During this period an increasing concern for the plight of Australian Aborigines led to the establishment of a Federal Aborigines work, located largely in Western Australia. The beginnings of this work are detailed in Stephenson (Ed.), One Hundred Years. Included here are an article by A.R. Main and an account of a conference decision establishing the work.

1. The Problem
2. A Federal Aborigines Mission Board

1. THE PROBLEM

The Shane Quarterly, Vol. I, No. 3, July 1940, pp. 210-221.

      My purpose is not to give a detailed statement of the status, cultus or history of the Australian aborigines, but rather to indicate the problem confronting the Commonwealth and the individual States of Australia, the growing concern which is everywhere being felt by the people of this island continent in the remnant of the original inhabitants who have been dispossessed of their ancestral lands by the coming of the white man, and the general plans of the respective governments as well as of Christian churches and mission agencies for the improvement of their sad condition.

      As in other lands, so in Australia, lack of proper consideration, unfair and brutal treatment, sometimes wanton slaying, introduction of the white man's vices and diseases, have characterized the association or conflict of 'the races, with dreadful results and diminution of the ranks of the aboriginal people.

      It is 170 years since Captain Cook landed on the shores of Botany Bay, in what is now known as New South Wales. The "First Fleet" arrived there in 1778. Land in the vicinity being found unsuitable for settlement, the expedition moved to what is now known as Port Jackson, formal possession being taken by Captain Phillip on 26th January, 1788, proclamation of the colony following on 7th February.

      The Commonwealth of Australia came into being on 1st January, 1901. The names and dates of creation of the six colonies (now known as States) and the Northern Territory, which were then federated, were: New South Wales, 1786; Tasmania, 1825; Western Australia, 1829; South Australia, 1834; Victoria, 1851; Queensland, 1859; Northern Territory, 1863.

      When he approached the shore in one of the "Endeavour's" boats Captain Cook threw some beads and nails to some alarmed and threatening aborigines. The men seemed pleased with these gifts, but showed resentment and a determination to resist the intrusion when a landing was being made. Some spears were thrown by the blacks, and in return a few musket shots were fired. The navigators received a very favorable impression of the aborigines' "courage and intrepidity," and Captain Cook visited some of their huts and left other gifts. After telling of this early encounter between blacks and whites, Mr. Alexander Sutherland, one of our Australian historians, writes: "Unhappy denizens of the forest! The strife you challenge is an unequal one. Arrows are no match for muskets, and your shields are no defence. While your race has slumbered, civilisation in the West has advanced with giant strides; science has altered the face of nature; and the hour has now struck when your solitude is to be disturbed by those whose contact will make of you and yours but a memory of the past."

      Time has shown how ill equipped the black man was to meet the challenge of the white. Not a solitary individual of Tasmania's aborigines survives, that State's last full-blood native dying in 1876, ten years before Alexander Sutherland's words, "but a memory of the past," were printed. Since then Victoria's full-blood aborigines have almost become extinct, while in the mother State of New South Wales but a few hundreds survive.

      In a report to the Minister for the Interior, a distinguished anthropologist, Dr. Donald Thomson, D.Sc., Dip. Anthrop.; F.R.A.I., who had been commissioned by the Federal Government to make a detailed investigation and report of the aborigines in the Northern Territory, wrote in 1936 of the depopulation as follows:

      "The most definite conclusion to be drawn from this preliminary work in the Northern Territory is the undeniable fact that the native population is not only dying out rapidly, but that it is already on the road to extinction. Extensive tracts of fertile country that formerly supported large native populations are in many instances already completely depopulated, and unless steps of a positive character are taken without delay, I am convinced that the fate of the aboriginal is sealed."

