Race Hysteria, Darwin 1938

Australian Feminist Studies

Volumn 16, Issue 34, 2001, Pages 43-59

  Paisley, Fiona ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0345878146     PISSN: 08164649     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/08164640120038908     Document Type: Article

References (115)

1. As argued by Peggy Brock, 'Protecting Colonial Interests: Aborigines and Criminal Justice', Journal of Australian Studies, no. 53, 1997, pp. 120-9. See also Ann McGrath, 'Colonialism, Crime and Civilisation', Australian Cultural History, no. 12, 1993, pp. 100-14; and Mark Finnane, 'The Government of the Aborigines' in Police and Government: Histories of Policing in Australia (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994, pp. 111-30.
2. As argued by Peggy Brock, 'Protecting Colonial Interests: Aborigines and Criminal Justice', Journal of Australian Studies, no. 53, 1997, pp. 120-9. See also Ann McGrath, 'Colonialism, Crime and Civilisation', Australian Cultural History, no. 12, 1993, pp. 100-14; and Mark Finnane, 'The Government of the Aborigines' in Police and Government: Histories of Policing in Australia (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994, pp. 111-30.
3. As argued by Peggy Brock, 'Protecting Colonial Interests: Aborigines and Criminal Justice', Journal of Australian Studies, no. 53, 1997, pp. 120-9. See also Ann McGrath, 'Colonialism, Crime and Civilisation', Australian Cultural History, no. 12, 1993, pp. 100-14; and Mark Finnane, 'The Government of the Aborigines' in Police and Government: Histories of Policing in Australia (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994, pp. 111-30.
4. Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 1938.
5. Daily Telegraph, 17 February 1938. The following account of the trial and letters surrounding the case draws on newspaper clippings, memoranda and letters contained in 'Assaults by Aborigines on White Women, N.T.', National Archives of Australia, A1/15, 1938/4793. Newspaper clippings included in the file lack page numbers. All letters come from this file unless otherwise specified.
6. Argus, 17 February 1938. See also Ann McGrath, 'Mirror of the North' in B. Gammage and P. Spearritt (eds), Australians 1938 (Fairfax, Syme and Weldon) Sydney, 1987, p. 41.
7. Argus, 17 February 1938. See also Ann McGrath, 'Mirror of the North' in B. Gammage and P. Spearritt (eds), Australians 1938 (Fairfax, Syme and Weldon) Sydney, 1987, p. 41.
8. Mary Louise Pratt, Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation (Routledge) London, 1996, pp. 6-7.
9. Sydney Morning Herald, 4 March 1938.
10. Melbourne Herald, 4 March 1938.
11. Sydney Morning Herald, 4 March 1938.
12. Darwin Administrator C.L.A. Abbott to J.A. Carrodus, Secretary, Department of Interior, 8 March 1938. McNab had been responsible for the arrest of Elijah.
13. Sydney Morning Herald, 20 April 1938.
14. Sydney Morning Herald, 20 April 1938.
15. Jackie Huggins with Thorn Blake, 'Protection or Persecution? Gender Relations in the Era of Racial Segregation' in Kay Saunders and Raymond Evans (eds), Gender Relations in Australia: Domination and Negotiation (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) Sydney, 1992, pp. 42-58; Ann McGrath, 'Born in the Cattle' Aborigines in Cattle Country (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1987, pp. 70ff; Henry Reynolds, With the White People: the Crucial Role of Aborigines in the Exploration and Development of Australia (Penguin) Ringwood, 1990, chapter 3.
16. Jackie Huggins with Thorn Blake, 'Protection or Persecution? Gender Relations in the Era of Racial Segregation' in Kay Saunders and Raymond Evans (eds), Gender Relations in Australia: Domination and Negotiation (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) Sydney, 1992, pp. 42-58; Ann McGrath, 'Born in the Cattle' Aborigines in Cattle Country (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1987, pp. 70ff; Henry Reynolds, With the White People: the Crucial Role of Aborigines in the Exploration and Development of Australia (Penguin) Ringwood, 1990, chapter 3.
17. Jackie Huggins with Thorn Blake, 'Protection or Persecution? Gender Relations in the Era of Racial Segregation' in Kay Saunders and Raymond Evans (eds), Gender Relations in Australia: Domination and Negotiation (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) Sydney, 1992, pp. 42-58; Ann McGrath, 'Born in the Cattle' Aborigines in Cattle Country (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1987, pp. 70ff; Henry Reynolds, With the White People: the Crucial Role of Aborigines in the Exploration and Development of Australia (Penguin) Ringwood, 1990, chapter 3.
