C.E. COOK, C.B.E., M.D. At the outset may I express my deep appreciation of the honour, implicit in your invitation to deliver the Herbert Michael Moran Memorial Lecture in Medical history? Conscious of this honour and its obligations, it is with some diffidence that I undertake the task. Leaving aside my personal shortcomings in preparation […]
A suggested Policy for better Aboriginal Protection [EN4/22]
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA NORTH AUSTRALIA ADMINISTRATION CEC/LRS (No 29/152) Department of Health, Darwin 1st March 1929 Memorandum to: His Honour, the Government Resident, Darwin A considerable amount of publicity more or less undesirable has recently been given to the conduct of Aboriginal Affairs in North and Central Australia. It has become customary for so called […]
Conditions of Half-caste Employment and the Social Problem [EN 4/40, 4/56]
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA NORTHERN TERRITORY MEDICAL SERVICE DARWIN, 23rd July, 1932 His Honour, The Administrator Conditions of employment. In North Australia until the introduction of the Half-Caste Apprentices Regulations Aboriginal Half-Caste youths were employed in rural districts under the same conditions as full blood Aboriginals; that is to say they were clothed and fed by […]
Permission to marry Aboriginals [EN 4/55]
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA NORTHERN TERRITORY MEDICAL SERVICE DARWIN 7th February 1933 His Honour The Administrator of the Northern Territory DARWIN With further reference to previous memoranda in which I have called attention to the very grave problem which has been developing in Northern Australia owing to the intermarriage of alien coloured races with aboriginals and […]
The Half-Caste Housing Policy – 1932 [EN 4/57]
February 2, 1932 His Honour, The Administrator. In my memorandum 31/1699 of 20th July 1931, I intimated my intention of submitting proposals for the amelioration of the conditions under which Half-castes, no longer under the practical control of the Chief Protector, live in Darwin. It was originally my intention to deal with this problem by […]
Cook proposes a definite and progressive Aboriginal Policy [EN 5/12]
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA NORTHERN TERRITORY ADMINISTRATION, Aboriginal Branch, DARWIN 7th October, 1935 His Honour, The Administrator of the Northern Territory, DARWIN. Probably no phase of Commonwealth policy in the administration of the Northern Territory is beset with so many and so diverse problems and exposed to so much rancorous and conflicting criticism, from individuals and […]
Procedure for Adopting the Progressive Policy [EN5/16]
His Honour the Administrator Further to my memorandum of the 7th October, 1935, I submit herewith details of the procedure recommended to be adopted in respect of the Darwin district. To recapitulate, the ultimate objective of the policy recommended is the conversion of the detribalised aboriginal in town districts from a social incubus to a […]
The Bagot Settlement as a replacement for the Kahlin compound
Whatever might eventually prove to be the ultimate policy of the Federal Government in respect of the Myall Aboriginal, it was clearly necessary in 1934 to recognise that the best interests of both races demanded that the detribalised aboriginal already living permanently or semi-permanently in contact with white settlement must be educated without delay to […]
The Native Problem Why Is It Unsolved?
Lieut.-Col. C.E.A. Cook, C.B.E. M.D., etc. of Commonwealth Department of Public Health, Canberra; Chief Medical Officer and Chief Protector of Aborigines, Northern Territory, 1927 – 1939. Published in Australian Quarterly December 1950 “The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.” Herbert Spencer. From time to […]
Health Administration and the Northern Territory Native [EN 4/51, 8/16]
Director-General 19th June, 1951 INTRODUCTORY The health problem created by the Northern Territory native can best be understood against the background of his mode of life prior to white settlement and his reaction to contact with European civilisation. In his traditional mode of life, the native moved as one of a small family group over […]
The 1953 Missions Administration Conference [EN 8/45]
An extract from the Conference transcript (p11-18) The Agenda was amended to provide for the presentation of PASTOR F.W. ALBRECHT’S paper, UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA. “Economic Rehabilitation of Aborigines” prior to that of Dr Cook’s. DR. C.E. COOK, SENIOR MEDICAL OFFICER, COMMONWEALTH DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, CANBERRA, on addressing the Conference on the subject “Educating […]
The Native Health Problem Today – 1955 [EN 8/54]
The health problem created by the native population in the Northern Territory today differs in some respects from that confronted when the Northern Territory Medical Service was first established. These differences are due principally shifts in emphasis upon particular aspects of the problem, shifts which derive in part from the successes of the Service in […]