      A very brief comparative statement regarding the present and past aboriginal population of Australia will show the extent of the decline. It can readily be understood that estimates of the number of aborigines in Australia have shown remarkable variation. Australia, which is about the size of the United States of America (Alaska excluded), has an area of 2,974,581 square miles. The requisite data for estimates of the early population are very meagre. In an important article on "Former Numbers and Distribution of the Australian Aborigines," which appeared in the Official Year Book of .the Commonwealth of Australia far 1930, A.R. Radcliffe Brown, Professor of Anthropology in the University of Sydney, after giving a detailed survey, stated his final conclusion thus: "I would say that the available evidence points to the original population of Australia having been certainly over 250,000, and quite possibly, or even probably, over 300,000." He estimated the distribution of the minimum population of 251,000 to have been as follows: Queensland, 100,000; Western Australia, 52,000; New South Wales, 40,000; Northern Territory, 35,000; Victoria, 11,500; South Australia, 10,000; Tasmania,

2,500. Over the whole of Australia the average density of the aboriginal population is estimated to have been one person for every twelve square miles, being very low 'in the arid part and as high as three persons in ten square miles is a considerable area.

      The Commonwealth Statistician (Dr. Roland Wilson) made available on 1st February, 1940, the following particulars obtained from the census of Australian aborigines taken in all the States on 30th June, 1939. With the assistance of the State Statisticians, the Protectors of Aborigines and the Police, an annual census of the aboriginal population of Australia has been taken since the year 1924. Certain particulars had been ascertained before that date in some States, but an annual census had not been attempted. Dr. Wilson points out that owing to numerous difficulties of collection, the figures he gives should not be taken as more than reliable estimates.

      The full-blood aboriginal population in Australia at 30th June, 1939, was 51,557 persons, of whom 28,746, or 55.8 per cent, were males, and 22,811, or 44.2 per cent., were females. The State distribution was given as follows: Western Australia, 21,8.'8, Northern Territory, 14,089; Queensland, 12,030; South Australia, 2,604; New South Wales 794; Victoria, 81; Tasmania, 1. The figures for Western Australia include 10,000 full-blood aboriginals estimated to live outside the influence of Europeans. These figures will show that visitors to the cities of Australia should not expect to find aborigines at all street corners. Hosts of our people never see an aborigine except on very rare occasions.

      The Commonwealth Statistician points out that the recorded numbers of the full-blood population remained fairly steady between 1921 and 1933, but in 1934 a complete check of most of the outlying districts of Western Australia and Northern Territory was responsible for a substantial revision of the figures for these areas, and the total for Australia dropped from 60,101 persons in 1933 to 54,848 in 1934. From 1934 to 1938 the numbers declined during each year, but there was a small increase in 1939.

      The causes for the decline are numerous. It would be easy to dwell on atrocities and wanton slaying of past days, and on cases of shocking treatment in more recent times. There have been lack of understanding and much neglect. Apart from other causes the meeting of two utterly different cultures has led to the dying out of the weaker aborigines. Dr. Donald Thomson, after living with the aborigines for five or six years, says:

      "Culturally, when it comes into contact with civilisation, the highly specialised and complex organisation of the aboriginal is unstable. It begins to crumble, and chaos follows in every case. The aborigine is unable to grasp the philosophy of the white man's life; he sees, and is attracted only by the 'flashy' and superficial, the less important, the material things--tobacco, clothes, alcohol, and objects of material wealth. He will sacrifice everything to gain possession of these, and when he gets them he loses his own interest is his own culture, he loses his grip, he can get neither backward nor forward, and he dies, ultimately, in a dreadful state of spiritual and cultural agnosticism, adrift in a no man's land between the world of the white man and the black."

      White men's diseases work great havoc with native races the world over. Dr. Thomson points out that the aborigines have no racial immunity to even common diseases and have no chance to acquire an active immunity. Thus even simple epidemics, such as measles, are very lethal. Contact with the vices of "poor whites," and in Northern Territory demoralization by association with Japanese trepangers, have had a dreadful effect on the aboriginal. Interference with the totemic life of the natives has resulted in a breaking down of their social organization. The occupation by white settlers of former aboriginal hunting grounds has interfered with food supplies. Natives, often without thought of evil, accordingly killed some of the white man's cattle, and this led to reprisals in which the natives suffered much.

      It has been usual to regard Australian aborigines as the lowest of all races in the scale of culture. That view has been considerably modified in recent years, and they are not proven to be inferior to natives of Papua or New Guinea. The aborigines have their own legal and moral codes. Some have taken an honored place in the community. Many have accepted Christianity and become intelligent and loyal followers of Christ, and some have been preachers of the Word. David Unaipon, a full-blooded aborigine, says:

      "I never go on a journey or a business without a Testament in my pocket . . . Sixty or seventy years ago my people were wandering about with spears and boomerangs, living their wild and savage life; but the coming of the Gospel has changed all this, and I stand as one of many who have been brought out of darkness into light."

