Pathfinders : A history of Aboriginal trackers in NSW

by Michael Bennett

There are few Aboriginal icons in White Australia history. From the explorer to the pioneer, the swagman to the drover’s wife, with a few bushrangers for good measure, Europeans play all the leading roles. A rare exception is the redoubtable tracker. With skills passed down over millennia, trackers could trace the movements of people across vast swathes of country. Celebrated as saviours of lost children and disoriented adults and finders of missing livestock, they were also cursed by robbers on the run. Trackers live in the collective memory as one of the few examples of Aboriginal people’s skills being sought after in colonial society. In New South Wales alone, more than a thousand Aboriginal men and a smaller number of women toiled for authorities across the state after 1862. This book tells the often unlikely stories of trackers including Billy Bogan, Jimmy Governor, Tommy Gordon, Frank Williams, and Alec Riley. Through his work on native title claims, historian Michael Bennett realised that the role of trackers—and how they moved between two worlds—has been largely unacknowledged. His important book reveals that their work grew out of traditional society and was sustained by the vast family networks that endure to this day. Pathfinders brings the skilled and diverse work of trackers not only to the forefront of law enforcement history, but to the general shared histories of black and white Australia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Australia, History

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2020

About the author

Librarian note: There are multiple authors with this name in this data base. This one is Michael^^^^^Bennett.

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bennett has brought together what we have from published sources to tell the stories of eight Aboriginal trackers here. His passion for the history of policing - and anger about its whitewashing - comes through as he carefully delineates the role of trackers from Native police and other units. He draws out the hints of how trackers navigated complex bicultural worlds and reaffirm their place as primarily rescuers, not enforcement agents.
In the end, the approach didn't entirely work for me - there is a cast of hundreds in the book, and the rapid retelling on complex events in each chapter can be exhausting. But I'm glad to have read it, and would unhesitatingly recommend it to those with an interest in the topic.

[Michael Lever · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 from me. Three in some parts, four in others.
On the one hand as a result of over 20 years research for Native Title claims the author presents an impressively detailed body of evidence on the lives of AboriginalTrackers, their continuation of Aboriginal knowledge and networks, and their esteem in the eyes of the police. Explicitly referencing Paul Irish, the author points out that Aboriginal Trackers in the mid 20th Century were perpetuating traditional knowledge that had survived nearly 200 years of colonisation. Further, that their acquisition and application of this knowledge relied on surviving traditional networks.

On the other hand, it is hard not to feel that there are larger themes that have been swamped by this detail - or at least not explored as powerfully as could be the case.
One such theme is the difference between Trackers and Native Police. I'm not certain that this crucial differentiation is made sufficiently strongly for the average readers comprehension.

A second avenue I would very much like to have seen explored is the role or place of Aboriginal Trackers within broader society - not just their relationship to the judiciary and mission managers. Were Aboriginal Trackers treated like Aboriginal soldiers ? Accepted as equals by their comrades in action but discarded once home? Or did they form an avenue for interaction and permeability between Aboriginal and White Australians?

With the large numbers of Trackers that the author mentions (over 1,000) it would be really interesting to look at broader social themes around their way of life.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a detailed account of Aboriginal people who were trackers for the police in NSW. I had not realised the number of trackers that there were, and their locations. This book contains individual accounts of trackers, from research in libraries and archives as well as interviews with family members. This books would be of interest for local studies collections where ever the trackers worked. There are maps in each section to show the locations of tracking. This is very helpful. It is an interesting book to read.

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plain bread with a thin smear of butter, i.e. satisfying but dull. It is a good project to tell the history of aboriginal trackers in NSW, but the occasional exciting pursuit is outweighed by stolen sacks of flour and similar. The telling is pedestrian, and the detail is excessive

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to read and find local trackers. Even used to track down their final resting places. Good education tool.

[Julianne Quaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this interesting book about Aboriginal men (in the main) employed by NSW police from mid 1800s to mid 1900s as trackers - to find lost people, track bushrangers, assist police and give evidence in court. written by an historian working for the native title tribunal. While at first glance it appears to focus on genealogy the book presents the lives of several trackers, of the estimated more than a thousand, over this period and reveals some interesting facts that were quite new to me. For example the lives described illustrate Indigenous people surviving through straddling the two worlds of Indigenous and colonial Australia. The people described were adept at this, maintaining strong family links and cultural practices while working for the colonial administration. A number of trackers were able to enrol themselves on the electoral role for the NSW legislative assembly as they were employed and had sufficient income to get political franchise, a right no longer available on the establishment of the Commonwealth. Many were married with marriage licences and the births of their children were resisted. The genealogy reveals the a high degree of interaction between colonists and Indigenous people and while some of this was no doubt an exploitation of Indigenous women there were many stable family groups who had colonists and Indigenous forebears.

The book reveals the highly sought after skills of the trackers - with nearly every police post in NSW employing at least one if not two. Trackers were reluctant to track suspects if they were from their family or language group but they seemed to manage this. Trackers’ ability to find a place in a colonial system that allowed them to maintain their family and culture, the very system that was ironically trying to destroy people with the survival skills in the bush.

I read this for the National Museum of Australia friends’ book club, and very glad it was recommended.