Paper short abstract:

In this paper we consider the complex and sensitive issue of Aboriginal recruitment to the Queensland Native Mounted Police as part of a broader archaeological project into this paramilitary force.

Paper long abstract:

Although historians have provided substantive insights into the structure, development and activities of the Queensland Native Mounted Police (NMP), they have rarely focused on the complex and sensitive issue of Aboriginal recruitment. A careful reading of historical records, however, identifies several methods, including coercion, intimidation, kidnapping and inducement as well as 'voluntary' enlistment. It is difficult to identify Aboriginal agency in recruitment processes as the records are entirely one-sided - the voices of the troopers themselves are silent in archival history. As part of a broader project examining the archaeology of the NMP, we examine the cultural and historical contexts of Aboriginal recruitment - for example the dire social situations of Aboriginal survivors of the frontier war and the absence of future survival options for the potential recruits targeted by the NMP. We explore, through the framework of historical trauma, the impacts on vulnerable victims of violence and other devastating effects of colonisation. We conclude that the recruitment of Aboriginal troopers was far from an homogeneous or transparent process and that the concept of agency with regard to those who can be considered war victims themselves is extremely complex. Unravelling the diverse, conflicting, and often controversial meanings of this particular colonial activity remains a challenge to the historical process.