The View from the Office, the View from the Field: Sport in Queensland Aboriginal Reserves

Abstract

Sport played an important role in Aboriginal reserves that were established throughout Queensland, Australia, in the colonial era and continued into the 1980s. Despite the historical prominence of sport in these government-run settlements and church-based missions, little is known about either the role of sport as a mechanism of official control or its meanings to Aboriginal inmates of the reserves. The general administration of the reserves has been well explored, but sport has appeared mainly as a footnote in this broader narrative. Likewise, the meanings of sporting practices at a community level have been neglected. In this paper, the aim is to help rectify this situation by investigating both perspectives over the period 1897–1967. Official rationales for sport – the view from the office – are charted against the contours of Aboriginal policy to reach a better understanding of sport as a mechanism of control within the broader apparatus of government power. Aboriginal voices are sought in order to bring new perspectives – the view from the field – to understanding sport within and among communities.