State and Church involvement in Aboriginal reserves, missions and stations in NSW, 1900-1975 and a translation into French of Custodians of the Soil

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)In this study, we examine the involvement of Churches and Government in New South Wales Aboriginal Reserves and Stations during the twentieth century (1900-1975). Two non-denominational Missions, the United Aborigines’ Mission (UAM) also called the Australian Aborigines’ Mission (AAM) and the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) were particularly active and they both started their work in New South Wales before extending it into other Australian States. Their action in New South Wales was distinctive because it mostly involved women and the missionaries were sent to live with Aboriginal communities. Therefore, unlike the ‘strictly authoritarian’ approach adopted in Northern Territory or Western Australia, missionaries in NSW lived by themselves among people who had settled in Reserves and maintained as much as possible a sense of community. The establishment of Aboriginal Schools gave Missions the opportunity to strengthen their influence among the communities. Elementary education was at the core of the intervention of the Government and the Missions. While the Missions’ involvement was accepted and even encouraged by the State Government at first, as soon as its agency, the Aborigines’ Protection Board was given the legislative power to control Aboriginal people, the Missions were induced to confine themselves to the religious sphere. The study demonstrates that while the White institutions sought to extend their authority over Aboriginal people, the latter were asserting their agency. Thus, some communities appear to have embraced evangelical forms of Christianity when the control of the administration was reaching its peak. As government managers were sent in Aboriginal reserves, in the 1930s, exclusive Native Church Conventions gained momentum. In 1940, the new agency of the Government, the Aborigines’ Welfare Board, aimed at implementing a new policy: the assimilation of Aboriginal people. From that time, the Government became reluctant about the involvement of the Missions and encouraged town local denominational churches to open their congregations to accept Aborigines. This attempt failed as neither the Black nor the White congregations were disposed to integrate. Thus the study highlights how the relations between the Church and the Government ebbed and flowed as both institutions wanted to assert their control over New South Wales Aboriginal communities. The research also demonstrates how Aboriginal people were able to resist within the constraints, revealing a constant negotiation - overt but also concealed - between these three groups. The translation into French of an Australian history book about the relations between Aboriginal people and Europeans is closely related to the historical research. Indeed, the Manning Valley was one of the places where the Missions and later on the Native Churches were particularly influential. Therefore some people like Ella Simon and Bert Marr are present in both works - the thesis and the history book. It seems appropriate to end the thesis with the translation of an interview given by Ella Simon. As always she talks proudly of her Aboriginal culture and at times continues without addressing the interviewer’s question. Thus when the interviewer asked if she is telling a ‘true story and not a legend’, her only answer is: ‘it’s about Forster.' The translation will hopefully offer a more informed view of Australian history and more specifically Aboriginal-European relations to a francophone readership. Although aware that ‘rewriting is a manipulation undertaken in the service of power’, we would like to think that ‘in its positive aspect’, rewriting or translating ‘can help in the evolution of a literature and a society.