AUSTRALIAN BLACKS

Northern Advocate, 29 October 1932, Page 11

AUSTRALIAN BLACKS

THE ABORIGINAL AS HE IS.

(By George Mclver.)

Probably the greatest ethnological problem confronting the scientific and lay world to-day is the origin of the Australian black. It is not at present intended to go into this matter, excepting in a casual manner and by way of introduction. It is quite possible that the ancestors of the Australian blacks may have been the progenitors of the human race, but not in Australia. It was long after the Malay Archipelago was separated from Australia, if indeed it had ever been really joined to the latter, that the anthropoid apes made their appearance in south-eastern Asia. In Australia we have no members of the ape family, and no other form of life from which it might reasonably be inferred that the black could have evolved. On these grounds chiefly, I think the idea of the Australian black being autochthonous can be safely set aside. We must look elsewhere for his original home.

His chief claim to being the father of the human family rests mainly on the fact that the thigh and shin bones show less curvature than those of any other members of the human race, which removes him further away from the ape family than any of the other races of mankind living to-day.- In other words, his period of evolution has been the longest. As the result chiefly of observation and experiences, I firmly believe, rightly or wrongly, that the blacks of to-day are the progeny of the fusion of two distinct races—the Tasmanian blacks and another coloured people that found their way here —probably from India —long after Tasmania had been separated from the mainland.

But to revert to the black as we find him. About three years ago I happened to be present at a cattle mustering and drafting on the Auburn River in Queensland. There were t eight of us—five whites and three j blacks. Among the whites were some good Australian types, but t physically not equal to the blacks. 1 There was ample evidence that the i latter were also the stronger, and I possessed greater powers of endur- i ance. I Intelligent Types. After the day’s work was over, I - drew the attention of my white com- , rades to these facts, and, to their ) credit, they conceded without hesita- t tion that it was so. The Burnett River blacks were noted for their , fine physique and also for their intelligence. Many instances of the lat- , ter came under my notice. I also met some fine blacks on the Paroo, the Bulloo, Cooper’s Creek, the Diamantina, Central Australia, and the Northern Territory. In his savage state the black possesses a quiet modesty and dignity that have never been appreciated by the white pioneers. As a cattleman he has in one generation fully equalled the white stockmen. As a horse-breaker his was the unhappy experience of being penalised for failure, while success generally met with no appreciation or reward. On 1 the Upper Murrumbidgec I saw brum--1 bios brought in from the rough coun--1 try —some of them warrigals, perhaps 1 five or six years old, that had boon previously handled and then got away. ! Those escapee brumbies wore the worst horses to ride and the hardest to break in. They bucked strongly. I have 3 knowm blacks to sit them after white 3 horse-breakers had been thrown. In the case of a real warrigal outlaw, a ’ black was expected to make the first 1 mount. If he happened to be thrown, 1 he would be ridiculed, but if he stuck * on until the buck.-jumper was exhaustr ed, as he often did, the feat wms roe ccivcd in silence. It wms only what L was expected of him, and he was only a blaekfellow. If a white rider performed ii similar feat, he w’ould be ie heartily applauded by his comrades on :d the stockyard fence. I have always 3t found the blacks to be children —overn‘ grown children.

Causes of Trouble. Not sometimes children and sometimes devils,- as has more than once been said of them. If some blacks are devils, it is through wrongs under which the whites would be worse devils. On the frontiers most of the trouble with the• blacks is caused by the whites interfering with, the black women and. girls.

While in Canada, I came in contact with Red Indians. In comparison, the Australian blacks are of better physique, more light-hearted and generous among themselves than the Indians, Apart from the few exceptions that might bo expected in any people, the Australian black in his savage state is proud, bravo, generous, honest, and confiding, but ho cannot bo absorbed in our civilisation, nor j r et can he adapt himself to its complex ramifications. He is helpless in its environment, and withers before it. Our contact with the Australian blacks should not be all tragedy for them, as it was in the case of the Tasmanians. Some laudable efforts for the preservation of the Australian blacks have been put forth by philanthropists and others, but so far all have failed, and if something is got done, arid done quickly, they are destined to go the way of the Tasmanians.

With a view to make some amends for the wrongs of the past and to preserve the remnants, I would suggest that large reserves be set apart for them in the north —not necessarily all desert —where they could pursue happiness in , their own way uumolcstedj and where their numbers would be likely to increase. By way of experiment and for at least a few years, it would bo better to absolutely prohibit whites from entering upon these reserves.