PROUD RACE
We Value the Vision
Exhibition Catalogue
Celebrating NAIDOC Week
7 – 14 July 2013
INTRODUCTION:
Proud Race is a unique initiative from the Aboriginal Catholic
Ministry Victoria and Yingadi Aboriginal Corporation capturing the
attention of school communities across Victoria.
Proud Race empowers communities to participate in keeping alive
the spirit of the “I Feel Proud Today” campaign, held in February
2012 to commemorate the National Apology delivered by former
Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Kevin Rudd in February 2008.
The Proud Race concept allows schools to record and celebrate
the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders on life-sized
bollards and these have been exhibited in venues throughout
Australia. The stories behind each of the bollards honour and
value Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders and their contributions to
Australian society and history. The schools who have participated
in the Proud Race project are to be commended for their public
acknowledgement of reconciliation amongst Aboriginal and nonAboriginal communities.
Vicki Clark states: “The Proud Race bollards are a national
initiative, with Catholic schools across Australia taking part. At the
moment there are 1,000 bollards in the Proud Race across
Australia, but we hope next year there will be 2,000 and the
following year, 3,000. We just want the Proud Race represented
in these bollards to continue to grow and spread...”
Thank you to our sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors for believing in the Proud Race project.
Your support has been critical to the success and establishment of
a model for school communities to journey as one towards
Reconciliation.
Thank you to the teachers and students
Thank you to the teachers for the time you have dedicated to this
project both personally and professionally and for the students for
the energy and life you brought to the project and each of the
stories.
For more information please visit www.proudrace.org.au As more
stories are collected they will be added to this website to provide
an ongoing resource for all communities.
Sacred Heart College
1. Margaret Tucker
Name:
Margaret Tucker
Born:
1904
Tribe:
Yorta Yorta
Entered the Dreaming: 1996
Marge Tucker spent her early life on Cummeragunja and
Moonaculla Missions in NSW. In 1917 the policy of the Aboriginal
Protection Board was to enter missions and reserves and forcibly
take young girls from their Aboriginal parents and place them in
the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home. Marge and her young
sister were taken to Cootamundra against their mother’s wishes.
These were the formative years in her life preparing her for a long
struggle politically.
Later with William Cooper and others she helped to form the
Aboriginal Advancement League and she supported her people
who walked off Cummeragunja in 1939 as a result of the
oppression they had suffered there.
When her husband went away to serve in WW2 Marge turned her
attention to the war effort. She worked for a while at Kinnears rope
factory and then at the munitions factory. She raised money for
the Red Cross and gave concerts to physically and emotionally
support the servicemen in repatriation hospitals
Holy Spirit Primary Ringwood
2. William Barak
Name:
William Barak
Born:
1824
Tribe:
Wurundjeri
Entered the Dreaming: 1903
The bollard from Holy Spirit Community School represents William
Barak. William Barak was the head of the Wurundjeri people. Our
school is on the land of the Wurundjeri people.
William Barak was born at Brushy Creek which is in North Croydon.
He was born near the creek and today there is a plaque there
recognising the place of his birth. He had two brothers and a sister
and later three children of his own.
He was the leader of the community at Coranderrk and was taught
how to be a good leader by his Uncle Billibellary. He was known for
his special ability to work peacefully with people and mediate their
differences. Relationships were very important to him. He believed
very strongly in the rights of his people and represented them to
the government on many occasions. William Barak believed in
reconciliation. He formed a close relationship with a white,
Scottish woman, Anne Bon when they both lost a child. This was a
powerful sign to the community around them of black and white
coming together in friendship and support.
William Barak was an artist and his artworks are on display in
many places throughout the world. He used a stick to ‘paint’ with
and the colours of the earth and environment to bring his artworks
to life.
The symbols on the bollard represent Wurundjeri country along the
banks of the mighty Yarra River.
The eagle hawk, known as Bunjil, is the spirit of creation for this
region. The crow (waang,) is another important spirit for the
Wurundjeri people. The Yarra River is painted in a yellow colour, to
represent the wattle which grows along its banks. The circular
symbols along the river banks represent the campsites of the first
people of this land.
The Yarra River was a great source of fish and eel to the people
and an abundance of bush tucker grew along its banks and nearby
plains. William Barak was of this Yarra country. He died in August
1903, just when the wattle was beginning to bloom once more
along the banks of the Yarra River.
