Abstract
In 1927, the Adelaide-based Aborigines’ Protection League circulated a petition calling for the establishment of an Aboriginal state in northern Australia. This state would, in their conception, be self-governing and ruled according to traditional laws and customs such that the Aboriginal people living within it could seek out a future ‘on their own lines’ (Genders 1929). The inspiration for this plan was the system of indirect rule – government through what were considered the traditional structures of authority in ‘native’ communities – then being popularized around the British Empire, primarily by Frederick Lugard, recently returned from Nigeria to England where he exercised a profound influence on colonial policy.
Published Version
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