Bringing Them Home Oral History Project
ISSN 1442-3723
Newsletter No. 2
Pilot Project Nears Completion
In September 1997 1 the Australian Government asked the National Library to conduce a major oral history project to record the stories of people involved in the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families during much of the present century. The Library engaged in an extensive consultation process with Indigenous and non-indigenous organisations and individuals with regard to the project itself and with the establishment of an Advisory Committee.
The Project Manager, Dr Gwenda Davey AM, was appointed in September 1998, and since then the National Library's Bringing Them Home oral history pilot project has been working to establish the feasibility of a longer, three-year project. The pilot aimed to test the identification and availability of people to be interviewed and methods of working such as the location of interviewees, the training of interviewers, liaison with the Advisory Committee, staffing and budgetary planning. To do this, a target of 30 interviews was sec from NSW, ACT and Western Australia, as recommended by the Advisory Committee, and approximately 10 of the 30 interviews were to be with administrators of separation policies, such as public servants, police, missionaries and health workers.
The pilot project is due for completion on 30 June 1999, by which time the 30 interviews will have been completed. A report will be presented to the Australian Government recommending that the full project should proceed. To meet the Government's requirement that the project should deliver a 'rounded history', the National Library, in consultation with the Advisory Committee, has devised a working definition to help it shape the project:
A 'rounded history' is one which records different aspects and experiences of what happened and why, from a range of individual perspectives. SpeciFically, aspects of what happened, and why, include, for example:
- government policies and legislation
- prevailing social, religious and political ideologies and their practitioners
- perceptions of the reasons for child removal
- practices of removal of children to missions, institutions, foster homes, etc
- effects of removal for individuals, families, adoptive families, institutions and administrators
- opposition to child removal at the time.
In practice, the interviewing that has already been done has shown the complexities of these historical events, and their outcomes, and interviewees
cannot be simply categorised as Indigenous separated persons' or 'administrators'. As well as many separated persons, this project has recorded an Indigenous woman who runs a rehabilitation program for separated persons, a 'white' person who discovered at the age of $0 about being adopted at three months of age from an Aboriginal mother, and a British 'orphan sent to a cattle Station/orphanage where t^e abused children were often protected by Aborigines working on the station. This is truly a rounded story!
The National Library's Bringing Them Home oral history project is being conducted in a difFicult climate, particularly in view of the large numbers of Indigenous people who are involved in current or pending litigation against the Australian Government, claiming compensation for their separation from their families. Both Indigenous litigants and the National Library have received legal advice to stay away from each other, until the litigation is resolved!
Despite these barriers, many people, both Indigenous and non-indigenous, are coming forward to tell their stories, particularly since the National Library advertised a special free telephone number (1800-353-907) for the Bringing Them Home project in all major national dailies and the Koorie Mail. This newsletter would be pleased to hear from its readers about potential interviewees and also about persons who may be interested in interviewing for this project. Either Gwenda Davey or Francine George can be reached on 1800-353-907.
Planning for the organisation of the three-year project has commenced, and it is estimated that 300 interviews will be recorded, and that a final publication will be produced. Because the 300 interviews can only be a sample of the thousands of people affected by separation policies and practices, it will be necessary to select locations where interviews will be carried out. It is planned to establish a number of key locations, say in each capital city and in one remote location in each State. As a trial run for a community project out of a capital city, Gwenda Davey and Francine George visited Townsville and Palm Island during April. Gwenda and Francine believe that good relationships and arrangements have been made which should produce a successful interviewing program in the region, using both local and outside interviewers. The pouring rain on Palm wasn't too much of a handicap to a couple of intrepid field workers!
The National Library is already receiving valuable assistance from Indigenous organisations, and will be discussing cooperative relationships with libraries in all States and with colleagues in the Oral History Association of Australia. The Library believes that the Bringing Them Home oral history project is one of national importance that will deliver interviews of lasting historical and research value.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA BRINGING THEM HOME ORAL
HISTORY PROJECI
Project Manager: Dr Gwenda Davey AM
Tel: (02)
62621141
Fax: (02) 6273 5081
Email: gdavey@nla.gov.au
Free call:
1800-353-907
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Ms Rosie Baird (SNAICC, NT)
Rev Bernard Clark (Uniting Church, SA)
Mr Barry Duroux (Link-Up, NSW)
Ms Jackie Huggins (Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, OLD)
Ms Carol
Kendall (Chairperson, NSW)
Dr Peter Read (ANU, ACT)
Mr Russell Taylor
(AIATSIS, ACT)
Mr Jeremy Long (NSW)
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