Aboriginal Witnesses Act: Difference between revisions
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Effectively, the act created a situation where settler solidarity and the law of evidence ensured that the murder and [[List of massacres of Indigenous Australians|massacre]] of [[Aboriginal Australians]] by [[Colonisation of Australia|European colonisers]] could not be tried solely on the evidence of Aboriginal witnesses.{{sfn|Foster|Hosking|Nettelbeck|2001|pp=79–80}}{{sfn|Foster|Nettelbeck|2012|pp=161–162}}{{sfn|''South Australian Register'' 28 November 1849}} Possibly in response to the, [[Avenue Range Station massacre]], where three [[Tanganekald]] women, two teenage girls, three infants, and an "old man blind and infirm" were murdered by Australian mass murderer and pastoralist [[James Brown (Australian pastoralist)|James Brown]], the Aboriginal Witnesses Act of 1848 was amended in July 1849 to allow a person to be convicted on the sole testimony of an Aboriginal person, though this rarely occurred.{{sfn|Foster|Nettelbeck|2012|p=70}}{{sfn|Ordinance No. 4 of 1849}} |
Effectively, the act created a situation where settler solidarity and the law of evidence ensured that the murder and [[List of massacres of Indigenous Australians|massacre]] of [[Aboriginal Australians]] by [[Colonisation of Australia|European colonisers]] could not be tried solely on the evidence of Aboriginal witnesses.{{sfn|Foster|Hosking|Nettelbeck|2001|pp=79–80}}{{sfn|Foster|Nettelbeck|2012|pp=161–162}}{{sfn|''South Australian Register'' 28 November 1849}} Possibly in response to the, [[Avenue Range Station massacre]], where three [[Tanganekald]] women, two teenage girls, three infants, and an "old man blind and infirm" were murdered by Australian mass murderer and pastoralist [[James Brown (Australian pastoralist)|James Brown]], the Aboriginal Witnesses Act of 1848 was amended in July 1849 to allow a person to be convicted on the sole testimony of an Aboriginal person, though this rarely occurred.{{sfn|Foster|Nettelbeck|2012|p=70}}{{sfn|Ordinance No. 4 of 1849}} |
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The act remained in force until 1929.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peter Vallee |first1=Peter |title=God, Guns and Government on the Central Australian Frontier |date=2006 |publisher=Restoration |isbn=0977531201 |
The act remained in force until 1929.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peter Vallee |first1=Peter |title=God, Guns and Government on the Central Australian Frontier |date=2006 |publisher=Restoration |isbn=0977531201|page=77-78 |pages=386 |edition=first |url=https://books.google.com.au/books/about/God_Guns_and_Government_on_the_Central_A.html?id=ShXFL0pBkrQC&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y |accessdate=24 February 2019}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 04:02, 24 February 2019
The Aboriginal Witnesses Act was a series ordinances and amendments enacted by lieutenant Governor George Grey, Governor of South Australia during the South Australian colonial period. The act was established "To facilitate the admission of the unsworn testimony of Aboriginal inhabitants of South Australia and parts adjacent".
History
The lieutenant Governor George Grey was responsible for the act, and later lieutenant Governor Frederick Robe was responsible for the acts amendments.[1][2][3][4] While its stated aim was to make provisions for unsworn testimony by "uncivilised people" to be admissible in court, the act made it possible for a judge to dismiss the testimony of an "uncivilised person or persons" as insufficient unless corroborated by other evidence - that the court could not base the conviction of a White man on the testimony of an Aboriginal witness alone.[5][6] Although it was a progressive law for the time, the act decreed that the credibility of the evidence be left to the discretion of "the justice of the court, or jury under direction of the judge". The act also made Aboriginal testimony inadmissible in trials that carried the penalty of death.[1][2][3][4]
Effectively, the act created a situation where settler solidarity and the law of evidence ensured that the murder and massacre of Aboriginal Australians by European colonisers could not be tried solely on the evidence of Aboriginal witnesses.[7][8][9] Possibly in response to the, Avenue Range Station massacre, where three Tanganekald women, two teenage girls, three infants, and an "old man blind and infirm" were murdered by Australian mass murderer and pastoralist James Brown, the Aboriginal Witnesses Act of 1848 was amended in July 1849 to allow a person to be convicted on the sole testimony of an Aboriginal person, though this rarely occurred.[6][4]
The act remained in force until 1929.[10]
See also
- Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003
- Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988
- Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006
- Aboriginal Lands Act 1995
- Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
- Aboriginal Protection Act 1869
- Half-Caste Act
- Native Title Act 1993
References
- ^ a b Ordinance No. 8 of 1844.
- ^ a b Ordinance No. 5 of 1846.
- ^ a b Ordinance No. 3 of 1848.
- ^ a b c Ordinance No. 4 of 1849.
- ^ Foster, Hosking & Nettelbeck 2001, p. 79.
- ^ a b Foster & Nettelbeck 2012, p. 70.
- ^ Foster, Hosking & Nettelbeck 2001, pp. 79–80.
- ^ Foster & Nettelbeck 2012, pp. 161–162.
- ^ South Australian Register 28 November 1849.
- ^ Peter Vallee, Peter (2006). God, Guns and Government on the Central Australian Frontier (first ed.). Restoration. p. 77-78. ISBN 0977531201. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
{{cite book}}: More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help)
- 1844 in Australia
- 1844 in law
- 1844 in British law
- 19th century in South Australia
- Aborigines in South Australia
- Australian frontier wars
- History of Indigenous Australians
- History of South Australia
- Legislation concerning indigenous peoples
- Massacres of Indigenous Australians
- Public policy in Australia
- Settlers of South Australia
- South Australia