- Details of Aboriginal Police
Trackers' pivotal wayfinding roles from the early 1800s
- Aboriginal History WA has
released a database of Trackers to help family members undertaking ancestry
research
- Aboriginal Affairs Minister
describes the trackers as unsung heroes and acknowledges that many were forced
to track against their will, with little to no pay
The names and details of more than 400 Aboriginal men who played
a crucial role in tracking and wayfinding for Western Australian Police between
1931 and 1954 have been released.
The Aboriginal Trackers of Western Australia Index is a
searchable database to help Aboriginal people who are seeking more information
about their family history.
From the early 1800s through to the mid-1900s the State's
fledgling police forces were heavily reliant on Aboriginal Trackers to guide
them through uncharted country.
Aboriginal Trackers had an extraordinary ability to locate
people and animals by following barely distinguishable tracks.
However, they were not adequately paid for their skills or time
and were often assigned to locations far from their Country and families to
deter them from running away.
This was allowed through various government policies that
legalised the removal of Aboriginal people from one
district to another and allowed government authorities to place them onto
missions, reserves or into employment.
The index has been produced by the Aboriginal
History Western Australia (AHWA) team, within the Department of Local
Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.
It is one of many initiatives undertaken by AHWA in partnership with
Aboriginal communities and stakeholders to connect people to their Aboriginal
ancestry. For more
information or to search the index visit https://www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/Aboriginal-Trackers
Comments attributed to Aboriginal Affairs
Minister Dr Tony Buti:
"Aboriginal Trackers are the unsung heroes in the
history of policing. Their intimate knowledge of the land underpins their expertise
to guide people through often harsh and desolate Country and to locate missing or
wanted persons.
"We know they were often removed from their families,
against their will, to be Police Trackers and that they were not adequately
paid for their time. Records show that many ran away within days or weeks of
arriving at a station.
"It is important that we acknowledge
these uncomfortable truths while providing Aboriginal people with the resources
they need to learn more about their family history."
More information:
The police stations covered in
the Aboriginal Trackers of Western Australia Index were in the following towns:
- Gascoyne
- Carnarvon and Gascoyne Junction
- Goldfields-Esperance
- Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, Laverton, Menzies and Norseman
- Great Southern - Mount Barker
- Kimberley - Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing,
Halls Creek, Turkey Creek and Wyndham
- Mid West - Leonora, Meekatharra, Mount
Magnet, Mullewa, Wiluna and Yalgoo
- Murchison - Lawlers, Peak Hill and
Sandstone
- Perth
Metro - Perth Stables
- Pilbara - Marble Bar, Nullagine,
Onslow, Port Hedland and Roebourne
- South West - Bridgetown
- Wheatbelt - Merredin, Moora, Narrogin, Northam and Southern
Cross
AHWA background:
- Aboriginal
History Research Unit (AHRU) was established following the release of the report
of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children from their families (Bringing Them Home 1997). The reportmade
multiple recommendationsthat relate to the provision of family history
services, endorsed family reunion, and information dissemination and access to
state records.
- 1997
was when the 'Aboriginal History Research Unit' (AHRU) was formalised.
- When
AHRU moved to DLGSC from the former Department of Aboriginal Affairs as part of
the Machinery of Government changes, it became Aboriginal History Western
Australia (AHWA) which consists of both the AHRU, and a special projects
branch. AHRU was renamed to 'Aboriginal History Research Service'.
