Study notes 1: Establishing the Corps

Study

Investigation
Use Assistant Protector William Thomas's map to plot events that are mentioned in the text and depicted by the images. Refer also to the glossary, timeline and other maps to identify key characters, events and locations. Explore your own local area to develop an understanding of its early settlement.

Documents ii and iv describe the duties and conditions of the Native Police. Read these carefully. Then, select the images which:

• support the information in the documents
• present a different view from the ones presented in the documents

Reflection
Use the documents and images to identify the roles the Native Police were expected to play in different parts of the colony. Discuss these roles in relation to the images that were produced to represent them.

Read document v which describe Dana's, de Villiers's and Maconochie's motivations for establishing a Native Police force. Compare their approaches and the reasons for them.

• What were the implications of each approach for members of the Native Police and the wider community of the Port Phillip settlement?
• What interests were served by each approach? Discuss which approach may have been most effective.
• What do these approaches suggest about relationships between the original inhabitants, the early settlers and the colonial administration?

Extension/Research
Research what happened to members of the Native Police Corps when it was disbanded? Document iii lists members.

Search for other representations of Aboriginal troopers or trackers in different media such as literature, film, and the visual arts. Discuss how they have been portrayed in Australian culture from the past to the present day.

Documents