Visualization of Colonial Assimilationist Policies: Where?

The Where factor refers to one significant aspect of consideration: the geographical location. The setting can reveal a great deal about the nature of the particular individual's life. For instance, image 1 depicts a group of 'Half-Caste' boys at 'The Bungalow' in Stuart (Alice Springs), and image 2 depicts a number of children — white, black and 'Half-Caste' alike — in the juvenile section at the Roper River Mission (now known as Ngukurr), both of which were well-known 'Aboriginal Institutions' in the Northern Territory. [1] In that sense, both locations speak to the children's status in society, since their presence at the Roper River Mission and 'The Bungalow' was the result of colonial legislation, such as the Aboriginals Ordinance 1911 that sanctioned the lawful removal of children to these types of institutions, and the Aboriginals Ordinance 1918 that provided a clearer definition of 'Half-Caste'. [2] Essentially, the photographs offer a visualization of the assimilation project at work in the Northern Territory. 

The fact that 'Half-Caste' children were living in what settler-colonials perceived as 'primitive' Aboriginal communities was a significant obstacle in the elevating the Northern Territory to a higher degree of respectability, as well as in the eventual achievement of a 'White Australia' [3]. Accordingly, the only feasible solution was seemingly to get these children away from their Aboriginal mothers through forceful removals to environments where the white colonial authorities could control virtually every aspect of the children's existence — education, clothing, food, hygiene, etc. — to ensure the 'Half-Caste' children became accustomed to European societal customs and standards to ease their transition into white society. [4] Over the course of several decades from the turn of the century onward, authorities of the Northern Territory oversaw a network of 'Aboriginal Institutions' from the Goulburn Island Mission in the north, to 'The Bungalow' at Stuart (Alice Springs) in the south, to Roper River Mission at Ngukurr in the northeast, to Kahlin Compound at Darwin in the northwest. 

In his role as head of Aboriginal Affairs for the State of Queensland, J.W. Bleakley offered some explanation for the establishment of the Aboriginal Institutions: "Not only do [the institutions] protect the child races from the unscrupulous white, but they help to preserve the purity of the white race from the grave social dangers that always threaten when there is a degraded race living in loose conditions at its back door". [5]

A Brief History of 'The Bungalow' (Stuart/Alice Springs)

Long before the first colonists arrived upon the shores of Australia, the vast territorial expanse near the later township of Stuart (Alice Springs) was the homeland of the Eastern Arrernte people since time immemorial. [6] Over the course of several centuries with the increasing waves of European settlers flocking to the British colony, the population of the interior began to change as the number of non-Aboriginal inhabitants began to rise, albeit only marginally and very slowly at first. In 1861-1862, the Scottish explorer John McDouall Stuart completed an expedition across the mainland of Australia from north to south, which laid the initial groundwork for the Overland Telegraph Line construction project. [7]

Almost a decade later, the first European settlement was established in 1872 as part of the 3,000 kilometre Overland Telegraph Line in close proximity to a waterhole that had been named after the wife — Alice Todd — of the head of the Overland Telegraph Line project, Sir Charles Todd. [8] Decades later, on August 31, 1933, the nearby township of Stuart, which was originally surveyed in 1888 and named after the explorer Stuart, was renamed Alice Springs. [9]

For much of its history, the township of Stuart or Alice Springs has been connected to the infamous Aboriginal Institution that was established in 1914. The first 'inmates' at the institution were an Arabana woman, named Topsy Smith, and her seven 'Half-Caste' children who had moved to Stuart altogether after the death of the children's father in 1914. [10] Almost immediately, Police Constable Robert Stott detained the family based on his belief that Smith was a 'Half-Caste' woman, according to the official definition in The Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910. [11] Thereafter, Constable Stott requested two adjoining township allotments behind the Stuart Arms Hotel be reserved for the exclusive use of Smith and her children. [12] This request led to the construction of an iron shed where Smith looked after an ever-increasing number of 'Half-Caste' children, in collaboration with Matron Ida Standley, who was the first teacher at the school in Stuart that gradually evolved over time into a 'Half-Caste' facility. [13]