Clairvaux Primary School
3. Caroline Martin
Name:
Tribe:
Totem:
Caroline Martin
Boon Wurrung
Bunjil, the wedge-tail eagle
Caroline is a Boon Wurrung woman from the Kulin nation. She is a
direct descendant of ‘Doog-by-um-bor-oke’, whose Granddaughter,
Caroline’s great, great Grandmother Louisa Briggs, provides the
family link between pre settlement of Melbourne and the history of
post-settlement. The fact that she lived to at least 90 years of age
has meant that the oral history tradition of the family has been
maintained.
Louisa played a major role in the history and politics of Victorian
Aboriginal people from the 1850s until her death in 1925. In the
Melbourne Argus in 1872, Louisa was described as a “most
resolute woman”; she was the Matron at Coranderrk Mission at
the time. Caroline’s mother Carolyn Briggs is a respected Elder of
the Boon Wurrung and was awarded National Female Elder of the
Year (2011). Caroline comes from a very long line of strong Boon
Wurrung women. It is for them and her family that she continues to
ensure her Ancestor’s connection to her country is maintained.
She has much to be proud of.
Boon Wurrung art is distinctive in style; paintings use complex line
designs and patterns and rock art and possum skin cloaks were
intricately designed. Caroline continues many of her Ancestors
traditions, notably continuing to make and wear possum skin
cloaks for Ceremony. When she sees her Elders wrapped in their
possum skin cloaks, she knows “we are very much still here, proud
and strong”.
St Kevin’s Primary School Lower
Templestowe
4. Banjo Clarke
Name:
Banjo Clarke
Born:
1922
Tribe:
Gunditjmara
Entered the Dreaming: 2000
Banjo (Henry) Clarke was born around 1922 on Framlingham
Aboriginal Mission, located near Warrnambool in South-Western
Victoria.
During the depression Banjo moved to Melbourne with his family
to look for work. Having very little formal education, Banjo learned
about life from the elders at Framlingham and from other
Aboriginal people he befriended around Fitzroy in Melbourne. At
fourteen he got work at a sawmill in Tynong North where the
proprietor's daughter taught him how to read and write.
Banjo joined the boxing troupes at 15, having been interested in
the sport from his time spent around the gyms in Melbourne. He
travelled throughout Australia, boxing for Jimmy Sharman and
Harry Johns. Banjo hung up his gloves at 40 years of age.
During the war, Banjo worked in construction crews building roads
and bridges throughout the Northern Territory and North
Queensland. He reached Darwin just after it was bombed and
took part in the clean-up.
After the war, he lived in Framlingham beside the Hopkins River
and looked after the forest and the cemetery belonging to his
ancestors. Banjo shared many stories and taught many people
about his culture. The story of the eels, "Kuuyang" is an important
story for the whole region of south-western Victoria where Banjo
lived - with its rich river systems from the Hopkins River through to
Darlot's Creek and the Glenelg River, and its once abundant supply
of eels.
Frayne College
5. Eddie Kneebone
Name:
Eddie Kneebone
Born:
1947
Tribe:
Pangerang
Entered the Dreaming: 2005
Eddie was born in Melbourne on the 15th of June 1947. He was
born an ordinary person into a large family, He had 8 sisters and 5
brothers, and was the eldest child in the family. He belonged to the
Pangerang people of the Goulburn Valley and his extended family
group is the Thooloolagong people at Ulupna Island near
Strathmerton and they are known as the Kookaburra people.
Eddie “Kookaburra” Kneebone, was a prolific Australian artist.
Eddie worked tirelessly as a Park Ranger, talking and writing about
Aboriginal culture. In his private life he continued promoting cross
cultural understanding in both his lifestyle and art, and had an
integral role in installing a pride in Aboriginal heritage and culture
in the Border region.
In 2009 the “Eddie (Kookaburra) Kneebone Gallery” was opened
at the Wodonga TAFE in recognition of his work in establishing the
Wodonga Institute’s Koori Arts Program.
Eddie’s life and story is widely known around Australia and he is
remembered as a much revered and loved member of a “Proud
Race”.
“You can do whatever you want, have a dream, believe in it.”
Clairvaux Primary School
6. Mungo Woman
Name:
Tribe:
Lived:
Mungo Woman
Mutthi Mutthi
Lake Mungo
Mungo Woman.
About 42,000 years ago, Mungo Woman lived around the shores
of Lake Mungo.
It was a time of plenty, when the basins were full of water and
teeming with life. The human population was at its peak.
Mungo Woman was the daughter of many mothers; a proud Mutthi
Mutthti woman and a representative of the generations before her
that had lived at Lake Mungo since the time of Creation.
