macleod: tale three beswicks

8/2/2019 Macleod: Tale Three Beswicks

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Te Bennelong Society

Occasional Paper: April 2011

A ale of Tree BeswicksArnhem Land:

1955, 2000 and 2010

Colin Macleod


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the shocking squats and degrading shanty campsthat seemed the only alternative. Secondly, thesettlements were a reuge or Aboriginal peoplecast adrit by the loss o their land and the unair

employment conditions o the pastoral industry.A third alternative, now seen by idealists aswhat should have happened, was encouragingAborigines to remain somehow untouched bymodernity, cocooned in homelands, living theidyll o the noble savage. I believe this wasproperly discarded as unrealistic.

Te nexus between the person and the land inthe spirituality o the Dreamtime is well known.Few people have had my experience o meetingAborigines who had never seen white men, stillliving the absolute pristine traditional lie. I reerto being a member o a patrol under Jeremy Longin October 1957 encountering a band o thePintubi people near the Western Australian borderwest o the Kintores around Lake Macdonald.Nevertheless, Aborigines had voted with their eet.In their thousands, they renounced traditionaltribal lie in exchange or what little they couldgarner rom the enticement o the Whitemans

ood and shelter. O course they oten returned assojourners to their ormer homelands or the veryimportant Dreamtime ceremonials that still, inthose days, underwrote their spirituality. I suggestnot so many do so today. A return to the store orour, bee, tea and sugar or its modern equivalentis ever more a preerred option.

It cannot be overstated how the 19391945 waracted as a huge watershed in Aboriginal aairs.

here are varying statistics and populationestimates that are conusing and in conict, but atleast there is available a general idea o the numbers

A ale of Tree BeswicksArnhem Land: 1955, 2000 and 2010

Colin Macleod

IntroductIon

Fity years ago, in 1959, I wrote, Tat there is littleor no real employment or the wards (Aborigines) the result is the soul destroying dependenceo natives on government rations. Recent trips

to the erritory, and daily newspaper reports ohorric travesties suered by our rst peoples,have conrmed that very little has changed.How has this been allowed to happen? It is verytempting or me, an old patrol ofcer, to lay theblame or the wasted decades at the eet o thoseidealists who so abruptly abandoned assimilation(once seen as synonymous with integration) inthe hurry to achieve sel-determination.

1955

With my 21st birthday in 1955, came not onlymy discharge rom the navy national service butthe welcome news that I was to be transerredrom my boring clerical position in the PublicService in suburban Melbourne to the excitingrole o cadet patrol ofcer in the Northernerritory. I had never seen an Aborigine. I wasnow to live with them in their natural setting.

Ater a couple a ew weeks in Darwin, under

the tutorship o a venerable pre-War erritorianpatrolling the Darwin outskirts (including, Imight say, viewing and photographing the backo an Aborigine who had been ogged), I wasthrown in the deep end. Beswick, as with othersettlements, had been established to urtherthe assimilation policy o those days. Beswickwas built upon two premises. Firstly, to deteroutback Aborigines rom driting into the townsor cattle stations. Far better, the theory went, to

provide schooling, medical acilities and storesaway rom white townships in the hope thatthis would become a hal-way house, rather than


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2 A ale of Tree BeswicksArnhem Land: 1955, 2000 and 2010

and race o people involved at the outbreak o War.Immediately pre-war, there were in the erritory alittle under under 7,000 non-Aboriginal people,together with just over 15,000 people classedas Aboriginal, which latter gure included (in

the terminology o those days), 'hal castes'.Te erritory's eight schools had an enrolmentin 1939 o 544 children in total. O that totalgure there were 139 part-Aboriginals in theDarwin home, and 123 part-Aboriginal childrenin the Alice Springs home, then known as TeBungalow. Ater the bombing o Pearl Harbourand Darwin, an estimated 200,000 white maletroops passed through the N. Aboriginal peopleocked to Stuart Highway and growing towns.