      The aboriginal has many good qualities. The Administrator of the Northern Territory (Mr. C. L. A. Abbott) writes:

      "I see him as a tracker, as a Government messenger, as a stockman, as a handy man and in 'domestic service' and in the patrol service. In all these tasks he equips himself well. His mind is childlike, and, if this be remembered, he is trustworthy. In performing the work of a tracker, he is, I should think, unsurpassed."

      Dr. Donald Thomson pays high tribute to the trustworthiness and faithfulness of the natives. He travelled safely without a revolver, and when he was short of food the natives brought food and showed the most friendly concern for his welfare. He dismisses as a myth the commonly accepted belief that

aborigines communicate by "smoke signal" or a more mysterious "bush telegram," and declares that the remarkable knowledge which they show is due to "ability to take a note of facts and to draw a perfectly logical, scientific conclusion from them." Aboriginal nomadic hunters "are the first to laugh at any suggestion of such things as 'smoke signals land 'bush telegraphs."

      The question of cannibalism amongst Australian natives has been much discussed. In her book "The Passing of the Aborigines" Mrs. Daisy Bates vouches for the existence of a wide-spread cannibalism, including "baby cannibalism." Mr. Sweeney, a Methodist lay missioner in Northern Territory referred a few weeks ago to three groups who practice cannibalism by eating the bodies of dead natives who have died in the prime of life. They do not interfere, he says, with the bodies of persons who died from old age, disease, or with those of children. The flesh they cook and eat is that of people who have been killed in inter-tribal battles, who have died from injuries received during the chase, who have been fatally bitten by crocodiles, or who have met their death in other fortuitous ways. Mr. Sweeney found no evidence that natives kill each other for food. Dr. Thomson states that cannibalism is of a ceremonial type only, and not practiced for food or for lack of food supply.

      The half-caste aboriginal population, which is steadily increasing, constitutes a special problem. The census of 30th June, 1939, showed that there were 25,712 half-castes in the Commonwealth, distributed as follows: New South Wales, 10,069; Queensland, 6,778; Western Australia, 4,688; South Australia, 2,197; Northern Territory, 913; Victoria, 719; Tasmania, 273; Australian Capital Territory, 75. While the number of full-blood aboriginals has declined, the number of half-castes has rapidly increased. Whereas in 1921 the aboriginal population consisted of 82.3 per cent. full bloods and 17.7 per cent. half-castes, by 1939 the proportion of full-bloods had fallen to 66.7 per cent. and that of the half-caste had risen to 33.3 per cent. Since 1901 the half-caste aboriginals have more than trebled their numbers, increasing from 7,370 in that year to 25,712 in 1939. The rate of growth, the Commonwealth Statisticians reports, has been consistently maintained, there being 10,113 in 1911, 12,630 in 1921, and 19,014 in 1931. Since 1901 the half-caste aboriginals have been increasing at a consistently higher average rate than the while population.

      At a Conference of Commonwealth and State Aboriginal Authorities held at Canberra in 1937 the Western Australian Commissioner spoke of his State's "long range policy," and its acceptance of the view that ultimately the natives must be absorbed into the white population of Australia. The Conference carried the following resolution: "That this Conference believes that the destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in the ultimate absorption by the people of the Commonwealth, and it thereupon recommends that all efforts be directed to that end." Queensland has not favored this plan. Its Chief Protector stated at the Conference:

      "In Queensland there is a definite opposition to any scheme for the marriage of half-caste girls to white men for the following reasons:

      (1) None but the lowest type of white man will be willing to marry a half-caste girl, and as half-caste women married by white men are likely to gravitate to aboriginal associations, such marriages have very little chance of being successful; (2) there is danger of blood transmission or 'throw-back' as it is called, especially as the introduced blood, as in many Latin races, has already a taint of white blood; (3) such a scheme makes no provision for other wives of young men of the same breed."

