ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 57| June 2002
The Bringing Them
Home Publication:
A Journey in Progress
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Tasmanian interviewee, Deb Chandler (left)< with Lyn McLeavy, interviewer, Bringing Them Home Oral History Project, in Hobart. Photograph courtesy of Lyn McLeavy |
Expect to see on the shelves, in November of this year, the book from the Bringing Them Home Oral History Project. The publication will make accessible to a diverse audience, elements of the oral history material collected as part of this National Library project. This accords with one of the Library’s key objectives for the initiative, which is to ensure that the importance of the material as a public record is matched by its widespread distribution. As well as being important for the whole community, the material in this collection has primary interest for Indigenous communities in Australia, all of which have been affected by separation events, as part of the experiences of those known as the Stolen Generations.
The National Library has recorded about 350 accounts of experiences related to child removal through the work of the Bringing Them Home Oral History Project, since the beginning of its pilot phase in 1998. The nucleus of recorded narrative in this collection is the group of stories from those who were separated from their families as children and fostered, adopted or placed in institutions. As the targets of separation, these children lived with its unpredictabilities, its displacements and dislocations, and the later complexities of finding ways to return to homes and families. Many of them were never able, emotionally or physically, to make this final part of the cycle happen.
Along with these narratives from separated children, are the stories of the families who missed them, and who experienced the heartache and anguish of losing the children. These accounts are sometimes given by the children who were removed, or other family members. They are less frequently told by parents, the mothers, especially and understandably, disinclined to enter the territory of loss as a public act. Woven into many of these lives was the care and love given to separated children by foster and adoptive parents, some of whom have also spoken for the record. Further accounts have come from people who were more distant from separation experiences, yet who had an involvement as officers or carers. These were the people who created policy, removed the children, or cared for them in some way within the government systems established for the purpose.
It is a comprehensive and intricate story to tell, and because there is little time to relate it—the publication of the book being part of the project and requiring fast turnaround—the task has been approached in a way which allows for a large group of writers to be involved in its realisation. This in turn requires attentive editorial input, in order to ensure a balanced and cohesive approach.
As editors, Anna Haebich and I began the process by convening a day-long meeting of the experienced Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers selected as contributors. The group, which includes academics, journalists, historians and even a playwright, brings a range of methodologies and approaches to the undertaking. This diversity made the writers’ meeting particularly instructive, with many different perspectives brought to the exchange of ideas at the National Library. Besides allowing discussion of issues relating to this complex project between all who attended, the meeting also created the opportunity for writers to be introduced to Library editorial and publications staff. Additionally, it was an opportunity to hear at first hand and to discuss within the group, the ideas and thoughts of the editors.
The short timeline for preparation of the publication has made this and other opportunities for open discussion, a particular benefit for the process. Many hands make light work—and many minds identify more elements of the process and aspects of content, than one or two can, in a short time.
A number of researchers have assisted in identifying relevant material to make available to writers, for the chapters they collated. With hundreds of hours of recording and transcription to sort through, this was an essential element of the process, so that writers could concentrate on the interviews, or sometimes just sections of interviews, which related to their area of focus. Another important aspect of the book, relating to this process of identification of material for writers, is the editors’ intention to relate the broad narrative predominantly through the voices of those interviewed. As with the interviewing process, the important views to impart, are not those of the mediators—the writers or interviewers—but those of the people who gave their testimonies as participants in this episode of Australian history.
The structure of the book will reflect this intention, with chapters mostly organised around experience-related themes, such as the memory of home, or reuniting with family. Other chapters are role-related, and will feature the remembered activity of officers who may have been involved in government administration or welfare agencies, and carers who worked on missions or in the institutions established for the care of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children.
Taking the material to a wide audience has always been an important aim of
the project, so the book is part of an access strategy which includes making
sound archives and transcripts available in other states as part of the nation’s
public record. A further important consideration in taking the material to other
states and territories however, is the key relationship of Indigenous people
to the material. Its deposit in regional collections, along with good distribution
of the publication, will underscore this link.
—Doreen Mellor
| The Bringing Them Home Oral History Project is one of the initiatives funded by the Federal Government as a response to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families |
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: gateways@nla.gov.au