Considerable erosion o Aboriginal culture anddiscipline resulted, as young men sought toemulate the soldiers and white men generally.Cohabitation by Aboriginal women and troopswas common, hence an increase in children omixed heritage. Settlements such as Beswick wereseen as the only positive way orward. It was mygood ortune to live within this settlement orseveral months at the end o 1955.

Beswick had a luid population made up o

people rom the Juan, Maiali, Ngalkbun, Maraand Rembarrgna peoples. Usually around 300people sat down in the camp. Te school, runby an enthusiastic teacher, Doug Allom, bymy time had kids reaching grade three level.Dougs wie, a trained nurse, did a antasticjob in the dispensary. She also organised theschool childrens showers each day togetherwith a clean set o school clothes. Te mothers,under her supervision, washed the clothes. Ater

school the noisy healthy mob raced back to thecamp chattering away in their own languages.raditional ceremonial was not discouraged butabetted. I initiations or other Dreamtime dutieswere to be undertaken, such aairs were givenpriority. ransport, not o course always practicalor preerable, would be made available. Beswick,with its ree government rations, continuedseriously to erode the traditional way o lie. Itwas meant to. Ater all, was it not a step on the

only course possibleassimilation or integration?I believe those two concepts were then seen assynonymous.

Lettertomother

My mother kept my letters. A quotation romone such, around September 1955, exempliesmy impressions. I was an immature twenty-one

with poor writing skills. Te terminology thenin use is no longer appropriate. I had probably,at the time o writing, been in the erritoryperhaps about our or ve weeks.

Tey have a communal kitchen with Native

cooks and we issue the cooks rations each day,

Teir tucker is terrible by our standards, but to

them it is number one tucker as they call it.

Tey have only one hot meal a day and that is

stew, the other meals are bread and jam, but

even that is paradice (sic) to natives who have

just come in rom the bushTe other day we

had to stop a ght between two natives ghting

with boomerangs, and by gee they dont muck

about, clouting each other like no ones business.

Tat night we were invited to a Corroboree

(no one goes without being invited and taking

a git) and ound it most interesting and eerie.

A dark still night with res and natives all very

primitive and in the native setting doing their

dances etc to the music o clapping sticks and adidjeridoo (an instrument with a pulsating sort

o sound) Tey have invited us again tomorrow

night to a really big business boss which will

be a more serious Corroborree. Even as I wright

(sic) I can hear the blacks chanting in their camp

and their kids playing around. Tey are a happy

type o people but Im blowed i I know what

theyve got to be happy aboutWell I could

wright (sic) write or ever about these people but

am not much o a writer, however this is a veryinteresting job with something new all the time.

he superintendent o the settlement, AlanPitts, ran a tight ship. Diseased and superuousdogs were shot. Unless they had good reason,children had to attend school. I mysel would

visit the school and camp each day to ensurethis. Aboriginal housing in the Western sensedid not exist. Bark humpies at best. We had

ample water, a vegetable garden o sorts, a storeand plenty o bee rom a neighbouring stationwhere some o the men worked. A sequel to the


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A ale of Tree BeswicksArnhem Land: 1955, 2000 and 2010 3

Highway to Beswick was all so dierent rom therough bush track, with jump ups and washouts,o 1955. Te Maranboy police station was stillthere, but surprise, surprise, when I was close toBeswick, a boom came down blocking my path.

wo uniormed Aboriginal Community PoliceOfcers (ACPOs) demanded my permit. I didnot have one. I explained that I used to live atBeswick and wanted to see how it had progressed.

Absolutely no way was I to be allowed in.

I, perhaps stupidly, never realised that I shouldhave obtained a permit to enter an AboriginalCommunity, to move rom one part o Australiato another. I had encountered the rontispiece o

sel-determination, a hithertosettlement now morphed intoa community.

Downhearted, I retracedmy steps, deciding to stayat Mataranka. here, I hadcoee. I started chatting toa middle-aged lady, who saidshe was an ordained ministero religion, a patrol parson.

