Aboriginal Stockmen of the Northern Territory, Australia

Photos from the Real AUSTRALIA

Aboriginal Stockmen of the Northern Territory

When white settlers took up land for grazing, the Aboriginal people who lived there eventually were employed on the station and the men proved to be excellent as stockmen and drovers. Originally hunters, their tracking abilities were legendary and this proved to be very useful of course for finding strays. Nowadays there are also Aboriginal owned stations and the images on this page give an idea of what life is like there.

The seasonal mustering of cattle on horseback is still very important in the bush and the men will be out for days, camping in the bush. A newer method is racing around with a "bullcatcher", usually a battered Toyota four-wheel drive without roof but with reinforced bumpers around, to nudge stray bulls in the right direction. Motorbikes are nowadays also used, while on some larger stations even helicopters are employed. But the essence of stockwork is still the stockman on his horse, driving a large herd of cattle in the bush.

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