An Australian Native Police Corps was first established in 1842 in the Port Phillip District of the Australian colony of New South Wales (now Victoria).[1] However, the "Native Police Force" (sometimes called the "Native Mounted Police Force") of Queensland from 1848 to 1897, was by far the most notorious of its kind.[2] Other native police like systems were also occasionally used in the colonies of South Australia, Western Australia and in Northern Territory (then part of the colony of South Australia).
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Requests for the establishment of a Native Police Corp in the Port Phillip District of the Australian colony of New South Wales (now Victoria) were made from as early as 1837 when Captain William Lonsdale wrote to Governor Richard Bourke. The cost of Funding and supplying the police Corp was the issue that delayed formation until Superintendent Charles La Trobe indicated he was willing to underwrite the costs in 1842.[1]
Henry EP Dana was selected to command the Corps, which would be a mounted command consisting of aboriginal troopers and European officers. The Command was initially established at the Aboriginal Protectorate Station at Narre Narre Warren, about 25 km south east of Melbourne, but Dana moved the headquarters in March 1842 to the banks of the Merri Creek.[1]
The force made use of Aboriginal men from the Wurundjeri and Bunurong tribes as trackers. The Corp was made up of 60 members, three quarters of whom were "natives".[3] There were two goals in such a force: to make use of the indigenous people's tracking abilities, as well as to assimilate the aboriginal troopers into white society.[3] Both La Trobe and Aboriginal Protector William Thomas expected that the men would give up their ancestral 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.[1]
As senior Wurundjeri elder, Billibellary's cooperation for 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.[1]
After about a year Billibellary resigned from the Native Police Corps when he found that it was to be used to capture and even 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.[4]
The duties of 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.[5] 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 the official disintegration of his Native Police Corps in January 1853.[6]
Native police were called upon to take part in massacres of other Aboriginal people in the Victorian Western District in 1843. Upon return to Melbourne one of the troopers boasted about an incident in which 17 Aboriginal men had been killed by the Corps. From reports it seems likely the troopers were called upon by their commander, Henry EP Dana, to shoot rather than try to make arrests:
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.[8]
There were also clashes between the Native Police Corp and Gunai people in 1846 in the Snowy River region.[9]
The Native Police Force in Queensland (sometime referred to at the 'Native Mounted Police', but entitled 'Native Police Force' in all parliamentary and government documents) came into effect on 17 August 1848 under the command of Frederick Walker, to be deployed beyond the settled districts.[10] By November Walker had recruited 14 native troopers from four different tribes and different language groups from the Murrumbidgee, Murray and Edwards Rivers areas and was making preparations for leaving the Murray River district for the Macintye country. His force travelled up the Darling river arriving on the Macintyre River on 10 May 1849 and were first deployed in that area and the Condamine to great effect in reducing aboriginal attacks and resistance against squatters.[11]
In Queensland, southern tribes were used in skirmishes involving northern language groups.[12] One of the sub-inspectors was Thomas Coward (1834–1905), after whom Coward Springs, South Australia is named.
A killing of a station cook near Durrie on the Diamantina in 1888 led to a reported attack by a party of the Queensland Native Police led by sub-inspector Robert Little. The attack was timed to coincide with an assembly of young aborigines around the permanent waters of Kaliduwarry. Great gatherings of aboriginal youth were held at Kaliduwarry on the Eyre Creek on a regular basis and attracted juveniles from as far away as the Gulf of Carpentaria to below the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. On this occasion an estimated two hundred aborigines were killed.[13]
Queensland's Native Police Force was arguably the most controversial force of its kind in colonial Australian history.[14] John G. Paton wrote in 1889 that, two years previously, Samuel Griffith, the Premier of Queensland, "had these blood-stained forces disbanded for ever."[15] This, however, is not entirely true, Griffith did not disband the force during his term in government, it was only gradually disbanded during the mid to late 1890s.[16]
Commissioner Alexander Tolmer formed the South Australian Native Police Force in 1852 at the specific direction of the South Australian Government. Later that year a newspaper reported, “A dozen powerful natives, chiefly of the Moorundee tribe [from Blanchetown, South Australia district on the River Murray], have been selected to be sent to the Port Lincoln district to act as Mounted Police.”[17] The little corps, under the command of Mounted Police Corporal John Cusack (1809–1887), sailed for Port Lincoln on the government schooner Yatala on 29 December 1852, for service on Eyre Peninsula. It was confidently expected they would be usefully employed in protection of the settlers in that district.[18]
The Native Police were soon extended, the strength in 1856 being:- Murray District (half each at Moorundee and Wellington): 2 inspectors, 2 corporals, 13 constables, 16 horses ; Venus Bay: 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, 7 constables, 8 horses.
The six officers and non-commissioned officers were all European, while the twenty constables were all Aboriginal, all being issued with standard police arms and uniforms. Both Aboriginal and European offenders were brought to justice by these men, but on Eyre Peninsula the Aboriginals were largely ineffectual as they were in unfamiliar territory, while on the Murray the entire force went walkabout and did not return.[19]
In 1857 it was abolished as a distinct corps, although a few Aboriginal constables continued to be employed from time to time at certain remote police stations. Also, Aboriginal trackers were employed as needed, but were not sworn police constables. In 1884 a native police scheme was revived by the South Australia Police in Central Australia (see Northern Territory, below), but this time it was based on the more notorious Queensland and New South Wales models.
In 1884, the South Australian Police Commissioner (W.J. Von Peterswald) established a Native Police Force. Six Aboriginal men were recruited in November 1884. Aged between 17 and 26 years of age, they came from Alice Springs, Charlotte Waters, Undoolya and Macumba. The Native Police became notorious for their violent activities, especially under the command of Constable William Willshire. In 1891, two Aboriginal men were 'shot whilst attempting to escape'. The deaths were noticed and the South Australian Register called for an Enquiry to establish whether or not police had been justified in killing the two Aboriginal men.
Eventually, F.W. Gillen, Telegraph Stationmaster and Justice of the Peace at Alice Springs, received instructions from the Government to investigate the matter and report to the Attorney-General. Gillen found Willshire responsible for ordering the killings. At the conclusion of Gillen’s investigation, Willshire was suspended, arrested and charged with murder. He became the first Northern Territory police officer charged with this offence. He was subsequently acquitted.[20]
On the Native Police Corps of Victoria (1842-1853)
On Queensland's Native Police Force (1848-1897):