Eden Hill Camps: Records of Racism in Western Australia

WEST AUSTRALIANA ABORIGINAL INDIGENOUS

  Mary Crescent Reserve, Eden Hill, was surrounded by nine properties which were owned freehold by ten Aboriginal families between 1944 and 1952.Refused permission to build (seemingly because the land was too close to human habitation) they erected their shacks on the land. Documents revealing the pressure the camp owners came under are scattered throughout the book as is the legislation the law enforcers used to justify their actions. The legislation used was racist because it applied only to Aboriginal people. The 1841 Act to summarily convict Aboriginal offenders did not become law because the Home Office refused to present it to the Queen for her signature because it made a distinction between two races of people. Why an almost identical Bill became law in 1849 is unknown; it probably reflects a change of attitude in the Home Office. Every Bill thereafter, presented to the Home Office was signed off. These pieces of racist legislation, including the 1936 Native Administration Act, presumably reflected the attitude to the original landowners of the majority of West Australians.The book also includes examples of Aboriginal voices asserting their right to their land and their right to be treated like other citizens.

Black history series. pp.276 #030224 Detailed history of discrimination against Aboriginal communities, with many illustrations, including legal documents.