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White-Aboriginal Relations in Western Australia: An Overview
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2009
Extract
This article is an attempt to survey, in a thematic fashion, the history of whiteaboriginal relations in Western Australia. Although it is based on research into the period from 1897 to 1954,1 the author believes that the more recent developments have not basically affected the validity of the comments here presented. He is also convinced that, speaking broadly, they are applicable to the Australian scene as a whole. The article should therefore be of interest to the students of white-aboriginal relations anywhere in Australia.
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- Copyright © Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History 1968
References
1 Native Administration and Welfare in Western Australia 1897–1954, M.A. Thesis, University of Western Australia, 1965Google Scholar
2 Observer (Sydney), 13 June 1959.
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6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., p. 58.
8 See Grey, G., Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, 2 vols. (London, 1841), vol. 2, pp. 373–88.Google Scholar
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14 Rowley, , “Aborigines and Other Australians”, p. 249Google Scholar. Note, however, John Wilson's comment that while mass reprisals (in the north-west) were thought deplorable, especially when children were shot by the settlers, they were partially excused on the grounds that members of both cultures were “wild old fellows”. The atrocities were not resented so much as being “knocked back”, that is the refusal by the station owners of clothing, tobacco and other amenities. (Authority and Leadership in a ‘New-Style’ Australian Aboriginal Community: Pindan, Western Australia, M.A. Thesis, University of Western Australia, 1961, p. 36.)Google Scholar
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16 At least two inquiries into the native problem can be attributed to this criticism. See Report of Royal Commission on the Conditions of Natives, Parl. Paper 5/1905, and Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Investigate, Report and Advise upon Matters in Relation to the Condition and Treatment of Aborigines, Parl. Paper 2/1935.
17 The aborigines' right of access to their tribal grounds was acknowledged by the 1864 Land Regulations (Government Gazette, 24 August 1864) and the 1898 Land Act.
18 Elkin, A.P., “Reaction and Interaction: A Food Gathering People and European Settlement in Australia”, American Anthropologist, 1951, p. 168.Google Scholar
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20 Report on Survey of Native Affairs by F.E.A.Bateman, Part. Paper 19/1948.
21 Moola Bulla, Violet Valley and Munja, established in 1910, 1911 and 1926 respectively. Violet Valley was closed in 1940, Munja in 1949, while Moola Bulla was sold to private interests in 1955.
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49 Durack, M., “From Yallangonga to Namatjira: a Noted Author Surveys Native Education”, W.A. Teachers Journal, 04 1961, p. 53.Google Scholar
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51 Ibid., p.P. 104.
52 Barnard, M., A History of Australia (Sydney, 1962), p. 666.Google Scholar
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