Coinc identa l ly she hadread my book Patrol in theDreamtime, a vignette o mytime as a patrol ofcer. Tis

was well beore the FederalIntervention o John Howardsgovernment. Having heard my

tale o rejection at Beswick, she encouraged meto use any contacts to obtain a permit to enterBeswick. It was her view that as many people as

possible ought to visit the communities to openthem up to the resh air o ull scrutiny. Permits,she said, discouraged visitors and encourageda closed community that could urther allmanner o wrongs. Tis, I might add, was beoreTe Little Children are Sacred report. Being a

woman had allowed her to see with her own eyesphysical evidence o the depravity which thatreport later made maniest. Some communities,the lady opined, were subject to the control o

bullies, who operated under the guise o culture,when their actions were certainly not o truetraditional cultural origin, but rather a ruse to

fght reerred to in my letter, paints a poignantpicture o contemporary Aboriginal policy inpractice. Alan Pitts, without reerence to anyone,

without any hearing, without any compunction,ordered the two assailants and their amilies

o the settlement. One amily was banished toSnake Bay, Melville Island, the other to AliceSprings. Tat ended the strie or the time being.

No-one could justiy that action today. Butthen? I remember seeing a policeman strike amatch and ignite a emale Aborigines pubichair. Tere was the trial and conviction in 1955o a head stockman rom Eva Downs Station,

who chased and caught a run away Aborigine

and his wie near AnthonysLagoon. He logged themwith a stock whip, includingcuts across the bare breast othe woman. Numerous timeson the cattle stations andalong the stock routes, suchas Te Muranji, I encountered

Aborigines employed and paidonly rations, then dismissed inthe wet season. Te need or

settlements such as Beswickwas obvious.

I let Beswick at the end o 1955to attend the Australian Schoolo Paciic Administration.he twelve months coursein Anthropology, Law, Government o BritishColonies (remember this was 1956) and yingto Private Pilot status, was antastic.

When I returned to the erritory in 1957 Iremained in the N employ until February1959 when I resigned to study Law at NewmanCollege University o Melbourne.

2000

I have had many trips back to the erritory.In 2000 I was subpoenaed as a witness in the

Cubillo and Gunner stolen generation trial.When my evidence concluded, I drove downto Beswick. Te graded road rom the Stuart

Numerous times onthe cattle stations andalong the stock routes I encountered

Aborigines employedand paid only rations,

then dismissed in thewet season. Te need

for settlements such asBeswick was obvious.


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exercise power. I was staggered. O course, thiswas hearsay, but I later ound it to be consistentwith aorementioned report and much else thathas since been discussed in the press.

I was a magistrate at the time. I rang Darwin. Apermit was authorised to be picked up locally.Te next day I drove to Beswick. I stopped at theMaranboy police station, introduced mysel as aVictorian magistrate, and had tea with a coupleo young constables. Tey had heard similarstories as those told by the lady at Mataranka. Iinerred rom their remarks that intererence bythe police in culture was not welcome, certainlynot by junior ofcers.

Te boom again came down barring my entry toBeswick. Tis time I displayed my permit. Tedocument was careully scrutinised. I was askedto reverse my car, to check the reverse lights, tooperate the windscreen wipers, to switch myright and let turning signals. All thankully

worked. A comment was made about the airpressure in my tyres but that was not persisted

with. I was allowed to proceed past the mountaino empty beer cans, wine casks

and bottles.

I reported to the oice,was greeted courteouslyby a European oicial andallowed to roam about thesettlement or a ew hours.Tere were numerous brokendown vehicles and countlessnumbers o mangy and sick

looking dogs. Tere was lotso rubbish in the public areas.he now European homesdid not appear, at least romthe outside, to be well looked ater. I visitedthe school and the pleasant young teacherindicated that she had an enrolment o abouta hundred, with a daily attendance o aroundorty. eaching in Aboriginal language was notapparently practical with our language groups,

nor possible without trained teachers. A lothad happened since 1955; a lot quite terrible.Sufce to say, boredom and aimlessness are not

conducive to well being. When one adds inalcohol and a lack o discipline as traditionalculture ades, one is reminded o Macbeth:Round about the cauldron go; In the poisonedentrails throw. We now know such places did

bubble with trouble.

