Australian Aborigines Police Tracker

[Music] [Music] [Music] what does this bed mean it means that this man is a trekker in the Australian Northern Territory police he is a full-blooded Aboriginal the police had Catherine call him Jackie he's waiting for a job now one which will show his skill in tracking when he goes after a man he usually finds him how did Jackie learn to follow Trek so well when he was a boy living with his family in their tribal area he played like the other boys among the gum trees and palms his father taught him how to live in the wilds how to catch animals by hunting one of the first lessons was to learn the marks that animals make like this dingo ped mark two hands in the sand make the mark of a wallaby then the children used to go out to look for the marks on the ground there were plenty of Wallabies about so they soon found clear signs that a wallaby had passed by Jackie and the other children looked for tracks as part of their education the grown men looked for them too for what will be metres good when they found a track they followed it until they caught up with the animal that made it then the kill barefooted hunters leave foot marks - Jackie recognised those of friends and strangers just as we recognize faces he remembered little differences in shape today Jackie uses his skill in tracking to help the police here's a message now from Mike Rogers wife mike is a Stockman and he's 24 hours overdue anything might have happened to him in this wild country the sergeant sends trooper Marni to find him to find him as the territory police usually find men who are lost and men who tried to escape from justice he sends Jackie along too for an Aboriginal confined traps and places where the average white man can see nothing at all Jackie really knows this country this brown and barren land has been the home of the Aborigines for thousands of years they make straight for a Ford across the river Jackie sees something on the other side a sandy bank is a book to Jackie he can read the tracks of birds and beasts to come to the river to drink here is what they're looking for the mark of a horseshoe Jackie recognizes it as Mike horse a quick look around up on the pass and they're off each mark has a meaning to a tracker here written on the ground is the story of Mike's accident the horse shied at a snake and threw him the marks the injured man made lead past the Silent Witness his horse his Mike badly hurt he dragged himself at the bank the tracks are clear they tell a story of a man in pain moving slowly this distorted footprint tells Jackie that Mike's right leg was injured off their horses for the last lap will might be all right they're only just in time Mike has collapsed a cigarette cheers him up and a drink of water revives him he said I wasn't worried I knew you fellas would find me and he was right all territory uns will tell you that the police and their Aboriginal trackers have found hundreds of people who have been lost the school which jackie learned as a boy helps the aboriginal to hunt it also helps the police to keep law and order and to save life in the lonely and far distant parts of Australia's outback [Music]