The Queensland Native Police and Strategies of Recruitment on the Queensland Frontier, 1849–1901

Burke, Heather; Barker, Bryce; Cole, Noelene; Wallis, Lynley A.; Hatte, Elizabeth; Davidson, Iain; Lowe, Kelsey M.

doi:10.1080/14443058.2018.1474942

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Initially recruited from as far south as the border regions of New South Wales and Victoria in the late 1850s and early 1860s, troopers in the later nineteenth century were drawn from areas of Queensland other than those in which they were stationed (Burke et al 2018). This dislocation served two purposes: it discouraged desertion by placing the troopers in foreign country, and prevented existing kinship or other social networks from influencing troopers' behaviors or actions.…”

Section: The Queensland Native Mounted Policementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The NMP was a paramilitary force constituted by the Queensland government over approximately 80 years (from 1849 onward) to eradicate and control Indigenous resistance to European settlement. Led by White officers, the force was staffed largely by a cheap, predominantly Aboriginal workforce that was often forcibly taken from one part of Australia to subjugate resistance in another (Burke et al 2018). In this paper we use the glass assemblages recovered from two NMP camps to address questions of meaning and context alongside those relating to technology and reduction strategies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flaked Glass Artifacts from Nineteenth–Century Native Mounted Police Camps in Queensland, Australia

Perston

Wallis

Burke

et al. 2021

Int J Histor Archaeol

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The invasion of the Australian continent by Europeans caused massive disruptions to Indigenous cultures and ways of life. The adoption of new raw materials, often for the production of "traditional" artifact forms, is one archaeological indicator of the changes wrought by "colonization." Two camp sites associated with the Queensland Native Mounted Police (NMP), a punitive paramilitary government force that operated through the latter half of the nineteenth century in the northeastern part of the continent, contain abundant flaked glass artifacts. These were undoubtedly manufactured by the Aboriginal men who were employed as troopers in the NMP, and/or their wives and children. Produced using traditional stone working techniques applied to a novel raw material, these artifacts are a tangible demonstration of the messy entanglements experienced by people living and working in this particularand in some ways unique -cross-cultural context. For the Aboriginal troopers stationed in alien landscapes, the easy accessibility of glass afforded a means by which they could maintain cultural practices and exert independence from their employers, unencumbered by traditional normative behaviors.

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Section: The Queensland Native Mounted Policementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flaked Glass Artifacts from Nineteenth–Century Native Mounted Police Camps in Queensland, Australia

Perston

Wallis

Burke

et al. 2021

Int J Histor Archaeol

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“…A typical NMP detachment consisted of at least one European officer under whom served a number of Aboriginal troopers, typically four to eight, usually recruited from areas outside those they were assigned to patrol (Burke et al 2018). Structured initially along military lines, with rankings of First and Second Lieutenant, Sergeant and Cadet reporting to a Commandant, the NMP was remodelled along more civilian lines after 1865 to consist of Cadet Sub-Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors and Inspectors reporting to the Police Commissioner (Richards 2005:112-113).…”

Section: The Queensland Native Mounted Policementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Buildings were therefore dominated by locally available raw materials, primarily split slabs and bush timber, with roofs of bark, grass or palm thatching. Flooring was commonly made of compacted earth or ants' nest, at least in the far north at camps such as Lower Laura and Musgrave on Cape York Peninsula, and Oak Park near Hughenden (Lowe et al 2018). From the 1880s onwards, mass production and cheaper transportation costs (facilitated in part by increasing railway services) made the construction of more substantial buildings possible, but even then NMP camps only occasionally made use of weatherboard, proper foundations or raised wooden floors (e.g.…”

Section: Buildings At Nmp Campsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At some sites the rectangular outline of compact ant bed floors are still visible at ground level, and the use of geophysical technology has enabled further subsurface floors to be discovered at other locations. At Lower Laura, for example, subsurface anomalies identified through the use of ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry (gradiometer) revealed compacted floors, cobbled paths and concentrations of discarded artefacts (Lowe et al 2018) (Figure 7).…”

Section: Other Features Of Nmp Campsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The archaeology of the ‘Secret War’: The material evidence of conflict on the Queensland frontier, 1849–1901

Barker

Wallis

Burke

et al. 2020

QAR

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Although the historical record relating to nineteenth century frontier conflict between Aboriginal groups and Europeans in Queensland has been clearly documented, there have been limited associated archaeological studies. As part of the Archaeology of the Queensland Native Mounted Police (NMP) project, this paper canvasses the physical imprint of frontier conflict across Queensland between 1849 and the early 1900s, focusing specifically on the activities and camp sites of the NMP, the paramilitary government-sanctioned force tasked with policing Aboriginal people to protect settler livelihoods. At least 148 NMP camps of varying duration once existed, and historical and archaeological investigations of these demonstrate some consistent patterning amongst them, as well as idiosyncrasies depending on individual locations and circumstances. All camps were positioned with primary regard to the availability of water and forage. Owing to their intended temporary nature and the frugality of the government, the surviving structural footprints of camps are generally limited. Buildings were typically timber slab and bark constructions with few permanent foundations and surviving architectural features are therefore rare, limited to elements such as ant bed flooring, remnant house or yard posts, stone lines demarcating pathways, and stone fireplaces. Architectural forms of spatial confinement, such as lockups or palisades, were absent from the camps themselves. The most distinctive features of NMP camps, and what allows them to be distinguished from the myriad pastoral sites of similar ages, are their artefact assemblages, especially the combined presence of gilt uniform buttons with the Victoria Regina insignia, knapped bottle glass, and certain ammunition-related objects.

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Burke, Heather

Smith

Lowther

2020

Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology

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The Queensland Native Police and Strategies of Recruitment on the Queensland Frontier, 1849–1901

Cited by 18 publications

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Flaked Glass Artifacts from Nineteenth–Century Native Mounted Police Camps in Queensland, Australia

Flaked Glass Artifacts from Nineteenth–Century Native Mounted Police Camps in Queensland, Australia

The archaeology of the ‘Secret War’: The material evidence of conflict on the Queensland frontier, 1849–1901

Burke, Heather

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