Of pain and belonging - a raw reminder

There is another story to tell about our experiences in the lead up to Brave New Works #19. Sandra Hill gave an artist's talk to interested members of our community. She told us the story of her family and her journey in searching for the story of her family. She took the audience through a selection of  copies of government documentation and archived letters that related directly to her family - herself, parents, grandparents and siblings. She and those preceding generations mentioned are members of the stolen generation, where the government of the day took it upon themselves to remove part aboriginal children from their parents, and brought them up away from their families and culture. This was part of the assimilation policy of the time; the reasoning behind this was complex and misguided. Obviously the voices of dissent at the time were not strong enough to stop it from happening. Suffice to say it happened, and I felt horror at the thought that it had.

Sandra's presentation was an extremely raw and emotional experience. The pleading letters from the parents of the children that had been taken were heartbreaking. She showed us letters that asked, extremely politely, to see their children, or just to know where the children were.  The pleas were invariably declined. The worst for me was a letter from Sandra's grandmother, old and going blind, asking to know where her children were so she could see them before she went blind.  And  the request was denied ... Can you imagine that? It was by chance in 1983 that Sandra's sister discovered that their father was still alive and they began the journey of connecting with their missing family.

The image I have chosen is a quiet view of Wilson Inlet,
part of the country to which Sandra has familial kinship links.

When we turned up at our rehearsals on the Kwoorabup trail the next day, those of us who had been to Sandra's talk were in a stunned and emotionally raw state. It really brought home to us the power of some of the issues we were attempting to address in our performance on the trail. Coming from a family where I know my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, great aunts and uncles it is hard to imagine being deprived of all that. It is equally hard to imagine deliberately setting out to do that to other families ... 

I thank the generosity of people like Sandra who share their story, despite the pain each retelling must involve. It is personal stories like this that help us to understand the multi-generational disconnection that has been inflicted upon our indigenous people. Through understanding I hope we can begin to build a better relationship between everyone here in Australia.


Currently there is an exhibition on at Indigenart -Mossensen Galleries, Subiaco featuring the works of Sandra Hill, Irwin Lewis and Pauline Moran called Cause and Effect. It continues till 12th May. The gallery describes the works as reflecting upon and responding to the effects of the government policies enacted in the 1905 Aborigines Act and the Assimilation policies of the 1950's and 1960's. These policies had 'irreversibly destructive effects upon Aboriginal families and communities, their cultural traditions and their inherent connection to traditional lands'.

Walking on the white side Sandra Hill
Image from Indigenart website

Link to article about Sandra Hill in the Donnybrook Mail by Nina Smith.
Link to Indigenart - Mossensen Galleries.