She collected bush tucker such as fish, shellfish, yabbies, wattle
seeds and emu eggs. She nourished her culture and taught her
daughters the womens’ lore.
When Mungo Woman died, we know her family mourned for her.
Her body was cremated; the remaining bones were crushed,
burned again and then buried in the drying lakeside.
Through the unearthing of Lady Mungo, we have accepted the
depth and longevity of the Aboriginal presence and culture in this
country. She has opened the world to the beauty of the culture of
this “Proud Race”.
Aboriginal Catholic Ministry of Victoria
7. Joan Robinson
Name:
Joan Robinson
Born:
1939
Tribe:
Mutthi Mutthi
Entered the Dreaming: 2009
Totem:
Red kangaroo & Carpet snake
Joan was the eldest daughter of Alice and Alf Kelly, one of eleven
children. She travelled to Melbourne as a young woman
determined to break down the barriers to employment for
Aboriginal women. She stayed initially with Sir Doug Nicholls and
his wife and was employed at Footrest Shoes in Preston where she
worked for the next 35 years. She ensured that she passed on her
values of pride in identity and strong work ethic to her younger
brothers and sisters and her own family. Joan married her
husband, Thomas “Les” Robinson in 1958, and in 1961 gave birth
to her only child Vicki. She was proud grandmother of Tamara.
Her home was always open for a meal, sing song, company and
wise advice. Joan saw no colour barriers and allowed no barriers
to prevent her from achieving what she set out to achieve. Joan
was a loyal supporter in the establishment of the Balranald
Aboriginal Health Service. She challenged stereotypes and racism
just by simply being who she was, a hard worker and a woman of
great faith that could never be swayed, always living by the
ultimate law: “Love one another as I have loved you”.
Joan was inducted onto the Victorian inaugural Indigenous Honour
Roll 2012.
Quote from Joan Robinson
“The land is my mother, like a human mother the land is
protection, enjoyment and provides for our needs. When the land
is taken from us or destroyed, we feel the hurt because we belong
to the land and we are part of it.”
Aquinas College
8. Vicki Clark
Name:
Born:
Tribe:
Totem:
Vicki Clark
1961
Mutthi Mutthi
Red kangaroo & Carpet snake
Vicki is a descendant of the Mutthi Mutthi tribe of southwest NSW,
her home country is centred in the Mungo National Park area, and
she is the proud mother of Tamara. She has been the Coordinator
of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in Melbourne since 1990. Vicki
supports the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of
Victoria by maintaining a Centre that is a place of welcome and of
spiritual healing. At the same time she works strongly as an
advocate for justice for her people within the Catholic Church and
in the wider community.
Nationally, Vicki has been influential in the formation and
subsequent operations of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC). At an international level Vicki
has attended Human Rights and Women’s Conferences in
Australia and abroad and has strong links with the First Peoples of
USA and Canada.
In 1994 Vicki was acknowledged by Victoria’s Herald Sun
Newspaper in their list of “Great Victorians” for her leadership and
service to the community. In May 2001 she was listed on the
Centenary of Federation Honour Roll of “Women Shaping the
Nation”.
Vicki works tirelessly with Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of
Melbourne to break down barriers and educate young people. She
is responsible for the FIRE (Friends Igniting Reconciliation through
Education) Carrier program in Catholic schools. She also inspired
the creation of the “Proud Race” initiative. According to Vicki, “In
1990, I realised the journey to reconciliation was going to be long
and hard. The challenge was to change people’s negative
attitudes. One thing we must always remember is that when our
children look back at what we have done today, hopefully they will
see us as honourable ancestors.”
St Columba’s College
9. Sr Beatrice Thardim
Name:
Sr Beatrice Thardim
Born:
1940
Tribe:
Yetpala
Entered the Dreaming: 1999
Totem:
Nanhti Yetpala
Demkadath Kilingkiling “Beatrice” Thardim was born at
Mardunungame. Her name, Demkadath, derived from her totem
the Zamia palm (nanhti yetpala). She was a part of the Yetpala
clan and was easily identifies as her long hair resembled the frond
of such palm. She grew up as a traditional woman on the Port
Keats Mission (Wadeye) where she learned her Aboriginal culture,
customs and language. On the 3rd of December 1944 Demkadath
was baptised and she was given the name Beatrice.
Beatrice was educated by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred
Heart and from the age of 14 she wanted to be a Sister. By age
19 she began her preparations with other Aboriginal women. In
March 1963, Beatrice entered the novitiate as one of the first
Aboriginal women to enter a religious congregation, and professed
her vows in 1966.