2010

Last year, 2010. I again visited Beswick with mywie as we drove rom Darwin to ownsville. Iwas prepared with a current Permit. On the well-maintained road in we gave a lit to an Aboriginalman who, in the way o anyone returning home,enjoyed pointing out various places that to us just

looked like bush, but to him evoked all mannero reminiscences. A low-key sign announcedBeswick. Gone was the boom gate and gone toowere the heaps o beer cans, bottles and winecasks. No one halted our entrance. No one askedus or our Permit. We made our way to the Shireofce where we were briey told where thingswere, then let to our own devices. No sick mangydogs, indeed hardly a dog in sight. All the publicareas were as neat as a pin. Tere were a ew

old car wrecks in the curtilage

o private dwellings, butcertainly not in the commonareas. We made our way tothe art centre, a modern airconditioned building. Herea delightul young Canadiangirl, capably aided by a teenagetrainee Aboriginal, assisted usin choosing a painting by alocal artist. Te younger girl

completed all the paperworkon a computer. We had a cupo tea, thoroughly enjoying ourexperience. Te new purpose-

built school was next on the agenda. Te airy,spacious and light classrooms all had amplenumbers o computers. he children weresmiling happy and outgoing. o our delight wewere allowed to sit in on a class. Exuberance waspalpable. Te clearly contented and enthusiastic

teacher was well in command o her class. Shehad enjoyed every minute since coming up romdown South. Te school was geared to take

I, perhaps stupidly,n e v e r r e a l i s e d that I should haveobtained a permit toenter an AboriginalCommunity, to move

from one part ofAustralia to another.


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A ale of Tree BeswicksArnhem Land: 1955, 2000 and 2010 5

students to year 12, but as yet none were above,I think, year 9. Interestingly, no Aboriginallanguage was used in class as there were noqualied multilingual teachers, and in any eventthe children spoke English well.

It would be rank arrogance or me to make toodetailed a comparison between the Beswicks o1955, 2000 and 2010. Nevertheless, I must saythat, even in retrospect, I can see the value o

what was going on in 1955. Te paternalisticmores o the time, the eects o the war and thereal determination o the administration to getthings done made assimilation or integration theonly way orward. 2000 lled me with despair.

I let Beswick miserable, disenchanted andwithout hope or the Aboriginal people withwhom I had bonded so well in the 1950s. 2010was a new dawn. Hope and enthusiasm wereeverywhere. Are we at last seeing light at the endo the tunnel? Surely we must understand thatthe only hope or the Aboriginal people is trueintegration with true education. Education mustbe ollowed up with the right to real work in thereal economy, not endless training programmesand sit-down money. We must realise there is no

going back, no idyll o traditional way o lie.What a waste o three or our decades!

1959 artIcLe

Lest it be said that hindsight is a good thing,I will quote rom an article I wrote in 1959.

At Melbourne University I met Dr VincentBuckley, then senior lecturer in English, andeditor o a Newman Society magazine, Prospect.

Buckley encouraged and helped me to write alittle overview o the Aboriginal question as seenby me, resh rom the erritory:

It is quite air to say that there is an unemploy-

ment problem acing the Aborigine in the N.

Tis then is our dilemma: do nothing and the

Aborigines ock to the towns creating a shanty

town problem: attempt to keep them in their

own country and we have what I reer to as theZoo problem. Tis latter is one with which we

are currently aced.Tat there is very little or

no real employment or the wards on the major-

ity o these Settlements is well known, and the

result is the soul destroying dependence o the

natives on government rations. Tey are ed,

clothed medically cared or, sheltered. Teir

children educated and their spirit destroyed.Teir lie is little dierent rom animals in a zoo.

It is obvious that some orm o legislation mustexist or the care and assistance o certain per-sons, as the Welare Ordinance phrases it, butthere is a danger in over doing it. o learn toswim one enters the water; or the Aborigine tobe educated to our ways he must cautiously atrst perhaps enter the swim o our economy andnot be protected as a hot house plant.

