However, this was not his title until 1936: from 1915 onwards he was the Chief Protector of Aborigines. Neville’s responsibilities in this position were to look after the affairs of Aboriginal Australians, as they did not have political rights. At a meeting for Aboriginal affairs in Canberra, Neville posed this question: “Are we going to have one million blacks in the Commonwealth or are we going to merge them into our white community and eventually forget that there were any Aborigines in Australia?”. Neville’s photographs challenge the attitude of ‘hybrid inferiority’ by demonstrating how half-caste Aboriginal men and women can be integrated through dress, and through controlled
However, this was not his title until 1936: from 1915 onwards he was the Chief Protector of Aborigines. Neville’s responsibilities in this position were to look after the affairs of Aboriginal Australians, as they did not have political rights. At a meeting for Aboriginal affairs in Canberra, Neville posed this question: “Are we going to have one million blacks in the Commonwealth or are we going to merge them into our white community and eventually forget that there were any Aborigines in Australia?”. Neville’s photographs challenge the attitude of ‘hybrid inferiority’ by demonstrating how half-caste Aboriginal men and women can be integrated through dress, and through controlled