Contributors - Us Taken-Away Kids: commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 'Bringing them home' report
Us Taken-Away Kids 
Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Bringing them home report
Index of Contributors
‘Finding my Family’, Rooth Wilay
Robertson
My painting depicts each family member, with all the different
skin colours, as puzzle pieces finally all joined up to complete our
story.
”On 13th July 1921, the Smith children were removed from
Warangesda. White history would record that these actions were taken in the best
interest of the children. White history lies. Lillian and Flora were taken to
the Cootamundra Aboriginal Girls Training Home and the three boys were taken to
the Singleton Boys Home, thence to Kinchela Boys Home in Kempsey. Lillian was
never to see her mother, father or brothers again. Her sister Flora was to
provide the only information on Lilly’s time in Cootamundra: ‘Lilly
was a good writer and a good singer, but she was never happy, she cried all the
time.’
My aunt Lillian died on 27th July 1991. My mother Flora died
the same year on 21st November. On 12th March 1992, the two small caskets
containing Lilly and Flora’s ashes were buried in their mother
Violet’s grave in the Goulburn Cemetery. Separated for 72 years in life,
they were finally reunited in death.”
- Beverley Gulambali
Elphick
Contributors
Baldwin, Helen: This letter is written by Helen’s great
Grandfather, Frederick Carmichael requesting the return of his three grand
daughters, Helen’s mother Nellie and Nellie’s sisters, Mary and
Sarah after they were taken from his care on the Lake Tyres Mission Station in
Victoria. Nellie’s children were also taken at birth and placed in
institutions. It has taken Helen 25 years to locate all five of her brothers and
sisters. The story of Helen and her family can be found
at:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/history/hindsight/stories/s1205514.htm
Barber
(Morgan), Sandra: Sandra is a Yorta Yorta woman. She was taken from her mother
and placed in institutions and then placed in foster care with the woman who had
also adopted Sandra’s mother, taken from her family in the 1930’s.
She has three children and lives in Melbourne.
Bates, Kiedan: Keidan
attends primary school in NSW.
Bingham, Veronica: Vonnie attends high
school in Cockatoo. Her letter is addressed to an anonymous woman,
‘Jennifer’ who gave evidence at the original National Inquiry into
the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their
Families. Her story is part of the Commission’s educational materials on the Bringing them home report, which can be accessed at: www.humanrights.gov.au/bth
Butler, Kevin: Kevin is from the Gumbaingirr community (Nambucca Heads)
in NSW. He was adopted out as a child. In 1988, Kevin began to paint Aboriginal
art. This was his way of getting in touch with his lost heritage. Kevin’s
artwork also featured in the Bringing them home Report.
‘Someone
once told me I should paint my dreams. I went one step further and painted my
nightmares. For many stolen children who were raised by people who do not even
share the same DNA, it is like being a restrained prisoner behind metal
bars.’
Clark, Fred: Fred is a Yorta Yorta man. He and his two
brothers were separated when they were stolen. Fred grew up in Ballarat
Orphanage. Fred has a daughter and a grand-daughter and lives in Melbourne.
Connors, Tahlee: Tahlee is attending primary school in Glebe.
Coolwell, Alfred: Alfred began searching for his family as a young
adult.
His tribe is the Mununjali from Beaudesert, South East Queensland.
This photo was taken by Emily Bullock:
Back row from left- Ailsa
Coolwell (father’s sister), Alfred Coolwell, Grace Coolwell
(Alfred’s sister), Mary Sandy (Alfred’s aunt), Norm (Ailsa’s
husband). Front row from left- Lena Yarry (Alfred’s sister), Bradley
Coolwell (nephew).
Copely, Ivan: My name is Ivan Copley
“Tiwu” and I’m the second of six children.
Ngai
Tandanya-ngga Worni. (I’m of Adelaide). I am a Kaurna/Peramangk man, my
Great Grandmother was born near Womma-uk-urta (Mt Barker) 1860’s on the
land of the Per-a-Mangk People, near a government water hole and my Grandfather,
Father, Mother & myself were raised on Kaurna land around Plympton and the
Sand hills around Glenelg North.
Most of my life has been learning about
my Aboriginal heritage, customs and have a good knowledge of sacred sites and
their dreaming through out the Peramangk, Kaurna Lands and some of their
surrounding Nations in South Australia. My Family also came from West Coast or
were at the Poonindie Mission, Point Pearce, Point McLeay and
Harrogate.
