which they were deployed. This would ensure they would have little familiarity with the local people they were employed to shoot and would also reduce desertions. However, due to the excessively violent nature of the work, the rate of trooper desertion in some units was high. As the troopers were Aboriginal, this benefited the colonists by minimising both the troopers' wages and
14162-482: The main frontier policing force in this colony were divisions of mounted convict soldiers known as the Border Police . However, in the late 1840s with the end of convict transportation looming, a new source of cheap and effective troopers were required to subdue resistance along the ever-extending frontier. The need was especially apparent in the north as conflict between squatters and Aboriginal people toward
14308-518: The massacre, and the Queensland Government, including the settlers, was determined to punish any Aboriginals in the vicinity (and many of whom killed in the aftermath were innocent). The first to go out in pursuit were a vigilante party of eleven heavily armed white settlers assisted by two trackers. Judging by the more than fifty camp fires, they pursued what was estimated to be "probably not under 300, and of these 100 may be assumed as
14454-629: The men, women, and children with nulla nullas . The settlers defended themselves with pistols and tent poles, but nineteen of the twenty-five defenders were killed. Those killed were Horatio Wills, David Baker, the overseer, his wife, Catherine Baker, their son, David Baker Jr., the overseer's daughter, Elizabeth Baker (aged 19), Iden Baker (a young boy), an infant Baker (8 months old), George Elliott, Patrick Mannion and his wife, their three children, Mary Ann Mannion (8 years old), Maggie Mannion (4 years old), baby Mannion (an infant), Edward McCormac, Charles Weeden, James Scott, Henry Pickering, George Ling, and
14600-451: The more inclusive term "Indigenous Australians". Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify fully as Torres Strait Islanders. A further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify as having both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal heritage. The Torres Strait Islands comprise over 100 islands, which were annexed by Queensland in 1879. Many Indigenous organisations incorporate the phrase "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander" to highlight
14746-570: The mouth of the Snowy River involving the forces being split into 3 groups to surround and engage Aboriginal people residing in the estuary area. The Native Police Corps then continued upstream along the river. The brutality of these Gippsland Aboriginal men is demonstrated by the Protector Thomas being able to describe how they killed one man, two women and six children, returning with fragments of their flesh to eat, or returning with
14892-496: The mummified severed hands of the defeated as trophies. In the late 1830s, Western Australia was in a similar situation as the eastern colonies in that the regular Mounted Police force were proving expensive and increasingly ineffectual in subduing resisting Aboriginal people. This culminated in 1840 with the murders of a White woman and her child in York. John Nicol Drummond , a young man who had grown up amongst Aboriginal people in
15038-413: The murderers. Again another battle ensued and in the end there were a great number of dead and wounded Dunghutti. The creek where this occurred was named Waterloo Creek (halfway between Dyke River and Georges Creek) as a result of the carnage. Four prisoners were taken. In 1863, Senior Constable Nugent took control of the Native Police at Nulla Nulla. In September 1864, he and his troopers were involved in
15184-434: The narrator relates the story of a fictional Queensland adventurer, Oscar Marrion, based on the contents of a diary found in a cave. After his love interest is murdered in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre, Marrion considers getting revenge on her killers, but abandons the idea after talking to an Aboriginal friend named Talboora. The first scholarly assessment of the massacre, "From Hornet Bank to Cullin-la-Ringo", by Gordon Reid,
15330-411: The native police included searching for missing persons, carrying messages, and escorting dignitaries through unfamiliar territory. During the goldrush era, they were also used to patrol goldfields and search for escaped prisoners. They were provided with uniforms, firearms, food rations and a rather dubious salary. However, the lure of the goldfields, poor salary and Dana's eventual death in 1852 led to
15476-425: The natives so they would not have to. Walker advocated a method of "bringing in" the Aboriginal people, allowing them onto pastoral stations, where they could obtain a lawful means of a livelihood. Those who stayed away were consequently regarded as potential enemies and were at high risk of being targeted in punitive missions. Walker's measure of success was the resulting increase in land values. These first actions of
15622-409: The natives who assisted in the police" and advised Morisset that he had "directed £50 subject to detailed accounts of its expenditure" to be at his disposal. Musquito was a Hawkesbury Aboriginal man who was exiled first to Norfolk Island in 1805, then to Van Diemen's Land in 1813. He proved to be a valuable asset to the government there in tracking down bushrangers. He later became a renegade and
