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Bridget Harris 2007 (Modern History/Museum Studies Honours Project)
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Chequered Knights
True Blue and White Lies - Australia's anti-police myth and the moments that made it
Curated by Bridget Harris
Indigenous-Police Relations
"Our legal rights are being abused daily by the pigs. The threat of intimidation, both armed and otherwise (batons) us always where they were taken to or what happened to evident when pigs are dealing with Black People, the naked undisguised aggressive violence of the exploitationists'' system and the fascist pigs who are armed and paid to protect it".
Black Panther Party of Australia. Brisbane. (1972).
Police, as the physical face of the state were responsible for enacting government policy in the new colony. In theory, European settlement was legally bound to ensure that Indigenous peoples were not adversely affected by colonialism. Yet the rendering of the land as terra nullius effectively denied Indigenous presence, culture and law and defined the British as the legitimate force of government and occupation.
Glass Flakes, Contact Period
Aboriginal Bioresources and Technology Museum
On loan courtesy of Dr. Jim Kohen
Indigenous use of land and resources was deemed to be unauthorised and often criminal. Failure or refusal to acknowledge British law was not recognised as resistance, but as criminal activity, with police frequently supporting settlers in their actions and reprisals against Indigenous peoples. From the first moments of contact, Indigenous resistance was commonly rendered illegitimate.
Close up Image of a bark Shield. C.1950.
Aboriginal Bioresouces and Technology Museum On loan courtesy of Dr. Jim Kohen
Pieces such as this are commonly classified as 'traditional' in style. Aboriginality is frequently classified in the phases of 'traditional' or 'contemporary' with only 'traditional' Indigenous people have been affected by initiatives of the state. The notion of 'tradition' is based on a European construct of Indigenous cultures, pre-contact. This serves to relegate the effects of colonialism to the past, ignoring its continuing effects. Indigenous culture, like all living cultures has evolved throughout time and therefore past initiatives of the state continue to affect Indigenous peoples and Indigenous-police relations today, as seen with Protectionist policies.
Protectionist legislation of the 20th century was regulated and enforced by police. It gave the state power over virtually all aspects of Indigenous lives. Indigenous children, especially of 'mixed race' were forcibly removed from their families until 1969. Many of the individuals of the 'Stolen Generation' who were removed, or feared being taken from their parents are now parents and grandparents who have tenuous interactions with the police. As the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody expressed, an historical consciousness, with memories and experienced passed down through generations. Those who were removed from their family were found to be twice as likely to report having been arrested and three times as likely to have reported being in gaol, most commonly on charges described as harassment or assault to police. While their actions can be classified as criminal, they can also be interpreted as resistance to the policies of the state and operations of the police.
Throughout colonial history, there were Indigenous protests against the police, which manifested in a variety of forms and acts. However, probably the most recognised articulations of resistance by non-Indigenous Australians to have occurred in the 1960s and 70s, with Black Power groups such as the Black Panther Party of Australia. Consisting of leaders such as Dennis Walker and Gary Foley, the Panthers had a self-determinist doctrine were involved in setting up the first Aboriginal Legal and Medical centres in Australia and aimed to have police operations regulated and evaluated.
Black Panther Party of Australia. Brisbane. 1972.
It must be recognised that both Indigenous groups and the police, particularly since in recent years, have undertaken initiatives to improve Indigenous-police relations. It must also be recognised there is a historical legacy of negative Indigenous-police relations which greatly influences relations today, and that terms of legitimacy and criminality are formed by British definitions.
For further information or a copy of the adults or children's catalogue to accompany the exhibition, contact Bridget Harris: chequeredknight@optusnet.com.au
Image courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
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