[Editor: This letter is from the “Notes & queries” column of the The Register.]
An Aboriginal state
From T. P. Bellchambers:— With regard to a black State for the aborigines, we were given to understand that there would be no attempt made to intermingle strange tribes, but that efforts for their preservation and possible advancement would be confined to those tribes or groups who were still in occupation of the lands in question, and to which their rights were to be confirmed, and that the chief motive of the movement was their isolation from contact with the white race. It is only on these lines that we can hope for success, and, judging by the only instance on record where the aborigines voluntarily reverted to those conditions (the Ninyah tribe of the Scotia blacks) success should be assured. Following these lines the objective is worthy of our strongest support. The time is short in which to make this slight return to an ill-used people who otherwise are doomed to an early extinction. If our sense of justice and humanity is so lacking that we cannot do this, then our appeal must be made to the scientific world, to whom this ancient type is o£ absorbing interest. The task, though simple, is quite beyond all missionary effort, and it is full time that this was recognised.
Source:
The Register (Adelaide, SA), Thursday 15 April 1926, page 15
The Institute of Australian Culture
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