      In Western Australia, where the half-castes have multiplied four times over in 30 years, the problem is acute. Some are growing up as outcasts. There are cases of seduction of half-caste girls by white men, and there have been marriages between half-caste women and white men, but it has been estimated that at least 90 per cent of the unions today are between colored people, many unions being reported to be between half-castes and full-bloods.

      Each State Government has control of the aborigines within its borders. The Commonwealth Government is responsible for those in Northern Territory, the Minister for the Interior being vested with their control, and a Chief Protector being stationed at Darwin. In the various States, Aborigine Protection Boards and Chief Protectors or Commissioners have charge. Repeated requests have been made that the Commonwealth should assume control of all the aborigines in Australia, and that a kind of national council should be set up to deal with matters affecting aborigines. The Commonwealth Government consulted the State Premiers Conference on the subject, and it was then decided that it was impracticable to hand over all control to the Commonwealth, but that it would be advisable to have periodic conferences of Chief Protectors and Boards controlling aborigines in the States and in Northern Territory.

      In the opening address of the Initial Conference in 1937, the Minister for the Interior described it as "an epoch-making event," and expressed the following excellent sentiments:

      "The welfare of the aboriginal people is a matter in which all the Governments of Australia are vitally interested, and into which politics do not enter. Although the political opinions of governments may differ materially on general questions of policy, there is only one consideration where aborigines are concerned, and that is: What is best for their welfare? The problem calls for the earnest consideration of all Ministers and officers vested with the duty of controlling natives and ministering to their wants."

      It would be easy to quote many official statements declaring the desires and aims of governments and government departments. These may be offset against denunciations of official laxity and indifference. We need not doubt the good intentions of governments, but the aborigines lack voting power, or the backing of any political party, and fair words are not always followed up by works. A month before I write these words, the Commonwealth Minister for Information (Sir Henry Gullett) in a reply to a deputation of citizens which protested against the reduction of the Federal grant for aborigines, said: "I know of no greater indictment against Australia than the fate of its original owners." The dreadful fate of these could to a great extent have been avoided and their present unhappy condition greatly ameliorated if there had been such a real concern as would translate the sympathy of words into action. Yet it is very heartening to know that the consciences of many Australians, including responsible officials, are being aroused.

      Scattered throughout Australia there are reserves and institutions under aboriginal boards where blacks are protected, housed and encouraged to work, and children receive an elementary education, usually at mission stations, but there are still many nomads who rarely come under the notice of the boards. In the Northern Territory the Commonwealth Government has set apart 15 aboriginal reserves comprising an area of 67,244 square miles.

      The expenditure of the various Governments from consolidated revenue on the aborigines for the year 1936-1937, according to the Commonwealth Year Book for 1938, was as follows: Queensland, 57,337 pounds; New South Wales, 45,039 pounds; Western Australia, 30,224 pounds; South Australia, 30,071 pounds; Northern Territory, 11,924 pounds; Victoria, 7,492 pounds; total, 182,087 pounds. In addition, of course, large sums and gifts of food and clothing are contributed by Christian people through the various missions. It is constantly being urged that much more be done by the Governments.

      Laws and regulations exist for the protection of aborigines from the white man's vices. Laws have been passed against supply of liquor and narcotics and cohabitation of white men with native women, and for due administration of justice, provision of medical care, and such like. But much remains to be done. Amongst recent citizen demands are the following: "that full citizenship rights be granted to civilized aborigines and half-castes; that trained patrol officers be provided instead of police protectors; that medical mission stations be established; that assistant patrols of aboriginal blood, and trained women protectors and welfare officers should be appointed; that adequate Federal grants be made to State Governments with a view to Federal control ultimately; and that special care should be taken of the huge half-caste population of the southwestern part of Western Australia.

      The age of indifference is passing, and people and Government seem to be awakening to a sense of responsibility. Christian people are greatly concerned, and will see that apathy and neglect are not allowed to continue. The fact that Foundation Day was this year celebrated by an "Aboriginal Sunday" in which, throughout the Commonwealth, the needs of the aborigines and our social and religious obligations to them were stressed, is a happy augury of a brighter day.

