# Walter MacDougall

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(1907–1976) missionary and patrol officer

**Walter Batchelor MacDougall** (6 April 1907 – 5 May 1976) was an Australian missionary and [patrol officer](/source/Park_ranger) who worked with the [Indigenous peoples](/source/Indigenous_Australians) in the desert regions of [Western Australia](/source/Western_Australia) and [South Australia](/source/South_Australia).

## Biography

MacDougall was born in [Mornington](/source/Mornington%2C_Victoria), the fifth son of a Scottish [Presbyterian minister](/source/Presbyterianism). After some years in Tasmania, his family returned to Melbourne where he matriculated from [Scotch College](/source/Scotch_College%2C_Melbourne) in 1922. For eight years (1931–1939) he served as an assistant minister at the Presbyterian mission at [Port George IV (Kunmunya)](/source/Mowanjum_Community) in the [Kimberley region](/source/Kimberley_(Western_Australia)) of Western Australia.[1] In 1940, he took up an appointment at the [Ernabella mission](/source/Pukatja%2C_South_Australia) in the north western corner of South Australia, and picked up a working knowledge of [Pitjantjatjara](/source/Pitjantjatjara_dialect).[1] Despite a physical disability from a bullet wound to his hand, which resulted in his losing a thumb and finger, he managed to be enlisted in the [army](/source/Australian_Army) and worked in a transport division in northern Australia until his discharge in 1944.[1]

In 1947, he was hired to work, on the basis of his extensive experience with Aboriginal communities, as a patrol officer attached to the [Woomera Test Range](/source/Woomera_Test_Range). As Britain began to undertake weapons testing and experiments on the atomic bomb at [Emu Field](/source/Emu_Field%2C_South_Australia) and [Maralinga](/source/Maralinga), MacDougall was delegated to shift people out of the affected area down to the [Yalata](/source/Yalata%2C_South_Australia).[1] In 1956, he was promoted to the position of [Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia](/source/Protector_of_Aborigines) and by that time was responsible for patrolling some 400,000 sq. miles of desert terrain, together with a new officer, Robert Macauley, with whom he had personal differences.

MacDougall believed the Aboriginal population should be gradually assimilated into the mainstream. He stated that:

'We have taken away their beliefs and customs and trespassed on their lands, and we have a moral obligation to give them something in return'.[1][2]

At the same time, he found himself at odds with officials overseeing areas where military installations were planned and armament experiments conducted. MacDougall surveyed specific localities containing ceremonial zones and sacred sites to inform the government authorities to avoid intruding there to avoid giving offense.[2] He was strongly opposed to the establishment of the [Giles Weather Station](/source/Giles_Weather_Station) in the [Rawlinson Ranges](/source/Rawlinson_Ranges) since it lay on tribal land.[3] The authorities feared him for his forthright criticism based on a deep knowledge of the indigenous societies. He threatened to go to the newspapers on one occasion and was warned not to meddle with political or policy issues.[4]

MacDougall retired after 25 years of service and died of a combination of pneumonia and [pericarditis](/source/Pericarditis) at [Heidelberg](/source/Heidelberg%2C_Victoria) in 1976.[1] His biographer W.H. Edwards cites as a suitable, complimentary epitaph for MacDougall a hostile put-down made by a scientist involved in the atomic arms testing. MacDougall had placed:

'the affairs of a handful of natives above those of the British Commonwealth of Nations'.[1][4]

## Notes and references

### Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEdwards2000_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEdwards2000_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEdwards2000_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEdwards2000_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEdwards2000_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEdwards2000_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEdwards2000_1-6) [Edwards 2000](#CITEREFEdwards2000).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEArnoldSmith2006151–153_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEArnoldSmith2006151–153_2-1) [Arnold & Smith 2006](#CITEREFArnoldSmith2006), pp. 151–153.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELindellBennett2006201_3-0)** [Lindell & Bennett 2006](#CITEREFLindellBennett2006), p. 201**?**

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross200383_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross200383_4-1) [Cross 2003](#CITEREFCross2003), p. 83.

### References

- Arnold, L.; Smith, M. (2006). [*Britain, Australia and the Bomb: The Nuclear Tests and their Aftermath*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TeyHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA151). [Palgrave Macmillan](/source/Palgrave_Macmillan). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-230-62733-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-230-62733-8).

- Cross, Roger (2003). ["British Nuclear tests and the Indigenous People of Australia"](https://books.google.com/books?id=oEiQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA83). In Barnaby, Frank; Holdstock, Douglas (eds.). *The British Nuclear Weapons Programme, 1952–2002*. [Frank Cass](/source/Frank_Cass). pp. 75–88. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-135-76197-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-135-76197-4).

- Edwards, W. H. (2000). ["MacDougall, Walter Batchelor (1907–1976)"](https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macdougall-walter-batchelor-10944). In Ritchie, John; Langmore, Diane (eds.). *Australian Dictionary of Biography*. Vol. 15. [Melbourne University Press](/source/Melbourne_University_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-522-84843-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-522-84843-4).

- Lindell, Geoffrey; Bennett, R. L. (2006). [*Parliament: The Vision in Hindsight*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TeyHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA151). Federation Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-862-87406-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-862-87406-0).

- Milliken, Robert (1986). *No conceivable injury*. [Penguin Books](/source/Penguin_Books). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-140-08438-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-140-08438-2).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Walter MacDougall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_MacDougall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_MacDougall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.