A01=Michael Bennett
Aboriginal genocide
Aboriginal history
Aboriginal trackers
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Australian history
Author_Michael Bennett
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bushranging
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBJM
Category=NHM
colonial Australia
colonial authorities
COP=Australia
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eq_history
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First Nations
Format=BC
Format_Paperback
history from below
Indigenous History
Language_English
Native Police
native title
NSW
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
revisionist history
softlaunch
stations
subaltern history
Product details
- ISBN 9781742236568
- Format: Paperback
- Weight: 455g
- Dimensions: 155 x 233mm
- Publication Date: 01 Mar 2020
- Publisher: NewSouth Publishing
- Publication City/Country: AU
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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There are few Aboriginal icons in white Australian history. From the explorer to the pioneer, the swagman to the drover’s wife, Europeans predominate. Perhaps the only exception is the redoubtable tracker who, with skills passed down by generation after generation for over 65,000 years, read the signs and traced the movement of people across the land.
The saviour of many and cursed by the wayward, trackers live in the collective memory as one of the few examples where Aboriginal people’s skills were sought after in colonial society. In New South Wales alone, thousands of Aboriginal men and a smaller number of women toiled for the authorities post-1862, tracking the lost and confused, seeking out the thieves and their ill-gotten booty and bringing criminals to justice.
More often than not the role of tracker went unacknowledged. Little about the complexity and diversity of their work is known, how it grew out of traditional society and was sustained by the vast family networks of Aboriginal families that endure to this day. Pathfinders brings the work of trackers to the forefront of New South Wales law enforcement history, ensuring their contribution is properly acknowledged.
The saviour of many and cursed by the wayward, trackers live in the collective memory as one of the few examples where Aboriginal people’s skills were sought after in colonial society. In New South Wales alone, thousands of Aboriginal men and a smaller number of women toiled for the authorities post-1862, tracking the lost and confused, seeking out the thieves and their ill-gotten booty and bringing criminals to justice.
More often than not the role of tracker went unacknowledged. Little about the complexity and diversity of their work is known, how it grew out of traditional society and was sustained by the vast family networks of Aboriginal families that endure to this day. Pathfinders brings the work of trackers to the forefront of New South Wales law enforcement history, ensuring their contribution is properly acknowledged.
Michael Bennett worked as a historian in native title from 2002 until 2017, preparing evidence and writing reports for claims throughout NSW. It was through conducting research for native title claims that he first realised the extent to which the NSW Police relied on trackers for their expert skill. He grew up in Dubbo where he first learned of the exploits of Tracker Alec Riley.