      Numerous church missions have been established, especially in Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, where the aborigines are most numerous. New South Wales and South Australia also have some missions. In Victoria nearly all the aborigines are settled on one reserve beautifully situated at Lake Tyers, Gippsland. Roman Catholic, Church of England, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Methodist Churches have the greatest number of missions, but other communions are also at work on their own stations, while many workers of different bodies, including members of Churches of Christ, are laboring in various States under the direction of the United Aborigines' Mission and the Aborigines' Inland Mission of Australia. Christian men and women in the different States are co-operating with various associations formed to safeguard the interests of the natives and to promote their welfare, such as the Association for the Protection of Native Races (Sydney), Aborigines' Friends Association (Adelaide), Australian Aborigines Amelioration Association (Perth), and Aborigines' Uplift Society, (Melbourne).

      Some of the Australian Governments are very sympathetic in their attitude to missions, to which numerous very appreciative tributes have been paid. Queensland Government, for example, liberally supports all missions, and leaves them to work unhindered. It is not uncommon in that State for loans to be made free of interest, and these often become gifts. Buildings, equipment and implements are often supplied. The annual report of the Chief Protector of Aborigines for 1938 contains the following commendation:

      "Admiration must also be expressed for the self-sacrificing work of the superintendents and staffs of the various religious Mission Stations, who are performing a valuable service to the State in caring for

      and protecting the primitive tribes, in isolated places and in trying conditions." This report tells of a "good measure of progress in the betterment of the native" due to co-operative effort of State officials (including police) and the missions. The Queensland Government is the only one which has subsidized missions to any considerable extent.

      In February, 1939, the Minister for the Interior, in a pamphlet on the "Commonwealth Government's Policy with Respect to Aboriginals," states that that policy hitherto appears to have been one merely dealing with the physical needs of the natives as the needs become apparent. Hence medical care, institutions for half-caste children, and rations have been provided. Only "some small subsidies have been paid by the Government to the missions." The minister writes that "it is recognized that there must be some religious training to instill into these people some stability of character to replace that which has been lost by the destruction of their ancient philosophy and moral code through contact with civilization." The pamphlet contains the following important statement regarding the Government's future policy:

      "As to the general care of aboriginals, in the first place the Government will co-operate more extensively with the missions. This will involve increasing Government subsidies to the missions, but it will be stipulated that all subsidies shall be contingent upon the missions following a general policy for the physical care and training of aboriginals in accordance with the requirements of the Native Affairs Branch.

      "It is felt that, through the use of missions, there should be a more effective serviced given to the native who is emerging from the tribal state, or who is in the deplorable condition of being a 'hanger-on' with no objective in life. Their recent loss of all stability of character through the destruction of their ancient spiritual beliefs leaves them in a condition which cannot be met by providing them with ordinary physical needs, education or training. If these people are to be given any stability of character, they must be provided with something of a spiritual nature to replace the ancient beliefs which they have lost. It is considered that Church Missions, subsidized and, as to their activities other than spiritual, supervised by the Native Affairs Branch, are better able to provide the service necessary for this class of native than any government institution."

      This is a welcome statement of policy, and one more Christian and practicable than the absolute segregation of primitive natives and exclusion from all contact with others. The first of the recommendations made to the Government by Dr. Donald Thomson, anthropologist, was "that the remnant of native tribes in Federal Territory not yet disorganized or detribalized by prolonged contact with alien culture be absolutely segregated, and that it be the policy of the Government to preserve intact their social organization, their social and political institutions, and their culture in its entirety." Dr. Thomson well knows that "experts vary:" No Christians will be likely to discount the help which anthropologists can give, and many have pleaded for the establishment of an Anthropological Committee to study the customs of the aboriginal races. But it is felt that even were it desirable, which is questionable, absolute segregation is not possible. "Sooner or later the black must face the new day. Missionaries contend that it is necessary to prepare him for that contact."

      In Western Australia a storm of criticism and indignation has been aroused by the issue of Regulations Made Under Native Administration Act, 1905-1906, which now have the force of law. These include regulations as to the establishment of mission stations and the issue of licenses to mission workers. The chief points of these are:

      "No mission for the evangelization of the natives or for other kindred purpose shall be established or attempted to be established until the governing authority, church, society, or individual concerned is first in possession of the authority of the Minister (i. e., Minister for Native Affairs) to establish such mission."

