Exploring Oz: July 15th: The Stolen Generation

After a rather chilly night spent curled up with my electric blanket and a cup of tea, I was off to meet Kerry Reed-Gilbert, coordinator of the Aboriginal people and Torres Island people resource center at ACU. Kerry is a Wiradjuri woman from central NSW, and is both an accomplished writer and businesswoman, running her own business, Kuracca Consultancy. Through this organization, she conducts training on Aboriginal culture, heritage and history, as well as advocating for human rights in her writing. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a more welcoming and generous person! Not only did she have a small “ditty bag” ready for me, full of reading material, a signed copy of her compilation of Aboriginal female writing, and a number of traditional trinkets, more importantly she shared her own story over morning “cuppa” and “bikkies” (coffee and biscuits/cookies).

Kerry began by describing her heritage. In addition to identifying themselves by their tribal names and nation of origin, Aboriginal people also adopt totems. Kerry’s personal totem is the white cockatoo, which symbolizes the messenger and she aims to fulfill this role of messenger in her writing by addressing the interests, concerns and issues that the Aboriginal people face today. Totems are chosen symbols that show how you are connected to the land and how all of nature is related to you- animals, rocks, trees, water, even the wind. This system of belonging is often referred to as “the Dreaming.” Your person is comprised of this symbolic totem and a guiding and protecting “miwi,” or justice spirit/gut feeling. She then launched into the Aboriginal creation story and how all the natural elements are connected to one another. She played me a beautiful “song of the earth” that was developed by the Wiradjuri nation of NSW:

Gundrah Ah. Lah. oo. noo

Nungeena Tya

Gundrah Ah Lah oo oonoo

Yahma Koorah Yamah

Koorah

Nungeena Tya. Yah, Ah

Mah Koo-oo-Rah

“Mother Earth

We are eternally linked

I honor you

I greet you Mother Earth”

Man learned to tell the creation story by listening to the country tell it to him and then it was his responsibility for him to share this story. It was interesting the way she explained that knowledge is not ours –instead you must always pass it off to someone else, otherwise you would be considered greedy. It was the responsibility of the “black fellas” to teach the Europeans their laws and how to the respect and watch over their country. But I found it shocking to listen to her say that despite the cruelty and suffering endured by the Aboriginal people because of European colonization it was partially their own fault for not properly teaching these European newcomers. There was no anger in her story, just the desire to fight for gaining back the sovereignty that had been stolen from them.

“The Stolen Generation” refers to the Aborginal peoples that were taken from their families by the government in order to assimilate them into European culture (there is a great depiction in the movie Australia) in the hundred-year period between the 1860s and 1960s. It wasn’t until 2008 that the Australian government offered a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.

Aboriginal tent embassy outside Parliament House

After years of trying to cover their Aboriginal heritage, there has been an increase during the past decade to claim Aboriginal legacy and embrace the culture. Kerry told me a story about a friend who recently came to the discovery of her Aboriginal background. Adopted as a baby, she grew up not knowing this part of her identity, but began piecing together slight differences (having dark eyes while both of her parents were blue-eyed and hints in her birth certificate). Because the dark skin is no always passed down, she did not have this indicator. After confirming her Aboriginal decent, other pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. It explained the extreme sickness she faced while on a school fieldtrip back in primary school. She had experienced severe stomach pains after crossing the ancient tribal boundary into “man’s land,” which was not allowed of Aboriginal women. These pains immediately disappeared after retreating over the boundary, but returned when she tried to rejoin her class.

Kerry’s excitement and enthusiasm for sharing her culture and heritage was infectious, and her desire for gaining social justice for the Aboriginal people and Torres Island people was inspiring. As I was leaving, she hugged me, saying “thank you for sharing the journey –may we share many more miles.” Overall, I was truly amazed by her strength and determination for fighting for the dignity of the human person and reclaiming the sense of belonging to the community that the Aboriginal peoples had been a part of for thousands of years.

After leaving Kerry I met with students at Australian National University in Canberra (if Sydney is like New York City, Canberra is the Washington D.C. of Australia). They took me on a sightseeing adventure of the city, and I witnessed all the famous sights:

New Parliment House

Australian Coat of Arms: It includes a Kangaroo and Emu, both of which can't move backwards, therefore symbolizing a nation moving forward. (Fun fact: Australia is the only nation that eats the animal on its coat of arms!)