18. Tony Austin, Never Trust a Government Man: Northern Territory Aboriginal Policy 1911-1939 (Northern Territory University Press) Darwin, 1997, p. 198.
19. 'An Ordinance Relating to Aboriginals', Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, no. 87, 13 June 1918, pp. 1245-58.
20. McGrath, 'Colonialism, Crime and Civilisation', p. 105.
21. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938.
22. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938.
23. 'An Ordinance Relating to Aboriginals', section 58, p. 1256.
24. Sun, 7 March 1938. This is his name as it appears in newspaper reports. That its Chinese or Malaysian appearance was not commented upon by contemporaries suggests a far more complex history of Aboriginal/Asian connections in Darwin than it is possible to investigate in this article.
25. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938, Argus, 20 April 1938, Melbourne Herald, 20 April 1938, Sun, 20 April 1938 and Canberra Times, 21 April 1938.
26. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938, Argus, 20 April 1938, Melbourne Herald, 20 April 1938, Sun, 20 April 1938 and Canberra Times, 21 April 1938.
27. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938, Argus, 20 April 1938, Melbourne Herald, 20 April 1938, Sun, 20 April 1938 and Canberra Times, 21 April 1938.
28. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938, Argus, 20 April 1938, Melbourne Herald, 20 April 1938, Sun, 20 April 1938 and Canberra Times, 21 April 1938.
29. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938, Argus, 20 April 1938, Melbourne Herald, 20 April 1938, Sun, 20 April 1938 and Canberra Times, 21 April 1938.
30. Amirah Inglis, The White Women's Protection Ordinance: Sexual Anxiety and Politics in Papua (Sussex University Press) London, 1975, pp. 29-33; David Garment, Looking at Darwin's Past: Material Evidence of European Settlement in Tropical Australia (North Australia Research Unit, Australian National University) Darwin, 1996, p. 13.
31. Amirah Inglis, The White Women's Protection Ordinance: Sexual Anxiety and Politics in Papua (Sussex University Press) London, 1975, pp. 29-33; David Garment, Looking at Darwin's Past: Material Evidence of European Settlement in Tropical Australia (North Australia Research Unit, Australian National University) Darwin, 1996, p. 13.
32. A. Koepanger was initally blamed for the assault in Packsaddle's case. The name 'Koepanger' was derived from Kupang in present-day West Timor.
33. C.D. Rowley, The Destruction of Aboriginal Society (Penguin) Harmondsworth, 1970, p. 290.
34. McGrath, 'Born in the Cattle', p. 87. Very few Japanese women lived in Darwin, most working as prostitutes. Clive Moore, 'A Precious Few: Melanesian and Asian Women in Northern Australia' in Saunders and Evans, Gender Relations in Australia, p. 69.
35. McGrath, 'Born in the Cattle', p. 87. Very few Japanese women lived in Darwin, most working as prostitutes. Clive Moore, 'A Precious Few: Melanesian and Asian Women in Northern Australia' in Saunders and Evans, Gender Relations in Australia, p. 69.
36. Inglis, The White Women's Protection Ordinance, p. 27.
37. Garment, Looking at Darwin's Past, p. 71.
38. Austin, Never Trust a Government Man, p. 196.
39. Russell McGregor, Imagined Destinies: Aboriginal Australians and the Doomed Race Theory, 1880-1939 (Melbourne University Press) Melbourne, 1997, pp. 148ff.
40. Marie Hansen Fels, Good Men and True: the Aboriginal Police of the Port Phillip District 1837-1853 (Melbourne University Press) Melbourne, 1988, p. 103.
41. McGrath, 'Born in the Cattle', p. 103.
42. Melbourne Herald, 7 March 1938.
43. For example, Jackie Huggins, with Thorn Blake, '"Firing on in the Mind": Aboriginal Women Domestic Servants in the Inter-war Years', Hecate, vol. 13, no. 2, 1987/8, pp. 5-23; Heather Goodall, '"Saving the Children": Gender and the Colonisation of Aboriginal Children in New South Wales, 1788-1990', Aboriginal Law Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 44, 1990, pp. 6-9; and Fiona Paisley, 'Unnecessary Crimes and Tragedies': Race, Gender and Sexuality in Australian Policies of Aboriginal Child Removal' in A. Burton (ed.), Gender, Sexuality and Colonial Modernities (Routledge) New York, 1999, pp. 134-47.