      "No worker other than a native, but including native missionaries, appointed by any governing body or church authority, superintendent, manager or missionary, to work in any mission, itinerant or otherwise, shall enter upon his duties unless he has been granted in like manner a license."

      "No person not being a mission worker shall establish, attempt to establish or conduct a school for natives without the consent of the Minister:"

      "Penalties of fine and/or imprisonment are provided for breaches of these regulations. On the permit forms to be issued to workers appears the words: "This License is not transferable, neither does it authorize the person to whom it is issued to work elsewhere than at the Mission named hereon."

      Church leaders are vehemently protesting against these regulations, which they regard as an infringement of the crown rights of the Lord Jesus Christ. The authorities, it is stated, by embarking upon this policy of attempting to control religious activities, are doing what no Parliament in the British Empire has dared to do for the last three hundred years. It is scarcely conceivable that churches or missionaries now at work in Western Australia will cravenly subject themselves to secular control and accept dictation as to whether they shall preach Christ to people for whom He gave Himself. If the Government attempts to punish by imprisonment those who put first the claims of Christ, doubtless the free people of the Western State will speedily sweep it aside. In any case Christians will not allow the Department of Native Affairs to interfere with the inalienable right to preach freely the Gospel of Christ.

      It may be allowed that some very unwise, or even grotesque, means of "converting" natives have been employed (see Mrs. Daisy Bates' "The Passing of the Aborigines"), and that a belief in the low mentality and the speedy passing of the aborigines has encouraged the sending amongst them of some missionaries very poorly equipped for their task. But in many cases excellent work has been done by able and devoted missionaries.

      On the day on which I write release has been made of part of the first report of the Federal Director of Native Affairs (Mr. E. W. P. Chinnery). In it he recommends to the Commonwealth Government a considerably increased use of missions in assisting the aborigines and half-castes of the Northern Territory, in which he also strongly recommends the establishment of a Court of Native Affairs. He urges the Government to keep native reserves inviolate as long as possible, and to make protection for the inmates if they are opened for mining or other purposes. Mr. Chinnery proposes that until the establishment of Government stations the education of aboriginal children should be left to the missions, which should receive proper subsidies. Reasonable grants, he says, should also be made to the missions to enable them to extend the training of aborigines in food production and industry suitable to their districts, and to control aged and infirm aborigines, treat the sick, and generally protect the aborigines. The missions should also be invited to take over the training of all half-caste children in suitable places remote from towns, or, if they are unwilling to do this, a Government training institution should be established on an island off North Australia. The report emphasizes the need for more technical training among aborigines and half-castes, and suggests that, after training, suitable half-castes should be assisted to settle on small holdings.

      The Federal Conference now possesses an abundance of data and recommendations. It has often declared its desire for increased care and protection. The Christian people of Australia long for the day when promises will be fulfilled and such action be taken as will remove a long-standing reproach to our civilization.

2. A FEDERAL ABORIGINES MISSION BOARD

A.C., 1941, p. 471.

      This was a major item arising, as the last conference had instructed the executive to explore the possibilities of this work. The W.A. delegation came with a proposal to amend the constitution to permit of the creation of an aborigines' board. The amendment to the Federal constitution was presented by Bro. Albany Bell (W.A.), and carried unanimously. It creates a new board known as the Australian Aborigines' Mission Board, to be comprised of seven members elected by the Federal conference from members of the West Australian churches nominated by the conference executive of that State. The board will be located in Perth. Each State shall be entitled to appoint a State Aborigines' Committee comprised of not more than seven members. Such committees shall be appointed in the respective State according to the custom and rules applying to that State. Subject to the approval of the Federal conference and the consent of the co-operating State committees. The board shall have the direction and control of all work among the aborigines, including the raising and dispensing of funds. The State committees that are appointed shall be kept informed of all business dealt with and to be dealt with by the board, and shall be guided in its decision by the wishes of the State committees. Any vacancy occurring on the board shall be filled by the remaining members subject to the approval of the Federal executive. The board shall be elected at each Federal conference, and shall submit complete reports of its operations and financial position to each

State and Federal conference

      A further resolution was adopted: "That in order to facilitate prompt action, each State conference executive be requested to appoint an interim committee on the aborigines question pending the holding of the respective conferences."

[NOF 556-562]