Consent, Marriage and Colonialism

Indigenous Australian Women and Colonizer Marriages

Bibliographic Data

ID4911593
AuthorsA Mcgrath (0000-0003-1353-4653, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume6
Issue3
Publication date2005-12-01
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.2006.0016
OpenAlexW1966114035
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited10

In 1901, the year of Australian federation, the newly \nconstituted State of Queensland restricted marriage \nbetween Indigenous women and non-Indigenous men. \nThese amendments to the Aboriginal Protection Act \nlegislation of 1897 criminalized the informal marital \narrangements that criss-crossed Queensland's cultural \nand colonizing boundaries. The stated aims of the policy \nwere to "protect" Indigenous women from sexual \nexploitation and to prevent the birth of "half-castes" or \nmixed descent children. Yet, as established or de facto \nmarital relationships were considered a greater affront to \nthe colonial/national project than casual sex, police only \narrested those who "cohabited" with and openly \nacknowledged their Indigenous partners

Casual · Colonialism · Criminology · Indigenous · Legislation · Political science · Sociology · Australian History and Society · Gender Studies · Law

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