44. For example, Jackie Huggins, with Thorn Blake, '"Firing on in the Mind": Aboriginal Women Domestic Servants in the Inter-war Years', Hecate, vol. 13, no. 2, 1987/8, pp. 5-23; Heather Goodall, '"Saving the Children": Gender and the Colonisation of Aboriginal Children in New South Wales, 1788-1990', Aboriginal Law Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 44, 1990, pp. 6-9; and Fiona Paisley, 'Unnecessary Crimes and Tragedies': Race, Gender and Sexuality in Australian Policies of Aboriginal Child Removal' in A. Burton (ed.), Gender, Sexuality and Colonial Modernities (Routledge) New York, 1999, pp. 134-47.
45. For example, Jackie Huggins, with Thorn Blake, '"Firing on in the Mind": Aboriginal Women Domestic Servants in the Inter-war Years', Hecate, vol. 13, no. 2, 1987/8, pp. 5-23; Heather Goodall, '"Saving the Children": Gender and the Colonisation of Aboriginal Children in New South Wales, 1788-1990', Aboriginal Law Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 44, 1990, pp. 6-9; and Fiona Paisley, 'Unnecessary Crimes and Tragedies': Race, Gender and Sexuality in Australian Policies of Aboriginal Child Removal' in A. Burton (ed.), Gender, Sexuality and Colonial Modernities (Routledge) New York, 1999, pp. 134-47.
46. Mrinalini Sinha, 'Gender and Imperialism: Colonial Policy and the Ideology of Moral Imperialism in Late Nineteenth Century Bengal' in Michael S. Kimmel (ed.), Changing Men. New Directions in Research on Men and Masculinity (Sage Publications) Newbury Park, 1987, p. 218.
47. Elizabeth A Povinelli, 'Sex Acts and Sovereignty: Race and Sexuality in the Construction of the Australian Nation' in R.N. Lancaster and M. di Leonardo (eds), The Gender/Sexuality Reader: Culture, History, Political Economy (Routledge) New York, 1997, pp. 514-28.
48. Raymond Evans, Kay Saunders and Kathryn Cronin, Race Relations in Colonial Queensland: a History of Exclusion, Exploitation and Extermination (University of Queensland Press) St Lucia, 1975/88, pp. 67-84.
49. Carmel Harris, 'The "Terror of the Law" as Applied to Black Rapists in Colonial Queensland', Hecate, vol. 8, no. 2, 1982, pp. 25, 44.
50. Bain Attwood, The Making of the Aborigines (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1989, p. 124.
51. Patricia Grimshaw et al., Creating a Nation (McPhee Gribble) Ringwood, 1994, p. 149.
52. Tim Rowse, 'Aborigines as Historical Actors: Evidence and Inference', Historical Studies, vol. 22, no. 87, 1986, p. 176.
53. Attwood, The Making of the Aborigines, p. 132.
54. Harris, 'The "Terror of the Law"', p. 25.
55. Evans et al., Race Relations in Colonial Queensland, p. 106.
56. McGrath, 'Born in the Cattle', pp. 89-90.
57. See, for example, Chilla Bulbeck, 'New Histories of the Memsahib and Missus: the Case of Papua New Guinea', Journal of Women's History, vol. 3, no. 2, 1991, pp. 82-105.
58. Cook in conversation with Ann McGrath. See also McGrath, 'Mirror of the North' in Bill Gammage and Peter Spearritt (eds), Australians 1938 (Fairfax, Syme and Weldon Associates) Sydney, 1987, p. 41.
59. Andrew Markus, '"The Impartiality of the Bench": Judge Wells and the Northern Territory Aborigines 1933-38' in Diane Kirkby (ed.), Law and History (La Trobe University Press) Bundoora, 1987, pp. 109-22.
60. Reported by Reverend W. Morley for the Association for the Protection of the Native Races to McEwen, Minister of the Interior, 14 April 1938.
61. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938.
62. Memorandum, Asche to Abbott, 26 August 1938, pp. 1-3.
63. Ann McGrath, 'Colonialism, Crime and Civilisation', p. 103. It was well known that Aborigines were routinely flogged by station managers and sometimes by missionaries.
