Tracking down the history of WA’s Aboriginal Police Trackers
The names and details of more than 400 Aboriginal men who played a crucial role in tracking and wayfinding for Western Australian Police between 1931 and 1954 have been released.
Photo: Wongi man Johnny Grey, also known as Pannican (left), is one of the many Trackers featured in the database. Considered one of the best Trackers of his time, Pannican worked for the police in the Laverton-Leonora area from 1942 to 1962.
The Aboriginal Trackers of Western Australia Index is a searchable database to help Aboriginal people who are seeking more information about their family history.
From the early 1800s through to the mid-1900s the State’s fledgling police forces were heavily reliant on Aboriginal Trackers to guide them through unchartered country.
Aboriginal Trackers had an extraordinary ability to locate people and animals by following barely distinguishable tracks.
However, they were not adequately paid for their skills or time and were often assigned to locations far from their Country and families to deter them from running away.
This was allowed through various government policies that legalised the removal of Aboriginal people from one district to another and allowed government authorities to place them onto missions, reserves or into employment.
The index has been produced by the Aboriginal History Western Australia (AHWA) team, within the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.
It is one of many initiatives undertaken by AHWA in partnership with Aboriginal communities and stakeholders to connect people to their Aboriginal ancestry.