15768-414: The number of Aboriginal casualties was very high, although there was no further detail. Another contemporary account said the police "overtook a tribe of natives, shot down sixty or seventy, and ceased firing when their ammunition was expended". They left the remainder to the native police to take on the next run. Historians later estimated the number of dead as around 370 people, and an anonymous article in
15914-414: The number of fighting men". The Aboriginal people continually used ground that prevented the whites from using their horses to full advantage: "they chose stony and difficult ground wherever they had it in their power". Yet the whites eventually managed to catch up with them on 27 November 1861 and at "half-past two a.m. on Wednesday morning their camp was stormed on foot with success". From this account,
16060-438: The nutrients of their soil. However, sheep and cattle later brought over by Europeans would ruin this soil by trampling on it. To add on the complexity of Aboriginal farming techniques, farmers deliberately exchanged seeds to begin growing plants where they did not naturally occur. In fact there were so many examples of Aboriginal Australians managing farm land in a complex manner that Australian Anthropologist, Dr. Norman Tindale
16206-471: The official disintegration of his Native Police Corps in January 1853. During its existence, there were three main areas of activity of this corps: Portland Bay, Murray River, and Gippsland. Divisions of the Native Police would be deployed to these areas in the winter of each year until 1852 and spend the rest of the year mostly garrisoned at the Narre Narre Warren barracks. Winter was chosen as
16352-486: The operations of Lieutenants Marshall and John Murray along the Burnett River as "taking and shooting hosts of murderers, never stopping, never tiring". New barracks were built at Rannes , Walla and at Swanson's Yabba station at the top of Yabba Falls . Squatters Holt and Hay pursued an overland path to the taking up of lands toward Port Curtis . Two men accompanying them were killed by Aboriginal people and as
16498-624: The period of active duty as the target Aboriginal people were more sedentary in the colder periods and therefore much easier to find. Native police were called upon to take part in operations in the Victorian Western District in 1843. Operations in this year included attacks upon the Gunditjmara and Jardwadjali at the Crawford River, Mt Eckersley, Victoria Range and at Mt Zero. Upon return to Melbourne one of
16644-422: The potential for Aboriginal revenge attacks against White people. It also increased the efficiency of the force as the Aboriginal troopers possessed incredible tracking skills, which were indispensable in the often poorly charted and difficult terrain. The first government-funded force was the Native Police Corps, established in 1837 in the Port Phillip District of what is now Victoria . From 1848 another force
16790-441: The pre-1788 population was 314,000, while recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 500,000 to 750,000 could have been sustained, with some ecologists estimating that a population of up to a million or even two million people was possible. More recent work suggests that Aboriginal populations exceeded 1.2 million 500 years ago, but may have fallen somewhat with the introduction of disease pathogens from Eurasia in
16936-438: The proposal was important for its success, and after deliberation he backed the initiative and even proposed himself for enlistment. He donned the uniform and enjoyed the status of parading through the camp, but was careful to avoid active duty as a policeman to avoid a conflict of interest between his duties as a Wurundjeri ngurungaeta . After about a year, Billibellary resigned from the Native Police Corps when he found that it
17082-538: The region and John Macarthur sometimes appeared at public functions with a bodyguard of uniformed Dharawal and Gandangara men. In 1824, at the conclusion of the Bathurst War against the Wiradjuri , Governor Brisbane sent Major James Thomas Morisset , commandant of the colonial forces at Bathurst , a letter congratulating him on his efforts. In this letter, Brisbane outlines his desire to give "rewards to
17228-472: The region. In the late 1830s, the NSW government found it was having trouble financing the NSW Mounted Police which was a corps of mounted soldiers that since 1825 operated as the main enforcers of colonial rule in frontier areas. Officials looked at cheaper alternatives and came up with two solutions. One was the Border Police , which was a mounted force of armed convicts under the command of
17374-618: The results may be due to posthumous modification and thermal degradation of the DNA. Although the contested results seem to indicate that Mungo Man may have been an extinct subspecies that diverged before the most recent common ancestor of contemporary humans, the administrative body for the Mungo National Park believes that present-day local Aboriginal peoples are descended from the Lake Mungo remains. Independent DNA testing
17520-552: The same time, Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Albert District, G. M. Perry, had organised another six Native Police troopers based at Moorana, an administrative town that used to exist just west of Wentworth . By the late 1850s the jurisdiction of the native troopers had transferred from the Crown Lands department to the Native Police proper, with E. M. Lockyer and A. T. Perry being appointed 2nd Lieutenants for
17666-411: The state of Tasmania. The Torres Strait Islander people possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea , and speak a Papuan language . Accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation "Aboriginal Australians". This has been another factor in the promotion of