Known as 'The Bungalow,' the institution existed at several locations throughout its history, beginning in Stuart then moving to nearby Jay Creek in 1928 due to overcrowding, and finally relocating back to the site of the former Alice Springs Telegraph Station in 1932 after experiencing water shortages and poor living conditions at the temporary home in Jay Creek. [14] Three years later, the facility expanded to 130 Aboriginal children. [15]

A Brief History of the Kahlin Compound (Darwin)

The Kahlin Compound was originally established in Darwin, following the federal government's assumption of the responsibilities for governance in the Northern Territory in 1913. The initial proposal for such an institution appeared in a memorandum dated July 31, 1911 in which Herbert Basedow recommended the "establishment of an institution for the adequate housing, settlement and supervision of half-castes in the Northern portion of the Northern Territory". [16] Until its closure in 1939, the institution was a so-called 'home' for 'Half-Caste' children, yet that distinction also included 'Quadroon' and 'Octoroon' children. [17] At times, the population at the compound reached nearly 600 with about 70 'Half-Caste' girls in a nearby hostel, and as a result of that overcrowding, a new temporary home for 'Half-Caste' boys was established at Pine Creek in September 1931; although, the Pine Creek home closed shortly thereafter in December 1932 and all of the 'Half-Caste' inmates were relocated to the "half-castes' home near Alice Springs" which likely means 'The Bungalow'. [18] 

In the Canadian context, the traditional Metis homeland is roughly equivalent to the historic North-West Territories which now encompasses the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and some of the modern Northwest Territories. While the Red River Métis in southern Manitoba were perhaps the most well-known entity, the Metis were historically scattered across all of the prairies, and Île-à-la-Crosse in particular was a hub of Metis settlement. [20]

The majority of the select photographs in this exhibit appear to have been choreographed, with the subjects striking a deliberate pose as if instructed to do so by the photographer. There are relatively few that capture a seemingly candid interaction, or merely without the willing participation of the subjects as demonstrated in image 3 depicting the sleeping children at ‘The Bungalow’. [21] At the very least, the rare ‘candid’ photograph was possible, though far more likely to have been deliberately staged in order to give off the appearance of authenticity. [22] Curtis notes “documentary photographers of the 1930s continued to direct the actions of their subjects”. [23] Therefore, one can assume that if the tradition of manipulating a photograph’s composition was indeed alive since the very beginnings of the genre through to the 1930s, then it is likely to have been in practice in the preceding decades of the 1900s to 1920s as well.

This is perhaps most applicable to two photographs in particular — images 5 and 6 — titled Métis family and dogs in front of a log house, Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan and [Métis woman and six children beside a log building] respectively. [24] Both photographs appear to have been taken in front of a log structure in the countryside, though neither indicates a specific date of creation: Image 1 has a date of circa 1905 to 1931, and image 2 merely places the date of creation in the early 1900s. Additionally, neither photograph is attributable to an identifiable creator. Nonetheless, the similarities between the two images in respect to the individuals and their clothing, the common presence of dogs in the foreground, and the near identical likeness of the physical structure in the background suggests that these two photographs were indeed taken moments apart. Therefore, the pairing of these images suggests a sequence in which the individuals were initially posed in front of the log house and thereafter posed in a different stylistic arrangement near the side of the building, likely on the instructions from the photographer. In that sense, it was as if the photographer “directed the positions and poses of [the] subjects”. [25] These images also indicate another common trend in documentary photography, which was the creation of multiple versions or arrangements of the same general subject matter or scene. [26] This is similarly evident in a series of photographs from ‘The Bungalow’ in 1924 that depict 'Half-Caste' children in varying numbers alongside white settlers in group shots, though in different variations stylistically and compositionally.