Cox, Jonathon: Jonathon was taken from his mother two weeks
after he was born. He was made a ward of the state and fostered until, at 21
months, he was adopted and raised by loving adoptive parents Ron and Marie Cox,
to whom he dedicates his contribution to this publication. They worked for much
of their lives to better the lives of Aboriginal Australians.
Dennis,
Stephanie: Stephanie attends high school in Melbourne. She wrote this letter of
support to ‘Jennifer’ a confidential submission to the original
National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Children from Their Families. Jennifer’s story is part of the Commission’s
educational materials on the Bringing them home report, which can be accessed
at: www.humanrights.gov.au/bth
Elphick, Beverley Gulambali: Lillian Smith
is Beverley’s aunt. She and her sister Flora (Beverley’s mother) and
brothers, Clarence, Hector and Bruce were taken from their family in 1921.
Fallon, Yveane: Yve has both Koori and Celtic heritage, and spent time
in institutional care as a child. She is still searching for her Aboriginal
roots.
Artwork: The Rainbow Serpent
‘This painting is in
Indian ink and is a variation of the Aboriginal flag. The Rainbow serpent
entangled from the centre of the sun and spreading to all corners of our nation
signifying first people’s unity and the spirit of the rainbow serpent
across the land. The patterns although varying, are interlocked and overlapped
in displays of Koori and Celtic styles to show the connectiveness and diversity
of our peoples. The land in white, the sun centre circle, and each dotted line
are representing our ancestors, descendants and future generations.’
Grant, Beverley Lipscomb: Bev is a Wiradjuri woman and spent her first
three years with her family on the Lachlan River at Goolagong NSW until she was
taken to the Aboriginal Mission Children’s Home, Bomaderry. She excelled
at school and went to University to train as a nurse. Bev has been working in
health, particularly Aboriginal health research ever since. Beverley’s
mother was also taken and attended the Cootamundra Aboriginal Girl’s Home.
Haines, Roseanne: Roseanne was born in Tasmania. She is the sixth of 15
children that were all taken from her mother. ‘My family is still torn
apart and still today the pain is still very fresh and
fractured.’
Artwork (below): My first two years of life were
blessed with love; this love gave me my spiritual inner strength to survive when
I was taken away. I was made a state ward and placed in foster care. After the
birth of my first child I knew I had to express the pain I felt from within
before it consumed my entire body, spirit and soul. I couldn’t write it or
speak it, the pain was so intense, I felt shame. So I thought I’d try
drawing it. This is the result I’ve kept shamefully hidden for 24 years.
This is part of my story.
Hayes, Jeannie: Jeannie is the fourth child of
ten. Her parents are of Aboriginal and Irish Catholic descent. Jeannie was
raised in Tailem Bend on the banks of the Murray River, South Australia. She was
incarcerated between 1968 and 1970 in various state institutions in NSW.
Jeannie has one son and enjoys the outdoors- the beach, bushwalking and camping.
She now lives on the Central Coast.
Hooker, Mary: Mary and her brothers
and sister were taken away from their mother, separated and sent to various
homes including Rystone, Yarra Bay, Montrose and Lynwood Hall.
Kruger,
Alec: As an infant, Alec Kruger was removed from his family and spent much of
his early life with his people, and became aware of how much had been taken from
him. In the 1990s, Alec initiated legal action against the Commonwealth. He
claimed that the Northern Territory Ordinance under which Aboriginal children
like him were removed from their families was invalid because it violated a
number of rights (explicit and implied) in the Constitution. He also claimed
that the Ordinance was an instrument of genocide and was therefore unlawful. In
1997 the High Court of Australia found that the territories power in the
Constitution (s122) could be exercised by the Commonwealth without regard to the
rights of Australians living in the territories, and therefore the Ordinance was
valid. It also found that the intent of the Ordinance was not to destroy
Aboriginal peoples, and so was not an instrument of genocide - regardless of its
impact. While Alec Kruger’s case failed, it threw into sharp relief the
lack of rights of all Australians, including Indigenous Australians, under the
Constitution. It also flagged some of the hurdles that other Stolen Generation
litigants might face. In this way it paved the way for the first successful
claim for compensation by a member of the Stolen Generation - in Trevorrow v
South Australia - ten years later.
