Dana's Native Police Corps (1842-1853)

From 1837 there were several attempts to recruit members of the Woiwurrung and Boonwurrung people into an Indigenous force of mounted police (troopers). The most successful of these was the Native Police Corps pulled together and commanded by Henry EP Dana between 1842 and 1852. Dana's Native Police troopers were officially enrolled in January 1842. These twenty men were stationed at a reserve at Nerre Nerre Warren (the site of the present-day Dandenong Police Paddocks) about 25 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. In 1851, shortly before the Corps was disbanded, the number of Aboriginal troopers was 45, while European members numbered 15 out of the total of 60 members at that time.

Image 1: William Strutt, Aboriginal troopers, Melbourne police, with English corporal, pencil and watercolour, 1850, in Victoria the Golden: scenes, sketches and jottings from nature, 1850-1862. Reproduced with the permission of the Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Victoria.

From the beginning, the government had two main purposes in creating a policing force composed of Aboriginal people. The first was based in the belief that the discipline and habits obtained by serving in such a force would help to 'civilise' the troopers. The second was to have at the government's disposal a police force capable of tracking people in the bush and to keep the peace across the whole of the Port Phillip District.

Many of the Aboriginal men who joined the Corps were the Elders of the country surrounding Port Phillip Bay. William Thomas, Assistant Protector of Aborigines, wrote that when the idea of establishing the Native Police Corps was put to them, the Aboriginal elders discussed it for many days.[1] They seem to have concluded that the colonists intended to stay and that it was in their interest to form some kind of alliance. Joining the Native Police Corps was a chance to have some influence with the new government. In addition, through their involvement in the Native Police they would be able to exert an influence in territories outside their own clan alliances.[2]

Image 2: Henry E Pulteney Dana, Commandant of Native Police 1842-1852. Courtesy of Victoria Police Museum.

The Native Police were given horses, uniforms and weapons, food and accommodation. They were also promised a salary (although only the European officers were paid regularly). While on duty, they had to act under specific orders, rules and regulations. These usually written instructions governed what was considered the proper conduct of both the Aboriginal troopers and the European officers they served under. As ideals for the behaviour of the Corps, they were part of a hierarchy of responsibility within the colonial government. Whenever it became known that a member of the Native Police had not acted according to these rules, an explanation was required higher up the ranks. Many of the records that document the activities of the Native Police discuss such breaches of discipline. In addition, there was a system of reports that senior officers had to submit to their superiors at regular intervals. These also provide information about the work of the Native Police Corps.

While the Aboriginal troopers had to submit to a form of military discipline, there were some allowances made for their traditional way of life. During the summer months they were generally allowed leave to rejoin their communities and take part in activities of their own culture. Some of these activities were not in accordance with the ideals of the Native Police, however the colonial government believed that the best way to eventually 'civilise' the troopers was by not forcing them to abandon all their traditional practices straightaway. Another concession introduced by Dana was the provision of rations to family dependants of his Aboriginal troopers. The wives of troopers also received their own separate rations: European food and clothing were distributed so that they could care for themselves, their children and any aged dependants. The Aboriginal troopers were expected to supplement their food rations through hunting. In another compromise, Dana allowed troopers' families to live at headquarters. These were some of the main reasons why Dana's Native Police lasted longer than the original corps that Christiaan de Villiers had set up in 1837.

Image 3: This landscape drawing by colonial artist Eugène von Guérard shows the location of the Native Police headquarters at Nerre Nerre Warren in 1855.
Eugène von Guérard, Police Station ... Gap Hills ... station [?] native Police, 21 Feb. 1855, in The Dandenong Ranges, 1855-58. By permission of the Dixson Library, State Library of New South Wales.

Follow the 'This Story' links to more background information covering the wide range of duties carried out by the Native Police, their relationship with the Aboriginal Protectorate, earlier attempts to establish a Native Police force, and the factors that led to the disintegration of Dana's Native Police Corps in 1853.