On the Side of Law and Order

Indigenous aides to the mounted police on the settler frontiers of Australia and Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID4549422
AuthorsAmanda Nettelbeck (0000-0001-7099-6075, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume15
Issue2
Publication date2014-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Colonialism and Colonial History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1532-5768 • E-ISSN: 1532-5768
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/cch.2014.0031
OpenAlexW2070831372
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited15

The history of colonial policing has received considerable scholarly attention in terms of its function to extend and consolidate the legal jurisdiction of British rule over colonised territories and populations. This paper compares some of the complex roles played by Indigenous people who were employed primarily as "trackers" and "scouts" within mounted police forces on Australia's and Canada's settler frontiers. A comparative picture of indigenous participation in policing reveals parallels in colonial decision-making that went beyond local conditions, but also illuminates the different pressures of local conditions which affected the value of Indigenous auxiliaries to mounted police. These not only provide insight into the motivations of colonial authorities in enlisting indigenous people into policing networks, but also into how Indigenous people influenced the rule of law into which they were co-opted

Business · Colonialism · Criminology · Indigenous · Jurisdiction · Parallels · Political science · Sociology · Australian History and Society · Canadian Identity and History · Engineering · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · Law · Ecology

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