17812-454: The subsequent operations of this force over the following 60 years occurred in what is now Queensland, Native Police were stationed in various parts of New South Wales and patrolling continued there until at least 1868. These areas included Kempsey/Macleay River, Grafton/Ballina (Clarence River), Murrumbidgee, Lower Darling/Albert and Upper Darling/Paroo regions. This force was consolidated and trained by Walker at Deniliquin before traveling to
17958-498: The term "Indigenous Australians" has grown in popularity since the 1980s, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples dislike it. They feel that it is too generic and removes their distinct clan and people identity. However, many people think that the term is useful and convenient, and can be used where appropriate. In recent years, terms such as "First Nations", "First Peoples" and "First Australians" have become more common. Being as specific as possible, for example naming
18104-432: The troopers and their officers were placed under the command of the local Commissioner for Crown Lands, who would then seek out and capture or destroy the dissident groups and individuals. In addition to Native Police, the Commissioner also had the troopers of the Border Police and NSW Mounted Police as well as armed volunteer settlers at his disposal to conduct punitive raids on Aboriginal people. Other more minor duties of
18250-530: The troopers conducted an early morning raid on Aboriginal people sleeping on the slopes near Black Head. This resulted in at least 30-40 deaths and many wounded. Complaints were made to the government about the massacre but no action was taken. Edric Morisset later became Commandant of the Native Police based in Brisbane and was replaced on the Clarence by 2nd Lieut. John O'Connell Bligh . A few years later when
18396-399: The troopers posted to the Macleay region include Carlo, Quilt, Paddy and Dundally. Nulla Nulla barracks appears to have closed in 1865 when Henry Sauer bought the property and turned it into a dairy farm. In 1885, 36.4 hectares of the property was gazetted as an Aboriginal Reserve. In 1902 the skeletons of a woman and child with shot holes in their skulls were found on Taylors Arm Mountain in
18542-629: The troopers stated about an incident in which 17 Aboriginal men had been killed by the corps. One of the Native Police troopers stated With reduced reports of attacks in the Western District following two years of policing, two new troopers were signed up from the Port Fairy area in 1845. Although 1843 appears to be the year of the largest casualties from the corps in this region, operations in other years up to 1847 resulted in further mass fatalities namely at Lake Learmonth, Cape Otway ,
18688-690: The various ethnic groups living within the territory of present day Australia prior to British colonisation . They consist of two distinct groups, which include many ethnic groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania , and the Torres Strait Islanders of the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea , located in Melanesia . 812,728 people self-identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin in
18834-497: The various peoples indigenous to mainland Australia and associated islands, excluding the Torres Strait Islands. The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many regional groups that may be identified under names based on local language, locality, or what they are called by neighbouring groups. Some communities, cultures or groups may be inclusive of others and alter or overlap; significant changes have occurred in
18980-483: The weeks afterwards, police, native police and civilian posses carried out "one of the most lethal punitive expeditions in frontier history", hunting down and killing up to 370 members of the Gayiri Aboriginal tribe implicated in the massacre. In mid-October 1861, a party of squatters from the colony of Victoria , under Horatio Wills , set up a temporary tent camp to start the process of establishing
19126-612: Was able to draw an Aboriginal grain belt, detailing the specific areas where crops were once produced. In terms of aquaculture, explorer Thomas Mitchell noted large stone fish traps on the Darling River at Brewarrina. Each trap covers a pool, herding fish through a small entrance that would later be shut. Traps were created at different heights to accommodate different water levels during floods and droughts. Technology used by Indigenous Australian societies before European contact included weapons, tools, shelters, watercraft, and
19272-530: Was also different in that the officers were given monetary rewards for capturing wanted people and that they were placed under the control of the Native Protector. However, extrajudicial killings by the police upon Aboriginal people still occurred during the 1840s. The force also became less formalised in its command structure to the point where, in 1854, Drummond concurrently held the positions of Native Protector, magistrate and Superintendent of Police in
19418-421: Was appointed to the 4th Division, Lieut. Blandford to the 3rd Division and Sergeants Skelton, Pincolt and Richard A. Dempster were also appointed as officers in charge of other divisions. The Traylan barracks on the Burnett River near the now-abandoned site of Ceratodus, north of present-day Eidsvold, was established while the other major barracks, besides Callandoon, was at Wondai Gumbal near Yuleba . Sgt. Dempster