Te time has now come when he could be em-

ployed in the erritorys mining industry. Surely

by now ear o exploitation in mining centres

has become a thing o the past. Te government

service both civil and military should be open to

him; and an all out endeavour should be made

in placing him in such circumstances that what

education he has received can be used by him.

Apar t rom the ree rence to the WelareOrdinance, thankully long since repealed, thatcould have been written today, 52 years later.It was pretty tough language then, but I believe itmade a point that could still resonate with closedcommunities. By Zoo I then meant the policyo protecting Aborigines in enclosed ghettos,

well away rom the general community. At leastat that time there was a need or settlements as

reuges. Tat need has now gone. I the lady atMataranka was correct, and as Te Little Childrenare Sacredreport suggests, communities were nolonger sae havens like the old settlements; theenemy was now within, not without the gates.

WheredIdItaLLgoWrong?

I oten sat as a magistrate in rural Victoriain three-monthly stints. Early in one such

circuit, Aboriginal elders wanted to make myacquaintance. I invited them to have tea in mychambers. A concerned elder was quite distressed.


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stood Aboriginal people in good stead, orthousands o years, is not there anymore, norcan it be retrieved, given the context in whichthe Aborigines now live. Surely, it is not beyond

the wit o us as a society, to

assist employers to utilize,and at the same time help,the Aboriginal people. Whata tragedy i the impossibledream o sel-determination othe 1970s and 80s really is butanother take o the old policyI wrote o in 1959: attempt tokeep them in their own countryand we have what I refer to as

the Zoo problem.

W h i l s t i t m u s t b eacknowledged that a smallnumber have been gainully

employed in producing a unique Aboriginalart orm and music, recognized all over the

world, it cannot be expected that, except in rarecases, such as the mining and cattle industries,employment will come to the Aborigine. It mustbe the other way about. One partial answer

must surely be the encouragement o Aboriginalyouth into the ullment o true and worthwhileemploymenti necessary, by orbiting to androm their traditional homelands.

Her people, she bemoaned, were content withwelare so did not take up work ruit picking.Te Aboriginal youths were envious o the moneymade by itinerant ruit pickers, oten Islanders.Fights with Islanders resulted in

court appearances on Mondaymornings. How very telling!I Bob Collins report o thelate 1990s, Learning Lessons isaccurate, Aboriginal childrendo not reach as high a standardnow as they did back in the1950s. I am aware that Collinshas since died in circumstancesthat have seriously damaged

his reputation, but not surelythe merit o his report. I notealso that Noel Pearson hasused the expression orbitingto describe a policy wherebyyoung people are encouraged to temporarily leavethe community in search o real work.

Te rot, I believe, set in ater the 1970s, withwell intentioned but impractical idealism.

For countless generations human beings allover the world have had to leave their homelands in search o work. It may be the turn othe Aborigine to do likewise. Te culture that

F o r c o u n t l e s s generations humanbeings all over theworld have had toleave their homelands in search of work. It may be theturn of the Aboriginet o d o l i k e w i s e .

Patrol Ofcer Northern Territory 19551959Made contact with the last o the Aboriginal

people, the Pintubi, still living totally accordingto their own ancient culture. Snake Bay MelvilleIsland 1957; Muranji stock route and thecattle stations o the N; resident patrol ofcerBorooloola 1958; town patrol oicer AliceSprings 1958.

Barrister 19631988

Judge 19881992Judge on Accident Compensation ribunal

Magistrate 19932004

Activities ater retirementAccredited Mediator; Bachelor o Teology

2010; Volunteer to assist under 25-year-oldsbeing released rom prison, in particular toencourage such persons to obtain a driverslicence to be able to integrate.

Military ServiceSquadron Leader RAAF Reserve. RFD.Completed National Service in navy 1955;HMAS Vengeance.

AuthorPatrol in the Dreamtime, 2003 and A Strong

Song, 2004, Central Queensland UniversityPress.

aboutthe author

macleod: tale three beswicks

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