Leon, Charles Larry: Charles was
taken at three yrs old and placed in foster care. ‘When I was growing up I
felt there was something different about me. In 2003 I met my birth mother. I
found out that I had nine sisters but I never knew any of them until April 2003
when I went to a religious rally at Redfern Block. On the second night I sat
next to an Aboriginal woman who offered me something to eat. I told her I was
looking for my birth family. It was a miracle! She knew two of my sisters and a
couple of days later brought one of my sisters to meet me. So far I have met six
sisters, and yet my journey has just begun as I recover my lost history and
culture.’ Charles has been singing with the Sydney Street Choir for six
years.
Love, Lawry: Lawry is an artist who has spent considerable time
in the Northern Territory over the last 7 years.
‘I was working
for a Mini Bus company and got talking to many Aboriginal people, who told me
they were taken away as children from their land and their people, and put in
institutions. I started to wonder in what way I could do something to inform the
general public about the things that happened to these children, and the way
that being taken away stripped them of their culture.
Being an artist, I
decided to paint Culture Shock, an exhibition of 18 paintings. I approached the
South Australian Museum to discuss exhibiting the story, and they came on board,
along with ATSIC. During the five months of the Exhibition, I made available
blank canvasses, for anyone who had something to say, or a message to leave, to
write it on those canvasses. Many people from the Stolen Generation, ex Police
Officers involved in taking the children, and members of the general public
expressed their sorrow.’
Mason, Christopher: Chris Mason is an
Aboriginal man of the Gnemba clan from Brewarrina. He has been learning about
Aboriginal art as a way to reconnect with this culture and country and looks
forward to meeting his family as he finds them. This dot painting is his second
artwork.
McGee-Sippel, Lorraine: Lorraine is a Yorta Yorta woman. She
has performed her work at the State Library of NSW, the NSW Writer’s
Centre, Reconciliation meetings and the Koori radio program, Awaye. Excerpts of
Lorraine’s story have also appeared in Many Voices: Reflections on
experiences of indigenous child separations, edited by Doreen Mellor and Anna
Haebich. Lorraine’s autobiography, Hey Mum, What’s a Half Caste? was
short- listed for the David Uniapon Award in 2006.
‘My writing is
in response to the pain I felt from not knowing my family and true cultural
identity.’
McHugh, Siobhan: Siobhan is a freelance Irish-born
documentary maker, oral historian and writer. These extracted interviews were
taken from her radio documentary, Beagle Bay: Irish Nuns and Stolen Children.
The documentary features Phyllis Bin Barka and Daisy Howard and their
experiences of being stolen from the East Kimberley and growing up with the
Irish nuns at Beagle Bay. The documentary was short- listed for a Walkley Award
for Excellence in Journalism.
This documentary can be accessed in full
here: www.humanrights.gov.au/bth
For more information about Siobhan and her
work visit www.mchugh.org
McInerney, Kunyi: June- Anne, named Kunyi by
her family, was born on Todmorton Station, South Australia in 1951. At the age
of four, Kunyi along with her sister and two brothers were placed in the
Oodnadatta Children’s Mission Home. The Missionaries renamed her Anne. At
eight, Kunyi was fostered out in Adelaide where she was named June. She still
lives in Adelaide with her three children.
Kunyi’s works portray a
landscape remembered from childhood- paintings of family and friends, remembered
experiences expressing a strong feeling for her people and environment. Her
works shown here are rendered in oil on canvas. Kunyi graduated from the
University of South Australia in 1995.
Artwork ‘The
Punishment’, 1994
‘This painting is about us in Oodnadatta
Mission. If we ripped our dresses or shorts we were made to wear potato sack
dresses. The missionaries cut a hole for the head and two holes for the arms to
fit in.
We could not play in this bag dress, as it was too itchy. That is
why the girl is sitting on the tin can. The boy is sitting next to her as a
comfort to the girl- avoiding eye contact with the missionary as she would hunt
him away. We would wear this sack till we had learnt not rip our clothes again.
Our clothes got ripped because we climbed wire fences that surrounded the
mission home and we would climb over them instead of going through the gate, as
the gate was further down the fence. If we were playing chase it was quicker to
climb the fence than get caught by the person who was
chasing.’