19564-608: Was deployed to Belgrave Flat with his troopers from the Upper Dawson area in Queensland. Poulden was previously an Ensign in 56th Foot who fought in the Crimean War , and was the great-grandson of the Earl of Devon . In addition to performing patrolling duties, he also came for the purpose of recruiting more troopers. In 1859 he conducted a raid on Aboriginal people living at Christmas Creek near Frederickton . He captured
19710-456: Was further reduced to around 300 between 1803 and 1833 due to disease, warfare, and other actions of British settlers. Despite more than 170 years of debate over who or what was responsible for this near-extinction, no consensus exists on its origins, process, or whether or not it was genocide. However, according to Benjamin Madley, using the "UN definition, sufficient evidence exists to designate
19856-533: Was generally mobile, or semi-nomadic , moving according to the changing food availability found across different areas as seasons changed, the mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region, and there were permanent settlements and agriculture in some areas. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the River Murray valley in particular. Canoes were made out of bark for use on
20002-531: Was himself tracked down and shot in the groin by another Hawkesbury aboriginal named Teague. Teague was sent by Hawkesbury settler Edward Luttrell to capture Musquito on the promise of a whaleboat as payment. Teague never received the boat and Musquito was hanged in 1825. In the 1830s, John Batman also used armed Aboriginal men from the Sydney region such as Pigeon and Tommy to assist in his roving parties to capture or kill indigenous Tasmanians . Up until at least
20148-499: Was later officially accused of offering rewards on the heads of certain Aboriginal people, which he unequivocally denied. By 1841, the new superintendent P. P. King still employed black constables, but their duties may have been limited to dingo culling. Also in the 1830s, Major Edmund Lockyer a magistrate in the Goulburn region , employed at least one Aboriginal constable who captured murderers and gangs of armed bushrangers in
20294-518: Was later reported that the attack on the party was as revenge for the murder of Gayiri men by Wills' neighbour, Jesse Gregson, a squatter from the nearby Rainworth Station , who had erroneously accused the Gayiri of stealing cattle. According to the account of one of the survivors, John Moore, Aboriginal people had been passing through the camp all day on 17 October 1861, building up numbers until there were at least 50. Then, without warning, they attacked
20440-696: Was organised in New South Wales , which later evolved into the Queensland Native Police force. This force massacred thousands of Aboriginal people under the official euphemism of "dispersal", and is regarded as one of the most conspicuous examples of genocidal policy in colonial Australia. It existed until around 1915, when the last Native Police camps in Queensland were closed. Native Police were also utilised by other Australian colonies. The government of South Australia set up
20586-689: Was published by the Royal Historical Society of Queensland in 1981. The massacre is central to Alex Miller 's 2007 historical novel Landscape of Farewell . The massacre is also explored in fictional accounts of Tom Wills, including Martin Flanagan 's 1996 novel The Call , as well as its 2004 stage adaptation. 24°0′S 148°05′E / 24.000°S 148.083°E / -24.000; 148.083 Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, and/or recognised membership of,
20732-401: Was responsible for several large scale dispersals in 1852. The first was at Wallumbilla where an ex-trooper named Priam and a number of others were shot dead. Dempster then traveled to Ogilvie's Wachoo station near St. George and shot a large number of Aboriginal people with the aid of a man named Johnson who was the superintendent of the property. Johnson also shot dead a White storeperson in
20878-464: Was small, with estimates ranging widely from 318,000 to more than 3,000,000 in total. Given geographic and habitat conditions, they were distributed in a pattern similar to that of the current Australian population. The majority were living in the south-east, centred along the Murray River . The First Fleet of British settlers arrived with instructions to "live in amity and kindness" with
21024-736: Was the sepoy and sowar armies of the East India Company . However, the more compact forces of the Cape Regiment in southern Africa and the Kaffir and Malay Corps in Ceylon are a closer comparison. Before the creation of the first official Native Police forces, there were some informal and privately funded examples of utilising Aboriginal men as enforcers of land claims by European settlers during European colonisation. Armed Aboriginal men were used to capture runaway convicts in
21170-415: Was to be used to capture and kill other natives. He did his best from then on to undermine the corps and as a result many native troopers deserted and few remained longer than three or four years. The main duty of the Native Police was to be deployed to areas around the Port Phillip region where Aboriginal resistance to European colonisation was unable to be controlled by armed settlers. Once in these areas,
21316-405: Was willing to underwrite the costs in 1842. A significant factor in the restoration of the force was the successful capture of five Tasmanian aboriginal people near Westernport in 1840 by local Aboriginal men who were attached to a party of Border Police and soldiers. Henry EP Dana was selected to command the corps in 1842. Except for a brief period where the corps was based at Merri Creek ,
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