Behind the Legend: A Historical Archaeology of the Buffalo Shooting industry, 1875-1958

Abstract

The buffalo hide industry was prevalent in the Northern Territory from the late nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century. It involved Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women and men working collectively for white male shooters to exploit feral water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) primarily for their thick hides. The work was dangerous and labour-intensive and required great skill and courage. Over the nearly eighty years that the industry operated, unique cross-cultural relationships developed between the diverse groups involved and lives became intimately entangled. Aboriginal people dominated the workforce, typically constituting around 90%, and often excelled in both experience and ability. As a result, the success of the industry was contingent on the labour of Aboriginal women and men and without their involvement, the industry would have been economically unviable. Yet, in popular accounts, only the white shooters are heroicised. Their legend entangles in national imagining, obfuscates the valuable role of Aboriginal women and men and influences the memory of the industry and its heritage in the present. This multi-scalar and inter-disciplinary study, combining historical archaeology and folkloristics, 'excavates' the memory of the buffalo shooting industry across a cultural continuum whilst providing historical reinterpretation of this unique industry.