Artwork ‘The Box’, 1994
This
painting is about me trapped in a world of daily torture and yelling abuse. I
never seem to do anything right, - the foster parents- had no patience or love
for us. To me they fostered us to get praise etc from the church we used to go
to and because of us; they received handouts of clothes and food etc.
I
have my ears closed so I cannot hear anymore-negative talk about me. I went to
school with so many bruises on my legs and arms and buttocks from daily physical
abuse with either sticks, whips, bamboo or flexible thin sticks that were more
painful than straps.
I am dressed like an angel as I did not think I
was as bad as they said I was and I have my fingers in my ears as I do not want
to hear anymore abuse.
Milroy, Gladys: Gladys is an elder of the Palku
people from Marble Bar in Western Australia. She was born in 1927, taken from
her mother when she was two years old and placed in the Parkerville
Children’s Home run by the nuns of the Church of England. Gladys stayed
there until she was 12. Gladys is a story teller and a poet and has five
children, 14 grand children and one great grandchild.
Narkle, Harry and
Jennifer: Harry and Jennifer live in Kulin, Western Australia.
Nelson,
Susanne: Susanne is a Yorta Yorta woman. Susanne, her sister and two brothers
were removed from their family in 1962 when she was 5 years old. Susanne grew up
in the Lutheran Children’s Home in Kew, Victoria.
‘My
returning to my family over the last 26 years has been too painful. I had to
make the decision to walk away from my brothers and sisters this year. I am just
worn out emotionally, physical and spiritually. Our lives were dramatically
destroyed in one day. Do I think about my siblings? Yes. Everyday, and the warm
bed that we will never have again.’
Nolan, David: David grew up in
Bethcar Children’s Home, Brewarrina.
Poetry: The poem
‘Mission Breed' is about my life on the ‘Mish’,
with the people I grew up with in the Home. The poem ‘Your Spirit in my
Hands’ is about reconnection with my mother after getting out of
the Home. Things would never be the same after learning of my mother’s
overdose.
Penny, Fred: Fred is a Nyoongar man and grew up on Wandering
Mission.
‘As a musician I contribute to the betterment of
Aboriginal people and the awareness of non-Aboriginal people. My songs are
driven by justice, equality and a fair go for all. I am always pleased to play
alongside my son and always hope that it encourages our fathers and sons and
mothers and daughters to do things together.’
Ridgeway, Les: Les
was one of only three Aboriginal people in NSW to manage a mission station. He
continues to fight for the rights of Aboriginal people in Australia,
particularly in relation to the return of ‘stolen wages’ in NSW.
Roach, Vickie Lee: Vickie and her brother were taken from her mother
when Vickie was 2 ½ years old and placed with separate families from the
Church of Christ. Vickie’s has been writing poetry and plays for many
years. Her writings have been published and performed as plays, songs and
performance pieces. In 2007 Vickie was awarded first prize in the Bridge
Foundation’s Literary Competition. While in prison in the Dame Phyllis
Frost Centre in Victoria, Vickie completed a Masters of Writing through
Swinburne University in 2006 and is currently writing her PhD. Vickie has also
successfully challenged in the High Court Commonwealth legislation which
prohibited prison inmates from voting.
Roberts, Kerrie: Kerrie is a
Kamillaroi woman. She was adopted at six weeks old by lovely people. Kerrie
found out she was Aboriginal when she was 12, but only began to pursue her
Aboriginal heritage as an adult. She has two children and works as an Indigenous
teacher’s aide. The photograph shows Kerrie with some of her brothers and
sisters. From left to right: Jason, Kerrie, Kevin, Joanne, Clancy and
Della.
Robertson, Rooth: Rooth’s family is from the Wiradjuri
people. Rooth is an Aboriginal artist who has been searching for her family
roots for 30 years. She has expressed her joy at finding her family in the
artwork featured here, ‘finding my Family.’
Rutty, Tim: Tim
is a student at Sherbrook Community School in Victoria.
Stuurman, Robert: Robert Stuurman was born as John Ronald Cuttabut. He was adopted out to Dutch
migrants in the 1960’s and lived overseas in Holland and on Bougainville
Island in the 1970’s.
He came to Brisbane in 1992 and had a
reunion with his mother Alma Toomath in 1994. This is where he was taught
Aboriginal art and spirituality and has continued to express his culture through
art practice. Robert also met his father in 2004 who was an English Orphan
shipped out after WWII. He only met his father once.
