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A searchable database of more than 400 Aboriginal Trackers engaged at WA police stations between 1931 and 1954.
The Aboriginal Trackers of Western Australia Index brings together the few surviving records created by the former Western Australian Police Department, Colonial Secretary’s Office and Native Welfare Department to provide a searchable database of Aboriginal Trackers engaged at police stations between 1931 and 1954.
The index lists the names of more than 400 Aboriginal Trackers who served at 36 of the 137 police stations that were in existence during this 23-year period.
This project was undertaken by Aboriginal History WA (AHWA) to help people learn more about their family histories.
AHWA acknowledges the many Aboriginal Trackers throughout the history of Western Australia who were removed from their home countries and forced to track against their will.
The Aboriginal Tracker is a hero in our national identity. Their extraordinary ability to locate people and animals by following barely distinguishable tracks has been portrayed in Australian films The Tracker (2002) and Rabbit Proof Fence (2002) and mentioned in many historical accounts.
Then and now, their deep knowledge of the land underpins and enhances their tracking abilities.
From the early 1800s through to the mid-1900s surveyors, explorers and settlers in Western Australia were heavily reliant on Aboriginal Trackers to guide them through unchartered country. So too were the fledgling police forces, which is where the focus of this project lies.
Also colloquially referred to as ‘Native Assistants’ and ‘Police Boys’ at the time, Aboriginal Trackers played a pivotal role in tracking and wayfinding for police since the early days of the Swan River Colony.
For about a decade (circa 1840 to 1850) Aboriginal people were engaged by police as ‘Native Constables’ – a position that required them to maintain order amongst their countrymen. Perth, Fremantle, Guildford, Canning, Upper Swan, Murray, Albany, Bunbury, Vasse, York, and other districts in the southern parts of Western Australia each had a Native Constable chosen for their local influence.
As the Swan River Colony expanded into more remote parts of the state, so too did the Tracker’s role which soon took on more menial tasks associated with the maintenance of police outposts as well as more specialised skills such as interpreters, life savers and wayfinders.
By the early 1900’s it was not uncommon for at least two Trackers to be attached to a police outpost, with one accompanying officers on patrol while the other remained at the station. In some instances, Trackers’ quarters were built adjacent to the station to accommodate this more permanent standing.
While some may have volunteered, many Police Trackers throughout history, including the very early years of the Swan River Colony right through to the 1950s, were forced to track against their will.
They were often assigned to locations far from their home country in an effort to deter them from running away or being affected by personal relationships, with some being conscripted from places as far as Wadjemup where they were serving prison terms. This was made possible under various government policies that legalised the removal of Aboriginal people from one district to another and allowed government authorities to place Aboriginal people onto missions, reserves or into ‘service’ (employment).
Assigned to individual police officers who received a small allowance for the provision of their rations, Trackers were not adequately paid for their skills or time. Instead, they were paid in the form of food, clothing, tobacco and sometimes a small amount of ‘pocket money’. Records reveal that many ran away within days or weeks of arriving at a station for various reasons including the desire to return to their families or to pursue better paying opportunities.
A common myth is that Trackers went against their own countrymen. This was not the case. The risk of payback and retribution would have been so great that regardless of the circumstances it is highly unlikely that Trackers would have succumbed to tracking their own countrymen.
By the 1970s the practice of engaging Police Trackers had been phased out and replaced with the official employment of Aboriginal Police Aides and, more recently, police officers. Despite these changes, Aboriginal people are still called upon today from time-to-time to provide this important service to the Western Australian Police Force and the community.
It is estimated that at least 2000 Aboriginal men served as Police Trackers. Their legendary status is well-earned.
The Aboriginal Trackers of Western Australia Index lists the names of more than 400 Aboriginal Trackers who served throughout the state from 1931 to 1954. The year range profiled in the database is due to the availability of records.
Each record includes:
The police stations covered in this index were situated in the following towns:
Carnarvon and Gascoyne Junction
Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, Laverton, Menzies and Norseman
Mount Barker
Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Turkey Creek and Wyndham
Leonora, Meekatharra, Mount Magnet, Mullewa, Wiluna and Yalgoo
Lawlers, Peak Hill and Sandstone
Perth Stables
Marble Bar, Nullagine, Onslow, Port Hedland and Roebourne
Bridgetown, Wheatbelt, Merredin, Moora, Narrogin, Northam and Southern Cross
Photo: Wongi man Johnny Grey, also known as Pannican (left), is one of the many Trackers featured in the database. Considered one of the best Trackers of his time, Pannican worked for the police in the Laverton-Leonora area from 1942 to 1962.