IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY MOTHER.
These stories are on my Mothers side. She was the oldest Nyikina elder, and she passed away at the of 107 years in Kallarra Nursing home on the 9th October 2007. I also believed that she was the older resident of Port hedlandt that time.
Her bush name was Wanagoo. She was born at Jarlmadangah, 146 Km East of Broome.
Back in late 1800s and early 1900s, aboriginal children were stolen from their families at a very early age. Parents could not do anything at all to stop the Government from taking their children. The main purpose behind this was, the government wanted to phase out aboriginal people and stop the people from having more children. This is a story of my mother who was taken from her family 100 years ago.
In 1908, on a fine sunny day my mother was taken away from her family at Lulullungai Ststion, east of Derby, where she was playing with her brothers and sisters climbing trees and playing hide and seek, and then suddenly the people were warned that the police and government were coming were on their way. The people knew that the government people were coming for.
They knew knew that the government people were coming to take their children away from them. Most of the mothers and aunties stsrted to to hide their children so that government people wouldn't see them. They tried all their tactics to to deter these white people from stealing the children.
My mother's father was a white man, and also the manager of the station, he actually gave my mother to the police, because he didn't want her to grow up within the aboriginal way of life. Little did the family know of what my mother's father done.
As the days passed the family were still worrying about their children, they thought that they got killed, bitten by a snake, but never thought that the children was stolen from the camps. For about a year the people were still worrying, and started to fat from eating meat because something bad happened to the children. In those days when this happened the their mother and brothers and sisters had no idea where my mother was. They looked for her everywhere not knowing that they would never see her again, and also they thought she might have been killed or worse. In Aboriginal ways when losing a family member it is like cutting both arms off. My Grandmother mourned every morning and every night for over twelve months.
They also fasted for from not eating red meat from this period, they also took it apon themselves with anything sharp and hit themselves around the head and body until they bled. Also when something tragic happens, they move from the house where the children were playing before the children were taken from. All the clothes ar also left there in the house.
This was the beginning of the Stolen Generation.
As time went by, my mother's brothers and sisters were growing old, and finally passing on. Until my late uncle Uncle said to his family, "you must find my sister for me before I pass on". Then one day when one my sisters was in Sydney for a conference, and was sitting down when suddenly a lady passed her with the inscription on her t-shirt with Link Up. These two women got talking, and my sister mentioned that she was trying to find her aunt. Then this other lady couldn't help over hear my sister mentioning our mother's name. This lady came up and informed my sister that she had a grandmother in south Hedland living in an Aged Care Facility., and she said she was sure that her grandmother was the one that they were looking for. So my sister got onto the phone and called the family at Jarlmadangah an Aboriginal community, and informed them of what she heard. When my sister got back from Sydney they decided to take my uncle to see his lost sister whom he had not seen in 100 years, because he wanted to see her before he passed away. My late uncle always spoke of his sister who was taken from him. He wanted to go and see his sister, so his granddaughter and niece took him there.
When he arrived he could not believe that his it was his sister, and started to hug and cry to each other., because they hadn't seen each other for 100 years. All he said was " I'm happy and glad I found my sister, and thank god that I found her before I passed away". Three months later he got sick and passed away.
Where my mother was born, this is a very significant site because of all the old utensils and toold people used are still there today. Also my grandmother is buried there. We find that these places of significance are trying to be sold off by today's government. Doesn't the government know what they have done to the people and their lives, and they still try and create another Stolen Generation.
The today's government may have said sorry to the people who lost their children through their policies, and will continue to lose children theough these policies until something is done. I would like to invite any government officials out to the land and to feel and experience the life that surrounds the country., and also to have a look at the area of what we call sacred. And then hope that by doing this they will know what we are taliking about. We will continue to fight the government or maybe elect a government with feelings towards what thay have put our families through.