64. Asche to Carrodus, 2 June 1938.
65. Abbott to Carrodus, Department of Interior, 8 March 1938.
66. Sydney Morning Herald, 8 March 1938.
67. Press Release, Department of Interior, 4 March 1938.
68. Frank Brennan to Menzies, 4 August 1938.
69. For example, Menzies to Wells, letter dated 27 January 1939, Department of Interior file, 'Flogging of Natives: Remarks by Judge Wells', N.A.A., A432/81, 38/755.
70. Inglis, The White Women's Protection Ordinance, p. 119.
71. 'The Aboriginals and Half-castes of Central Australia and North Australia', Report by J.W. Bleakley, Chief Protector of the Aboriginals, Queensland, 1928, Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, session 1929, vol. 2, no. 21, pp. 12-14.
72. Many Aboriginal men would be in court for breaking the Ordinance after it was tightened in response to the assault. Even working as a delivery boy was a breach of the Ordinance.
73. Markus, Governing Savages, p. 96.
74. Abbott to Carrodus, 5 March 1938.
75. For an account of the importance of the Chinese to Northern Territory history, see Diana Giese, '"Where Others Failed, the Chinese Succeeded": Collecting and Re-evaluating the History of the Chinese in the Context of Top End History' in P. Macgregor (ed.), Histories of the Chinese in Australia and the Pacific (Museum of Chinese Australian History) Melbourne, 1995, pp. 261-73.
76. Bleakley Report, p. 14.
77. Melbourne Herald, 7 March 1938.
78. Cooper to Prime Minister Lyons, 4 July 1938. See Andrew Markus (ed.), Blood from a Stone: William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines' League (Monash Publications in History) Melbourne, 1986, p. 2.
79. Reverend J.W. Burton, Secretary of the Australian Methodist Missionary Society, reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, 5 March 1938.
80. Kurri Kurri Dole Workers' and Unemployment Association to McEwen, 20 April 1938.
81. Morley to McEwen, 14 April 1938, p. 3.
82. Joyce Payne, honorary secretary of the Women's Auxiliary, Australian Workers' Union, to Federal Attorney General, 28 June 1938.
83. Women's Auxiliary, Australian Workers' Union, and Women's Non-Party Political Association of South Australia to McEwen, 28 April 1938.
84. Melbourne Herald, 4 March 1938.
85. Fiona Paisley, 'No Back Streets in the Bush: 1920s and 1930s Pro-Aboriginal White Women's Activism and the Trans-Australia Railway', Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 12, no. 25, 1997, pp. 119-38; Marilyn Lake, '"Stirring Tales": Australian Feminism and National Identity, 1900-40' in Geoffrey Stokes (ed.), The Politics of Identity in Australia (Cambridge University Press) Melbourne, 1997, pp. 78-91; Alison Holland, 'Feminism, Colonialism and Aboriginal Workers: an Anti-Slavery Crusade', Labour History, no. 69, 1995, pp. 52-64.
86. Fiona Paisley, 'No Back Streets in the Bush: 1920s and 1930s Pro-Aboriginal White Women's Activism and the Trans-Australia Railway', Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 12, no. 25, 1997, pp. 119-38; Marilyn Lake, '"Stirring Tales": Australian Feminism and National Identity, 1900-40' in Geoffrey Stokes (ed.), The Politics of Identity in Australia (Cambridge University Press) Melbourne, 1997, pp. 78-91; Alison Holland, 'Feminism, Colonialism and Aboriginal Workers: an Anti-Slavery Crusade', Labour History, no. 69, 1995, pp. 52-64.
87. Fiona Paisley, 'No Back Streets in the Bush: 1920s and 1930s Pro-Aboriginal White Women's Activism and the Trans-Australia Railway', Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 12, no. 25, 1997, pp. 119-38; Marilyn Lake, '"Stirring Tales": Australian Feminism and National Identity, 1900-40' in Geoffrey Stokes (ed.), The Politics of Identity in Australia (Cambridge University Press) Melbourne, 1997, pp. 78-91; Alison Holland, 'Feminism, Colonialism and Aboriginal Workers: an Anti-Slavery Crusade', Labour History, no. 69, 1995, pp. 52-64.
88. Letter dated 11 June 1929, Department of Interior, 'Suggested Aboriginal Protection Policy, N.T.', N.A.A. A431, 46/3026.
89. Fiona Paisley, 'White Women in the Field: Feminism, Cultural Relativism and Aboriginal Rights, 1920-1937', Journal of Australian Studies, no. 52, 1997, p. 119.
90. For an extended account of this campaign, see Fiona Paisley, Loving Protection? Australian Feminism and Indigenous Rights 1919 to 1939 (Melbourne University Press) Melbourne, 2000.
