… There still have to be changes, otherwise our people’s problems will become so dramatic that racism will widen further the gap between Aboriginal and white society. Despite that, when I look back I see that slowly Aboriginal people are taking their place in this society. Even organisations have changed, so that where once they were dominated by white people, Aboriginal people are in control.
Category: Politics
Taking Control Now – Part 1
Conscious of coming from a society of many nationalities in all colours and shapes, I was constantly reminded I was different. Some friends would say, in winter, when everyone was wearing stockings, gloves and beret: ‘Gee, you wouldn’t know that you were brown from behind.’ Constantly telling me that I was not quite one of them, they seemed preoccupied with colour. I reacted violently.
By the end of first term I had bashed up everyone bashable. Everybody else ran away. I came home with my school books and ripped right through them all with my biro, screaming, ranting and raving and demanding to go home. My foster father asked if I would like to try another school. No, but I didn’t want to return to the violence of Retta Dixon Homes. My foster father encouraged me. I went to Greystanes. Half the teachers were Jews, including the principal. The other half were white Australians. I got on with all the Jews, and with very few of the others.I still fought and argued with teachers but began to settle down.
Staying to the End – Part 1
The Clarence River ran past our island. There were oysters on the mangroves, and we ate gibbras, the worms out of the mangrove trees. When the mullets came up the river, there were hundreds of fish. My grandmother and the other old women recognised the signs and knew they were coming. The gibbras – worms – were a sign. My grandmother sent us out to trap them. Then there was dancing and celebration, because it meant there was a feed.
The Women’s Time Has Arrived – Part 2
Notices in the sisters’ home and dining room of the Thursday Island Hospital declared: ‘Nursing sisters must not attend coloured Islanders’ parties or homes. They must not travel in unauthorised vessels.’ In the 1950s and early 1960s the hospital’s decisions were greatly influenced by the Thursday Island tennis club. The self-appointed cream of Thursday Island society (all white) were members until ‘the tone deteriorated’, because black people were learning to play tennis. A bowling club was formed and anybody who classed themselves above the black Torres Strait Islanders joined. Today, it’s just an ordinary bowling club. All the power people believed they projected has been diminishing since the Whitlam government of the 1970s came to power and gave status recognition to the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.
The Women’s Time has Arrived – Part 1
Even before I was old enough for school, my parents told me and my brothers and sister the legends of our people. An afternoon ritual in our familiy, it gave me a strong sense of who I was, and of the rich culture of the Torres Strait. I grew up knowing our traditions. As I grow older, I come more and more to appreciate that sense of certainly. If a culture is destroyed or ignored, it robs people of a sense of self. As a child it is important to know where you come from, and who your people are, your family and the people of your own country, your own culture. Now I am in my sixties, I know it is important at all stages of life …
A Good Innings – Part 2
When Pearl Gibbs came to our flat another early morning, her patience now worn thin, she looked over her cup and said: ‘You want to get off your behind and give us a hand.’ Over the tea and toast we planned a movement. It was a movement that should involve both Black and white, Jews and gentiles, political and non-political – but dominated by none. We joined forces.
A Good Innings – Part 1
After my father died and the boys left home to work on farms in the district, I often caught my mother weeping and between her sobs she hummed the verse of a sad hymn. My heart ached terribly for her but I did not have the strength to comfort or help release her pain. As the family thinned out she caught me to her, r0ping me in. I was being fastened to her emotionally.
For My People – Part 2
I returned to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs: a hard time with a high executive position for a woman, getting no support from the men in the Department. I thought: ‘There must be more in life than this.’ Maybe it was time to look at studying law. I sent off applications and chose Melbourne. When I got in I said: ‘That’s it, I’m throwing this job in. Thank you every much but I’m going.’ I have not regretted it.
For My People – Part 1
One of my earliest memories of her was when I was quite young, at a time when so-called ‘half-caste’ children were taken away from Aboriginal families. Some gudia came to the house. They were wanting to take me. My grandmother wouldn’t let them and chased them out of the yard. That is a powerful memory of a strong Black woman.