Reading doctors’ writing : race, politics, and power in indigenous health research, 1870-1969

232 Pages·2004·1.485 MB·English

by  David Piers Thomas

Reading doctors’ writing
In memory of my father
Reading Doctors’ Writing
Race, politics and power in Indigenous
health research, 1870–1969
David Piers Thomas
First published in 2004 by Aboriginal Studies Press for
the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Studies,GPOBox 553,Canberra,ACT,2601.
The views expressed in this publication are those of
the author and not necessarily those of the Australian
Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Studies.
© 2004 David Piers Thomas
Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private
study,research and criticism or review,as permitted
under the Copyright Act,no part of this publication
may be reproduced by an process whatsoever,
withouth the written permission of the publisher.
National Library of Australia Catalouging-in-
publication data:
Thomas,David Piers.
Reading doctors' writing :race,politics and power
in indigenous health research,1870-1969.
Bibliography.
Includes index.
ISBN 0 85575 458 3.
1.Aboriginal Australians - Health and hygiene -
Research.I.Australian Institute of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Studies. II.Title.
362.8499150072
Produced by Aboriginal Studies Press
Design and Layout by Rachel Ippoliti,
Aboriginal Studies Press
April 2004
In the post-Mabo world,do Aboriginal people need a reinterpretation of their own tradition?
Or is it the traditions of a white invader culture that need interpreting?
Ian Anderson 1994,p.371

Contents
~
Figures viii
Abbreviations ix
Acknowledgements x
Prologue:Saying ‘science’ xiii
Chapter 1 ~ Introduction:How we read doctors’writing 1
Chapter 2 ~ A primitive and dying race 11
Chapter 3 ~ A tropical race and tropical medicine 29
Chapter 4 ~ Blood and race 51
Chapter 5 ~ Collecting power 68
Chapter 6 ~ Avoiding race 90
Chapter 7 ~ Equality,politics and dissenting voices 111
Epilogue:‘Aboriginal health’ 133
Appendix:Quantitative analysis of Indigenous health in the MJA 137
Notes 144
Bibliography 167
Index 187
vii
Figures
1.1 Map of places mentioned
2.1 Early Indigenous health publications
3.1 The north Queenslander ‘racial type’.Source:Cilento 1925.
3.2 ‘Physical and sexual degeneracy’ caused by hookworm disease. Source:Waite and
Nelson 1919.
4.1 The Hirschfelds’blood group results.Source:Hirschfeld and Hirschfeld 1919.
5.1 Map of the inter-war expeditions by the Board for Anthropological Research.
Source:Jones 1987.
5.2 Physiological experiments at Ernabella. Source: Hicks 1974, C.S. Hicks Papers,
University of Adelaide.
5.3 Lying naked beside the thermometers and boxes with thermo-electric apparatus to
measure skin temperature at Ernabella.Source:Hicks and O’Connor 1938b.
5.4 Collecting measurements at Ernabella: Submitting to white power or mutual
pragmatism and accommodation? Source:Hicks 1974,C.S.Hicks Papers,University
of Adelaide.
6.1 Map of post-war expeditions by the Anatomy Department of Adelaide University
for the Board for Anthropological Research
6.2 Abbie preparing for a child to be photographed at Yuendemu in 1951.Source:A.A.
Abbie Papers,University of Adelaide.
7.1 Number of Indigenous health letters to the MJA editor,1914–1969
7.2 Barry Christophers in Melbourne,August 2000.Photograph by David Thomas.
A.1 Number of Indigenous health publications in the MJA
A.2 Pages of Indigenous health publications in the MJA
A.3 Indigenous health publications as a percentage of total MJA pages (excluding
supplements)
A.4 Number of Indigenous health publications in MJA supplements
A.5 Number of Indigenous health letters to the MJA editor
A.6 Letters to the editor as a percentage of all Indigenous health publications in the MJA
viii
Abbreviations
AITM Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine
AMA Australian Medical Association
ANRC Australian National Research Council
ASIO Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation
BMA British Medical Association
FCAA Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement
FCAATSI Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and
Torres Strait Islanders
IHB International Health Board,Rockefeller Foundation
IMVS Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science
MJA Medical Journal of Australia
MVE Murray Valley encephalitis
NH&MRC National Health and Medical Research Council
STDs Sexually transmitted diseases
TB Tuberculosis
UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
ix
Acknowledgments
~
This book began life as a PhD thesis.After completing the thesis, I undertook further
archival research but, more importantly, embarked on the difficult but rewarding task of
retelling the story for a different audience. Nevertheless, I remain indebted to my
supervisor,Komla Tsey,and my associate supervisor,Peter d’Abbs,for their commitment
to the PhD project, their insightful advice and their willingness to share some of their
broad intellectual experience.I also benefited from the insights of the three generous thesis
examiners:Janet McCalman,Ernest Hunter and Suzanne Parry.
Many other people have been encouraging and helpful both during the PhD project
and the large task of rewriting. I am especially indebted to two friends and fellow PhD
students:Samantha Wells and Jenny Hunt.I repeatedly turned to both Sam and Jenny for
advice and encouragement throughout the project, which they gave, perhaps too
generously. Along with Sam, Jenny, my supervisors and examiners, Sue Jackson, Jane
Palmer, Rowena Ivers, Anne Stephenson, Fiona McDonald, Richard Davis, Tarun
Weeramanthri,and Adrian Deville all read drafts and offered advice and encouragement.
Jono Wearne,Sam Wells,Richard Davis,Mark Wakeham,Marc Wohling,Yvonne Dodwell
and Rebecca Ivers kindly shared some of their references and Susan Taffe generously
shared her insights and some references about the history of FCAATSI.
I am particularly indebted for all kinds of support to the staff and management of
Danila Dilba,the Aboriginal Medical Service in Darwin,especially Pat Anderson.Menzies
School of Health Research provided a suitable institutional home for the PhD project,and
the National Health and Medical Research Council provided a very useful scholarship for
three and a half years, which was ably administered by the Research Branch of the
Northern Territory University.I spent a stimulating month in 1999 as a visiting scholar in
the Koori Research and Community Development Unit in the Centre for the Study of
Health and Society at the University of Melbourne.The Visiting Scholars Program in
2001, led by Greg Dening and Donna Merwick at the Australian National University,
kickstarted the rewriting process.The Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and
Tropical Health has been a flexible and supportive employer during the last year of that
task.Sandra Phillips,at Aboriginal Studies Press,helped the manuscript along the difficult
track to publication.Rhonda Black’s sensitive editing has made the book easier to read.
My work has been made easier by the efficient and helpful librarians at the Health
Library at Royal Darwin Hospital,the Royal Australasian College of Physicians’History
of Medicine Library, the Barr Smith Library at the University of Adelaide, the State
Library of South Australia and the Australasian Medical Publishing Company.Also helpful
x