91. Northern Standard, 17 May 1938.
92. Sydney Morning Herald, 5 May 1938.
93. In the margin of his memo, he noted, 'Since ascertained he was an abo.' [sic] Abbott to Carrodus, 9 March 1938.
94. Melbourne Herald, 7 March 1938.
95. Pearl Gibbs to Enid Lyons, 5 March 1938. See Heather Goodall, 'Pearl Gibbs: Some Memories', Aboriginal History, vol. 7, no. 1, 1983, pp. 20-2.
96. Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 1938.
97. Bleakley Report, p. 34.
98. Melbourne Herald, 7 March 1938.
99. Melbourne Herald, 4 March 1938.
100. Melbourne Herald, 4 March 1938.
101. Melbourne Herald, 4 March 1938.
102. A.P. Elkin, letter to the editor, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 1938, p. 6.
103. Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 1938.
104. A.P. Elkin, 'Aboriginal Evidence and Justice in North Australia', Oceania, vol. 17, no. 3, 1947, especially pp. 173-7.
105. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938.
106. For examples of modernising the settler man at the turn of the last century see Jock Phillips, A Man's Country? The Image of the Pakeha Man: a History (Penguin) Auckland, 1987, for example, pp. 55-75; and Louise Michele Newman, White Women's Rights: The Racial Origins of Feminism in the United States (Oxford University Press) New York, 1999, pp. 15-17.
107. For examples of modernising the settler man at the turn of the last century see Jock Phillips, A Man's Country? The Image of the Pakeha Man: a History (Penguin) Auckland, 1987, for example, pp. 55-75; and Louise Michele Newman, White Women's Rights: The Racial Origins of Feminism in the United States (Oxford University Press) New York, 1999, pp. 15-17.
108. Even when Packsaddle confessed to the crime under duress, he said he had 'humbugged' the missus. In Aboriginal English this meant having caused her trouble. But the term may have sexual connotations when used in this context. G.A. Wilkes, Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms (Sydney University Press) Sydney, 1978/1985, p. 220; Reverend Walter W. Skeat, A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (Clarendon Press) London, 1948 (1st edition 1882), p. 249; and The Macquarie Dictionary (Macquaric Library) McMahons Point, 1981/2, p. 863.
109. Even when Packsaddle confessed to the crime under duress, he said he had 'humbugged' the missus. In Aboriginal English this meant having caused her trouble. But the term may have sexual connotations when used in this context. G.A. Wilkes, Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms (Sydney University Press) Sydney, 1978/1985, p. 220; Reverend Walter W. Skeat, A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (Clarendon Press) London, 1948 (1st edition 1882), p. 249; and The Macquarie Dictionary (Macquaric Library) McMahons Point, 1981/2, p. 863.
110. Even when Packsaddle confessed to the crime under duress, he said he had 'humbugged' the missus. In Aboriginal English this meant having caused her trouble. But the term may have sexual connotations when used in this context. G.A. Wilkes, Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms (Sydney University Press) Sydney, 1978/1985, p. 220; Reverend Walter W. Skeat, A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (Clarendon Press) London, 1948 (1st edition 1882), p. 249; and The Macquarie Dictionary (Macquaric Library) McMahons Point, 1981/2, p. 863.
111. Northern Standard, 13 April 1938.
112. Profile of Australia's Northern Territory (Protocol and Public Affairs Branch, Department of Chief Minister) Northern Territory, 1997/98.
113. David Gibson, 'Mandatory Madness: the True Story of the Northern Territory's Mandatory Sentencing Laws', Alternative Law Journal, vol. 25, no. 3, 2000, p. 104.
114. Chip Le Grand and Maria Ceresa, 'Three Strikes - the Jury's Out', Australian, Friday, 10 December 1998, p. 8; Gibson, 'Mandatory Madness'; and Louis Schetzer, 'A Year of Bad Policy: Mandatory Sentencing in the Northern Territory', Alternative Law Journal, vol. 23, no. 3, 1998, pp. 117-20.
115. Chip Le Grand and Maria Ceresa, 'Three Strikes - the Jury's Out', Australian, Friday, 10 December 1998, p. 8; Gibson, 'Mandatory Madness'; and Louis Schetzer, 'A Year of Bad Policy: Mandatory Sentencing in the Northern Territory', Alternative Law Journal, vol. 23, no. 3, 1998, pp. 117-20.