Having both
reunions has given Robert closure and acceptance of who he is and is an advocate
for identity and social change using art as a medium. He is currently lecturing
at the Queensland University of Technology in the Oodgeroo unit and is
researching Aboriginal Art practice.
Thomas, Eddie: Eddie was stolen
from Flinders Island and taken to a home on the Tasmanian mainland in a suburb
of Launceston. He spent the next 18 years in a series of institutions.
Eddie thought it important to contribute to Us Taken-Away Kids in light
of the positive events that had occurred within Tasmania in the last 12 months,
specifically the passing of the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Bill
2006 during 2006. He now works with the Tasmania Aboriginal Corporation
assisting others in finding their families and working through the emotional
difficulties associated with being a Stolen Child.
Toongerie AM, George: George was the first baby boy placed into care at Colebrook in South Australia;
this was in 1926. George is the current Chairperson of the Aboriginal Lands
Trust at Walkley Heights in South Australia.
George wanted to contribute
to Us Taken-Away Kids because he has witnessed the damage done to people through
the forced removal from their parents particularly in his interactions with the
criminal justice system.
Turnbull, Elaine: Elaine is from the
Gumbaynggirr community and grew up in the Coventry Church of England Girls Home.
She is currently in her final year of a Bachelor of Adult Indigenous Education
at the University of Technology, Sydney.
‘My personal experience of
huge trauma was and is ongoing. The healing process of still being conducted
today. Even merely talking of my experience helps relieve pent up emotions and
helps turn them into positive feelings. The journey may not work for everyone,
however, I am convinced that by addressing the traumatic feelings the journey of
healing begins.’
Williams- Mozley, John Ntjalka: The oldest of
eight children, John was the first to be taken away from his mother, Mary
Barbara Williams from Palm Valley, NT at the age of eight months old. John grew
up in Charleston, in NSW. He did not find out he was adopted until the age of 9
where he then began the long search for his family. His determination and the
help from people such as Mum Shirl saw him locate his mother, whom he spoke to
for the first time when he was 27 years old. All of John’s brothers and
sisters were also removed, just as his mother had before them. Upon being
reunited with his family, John’s mother told him that she had never
stopped believing he was alive. Today, John is a proud traditional owner of his
family’s country, Palm Valley, Ntaria.
Yarry, Lena: Lena and her
sister Grace were taken and placed in the Toowoomba Girls Home for 5 years, then
the Kulinna Girls Home for a year. They had a terrible time in the homes, and
Lena tried to escape several times. Lena and Grace were never able to reconnect
with their Aboriginal heritage, but an adult, Lena has stressed the importance
of cultural knowledge to her children who are proud of their Aboriginal
heritage. Lena particularly feels that it is important her children do not feel
the anger and prejudice towards white Australia that she herself has felt for
much of her early life- and it is the only way to move forward, ‘you
can’t walk around with the prejudice, but you gotta teach the kids’.
She is very proud of her children and has found some peace in finding her
siblings. (Alfred Coolwell, listed above, is Lena’s
brother).
Your Spirit in My Hands
I wish I knew the truth
behind
Why you’d want to die
To end your life and leave your
kids
For heaven in the sky
recall the seizures,
The comas night and
day
The fear and expectation
Of you passing away
So many empty
questions
No one to explain
The endless box of Bex powders
And valium
for pain
Was it ‘cause the welfare man
Took us all away?
Or your
fathers’ blaming you
For your brothers’ death that
day?
Someone out there knows the truth
That someone I must find
The
reasons why you overdosed
Us out of your mind
A mother’s love toward
her kids
Vanished in the air
Taken captive by the drugs
That took her
mind somewhere
No longer knowing family
Her daughter, her four sons
No
longer feeling pain or love
For us or anyone
I cherish one small memory of
you
In your fathers’ yard
Sitting in Nan’s rose
garden
Concentrating hard
On crimson petals in your hand
A sketch pad
lies in wait
Longing to embrace the image
Only you
create
You’re here with me in every way
In everything I do
I
sense your spirit in my hands
When I start sketching too
My father taught
me Koori culture
My identity
Mum you gave me all my
talents
Creativity
For everything that I do
That I aspire to be
I
draw from you, my heroine
You gave your strengths to me.
- David Nolan
Possum, Wiradjuri
