Part of
Land and Language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf CountryEdited by Jean-Christophe Verstraete and Diane Hafner
[Culture and Language Use 18] 2016
► pp. 241–262
Edited by Jean-Christophe Verstraete and Diane Hafner
[Culture and Language Use 18] 2016
► pp. 241–262
‘There is no truth whatever as regards any Aboriginal being flogged by the Police’
Coen Police Camp, 1933, Cape York Peninsula
Cattle-graziers, miners, missionaries and police brought immense changes to the lives of Aboriginal people in remote parts of North Queensland. Of these groups, police held the greatest power, often removing people to distant missions and reserves as ‘punishment’ for actions that allowed continued survival ‘on country’. In 1933, journalists wrote about removals in the Coen district, drawing the attention of senior police and public servants. When fire destroyed a police building at Coen soon afterwards all three police officers stationed there were quickly transferred. Archival files reveal the full story of this episode.
References
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Cairns Post
25 November 1937.
Daily Herald
8 May 1933.
Herald
28 December 1946.
Queensland Parliamentary Votes & Proceedings
1881, Vol. 2.
The British Australian and New Zealander
22 June 1933
The Queenslander
18 December 1880.
The Sun
7 January 1947.
The Times
25 November 1937.
Truth
20 November 1932 and 7 May 1933.
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