In 1969 Beatrice returned to Darwin, where she worked amongst
her people for the next thirty years. She had many ministries in the
community, hospital and school.
In 1990 Beatrice began her apostolate as a drug and alcohol
counsellor at the Five Mile Centre, Daly River and also qualified as
a translator at the law courts.
Beatrice created liturgies, translated the Mass and lead spiritual
services with her people and wider Australian communities. Sister
Beatrice Thardim held onto her Aboriginal spirituality but also her
Catholic faith and living through these two worlds meant race, skin
colour and the difference in tribes didn’t faze her.
Mother Teresa Catholic Primary School
10.
Lin Onus
Name:
Lin Onus
Born:
1948
Tribe:
Yorta Yorta
Entered the Dreaming: 1996
Lin Onus (William McLintock Onus) was born 4 December 1948
and died on 23 October 1996.
Onus was a Scottish Aboriginal artist of Yorta Yorta descent from
Melbourne. The works of Onus often involve symbolism from
Aboriginal styles of painting as well as recontextualisation of
modern artistic elements.
Images in his works include haunting portrayals of the Barmah red
gum forests of his father’s ancestral country and the use of rarrk
cross-hatching-based painting style that he learned (and was given
permission to use) when visiting the Aboriginal communities of
Maningrida.
11.
Proud Race
Catholic Ladies’ College
12. Lorraine Nelson
Name:
Born:
Tribe:
Totem:
Lorraine Nelson
1959
Yorta-Yorta
Long Neck turtle & Murray Cod
Lorraine Nelson is the youngest of 6, daughter to Gloria Greta
Colgar and Albert Colgar. Her mother travelled around from place
to place looking for work. Sadly her mother’s 4 children were
taken away and placed with white families. They all grew up
separated from the mother they loved very much, due to the
Removal of Aboriginal Children Policy.
In her mid-20s Lorraine came back to her family and got to meet
her mother, brothers and sisters while working in the community.
She did a lot of searching, with the support of the Aboriginal
Catholic Ministry Victoria, for what she wanted to do with her life
and where she fitted in. She found her path in doing art courses
and is now studying for her Diploma in Visual Arts. She loves to
help educate children in Catholic Schools, and holds exhibitions
every year of which she is very proud.
Lorraine has 3 grown children Henry, Danielle and Sandra.
Being a single mother was challenging and she had her ups and
downs like every single mum, but felt as long as they had love, the
love of their mother, that they would be ok. Her life has been
difficult and she found it really strange to meet her family who
were strangers, and get to know them, but she felt enriched
because she did. She is happy for people to know her story
because it is like so many others of the Stolen Generation and
needs to be told.
Lorraine is proud to help at schools, introducing Primary &
Secondary schools to the world of Aboriginal art, to teach them a
little of her culture and tell them her story of the Stolen
Generation.
Aboriginal Catholic Ministry of Victoria
13. Margaret McKinley
Name:
Margaret Helen McKinley nee Kuhl
Born:
1935
Tribe:
Yorta Yorta & Wiradjeri
Entered the Dreaming: 2010
Totem:
Long Neck Turtle, Murray River cod
Margaret grew up in a little hut, with eleven siblings on Daishes
Paddock Mooroopna, until she was removed from her parents and
family and taken to Ballarat Children’s Orphanage. She once ran
away, and ended up in Parramatta Girls Home for a while until they
returned her to Victoria. Throughout her life, Margaret lived in
many towns across Victoria and New South Wales. It didn’t matter
where she lived, as long as family were around. Margaret was
greatly influenced by her grandmother, her parents and siblings
and the Collingwood Football Club!
There were many significant events in Margaret’s life: removal and
separation from family, the war, getting married, becoming a
mother, reunification with family, becoming a catechist, and
working in the Aboriginal community be it employed or as a
volunteer. During tough times, Margaret would take on work
wherever she could doing whatever she could. This meant
cleaning, cooking, dry cleaning, waitressing and at times playing
the piano in hotels. Margaret wanted to be a nurse, but trained in
social counselling, health, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and as a
Catechist. A few places Margaret worked for were: the Victorian
Railways, Winja Ulupna, Windana Rehabilitation Centre,
Rumbalara, Swan Hill Aboriginal Cooperative, the Victorian
Aboriginal Child Care Agency and the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry of
Victoria.
Margaret has a daughter Melissa and two grandchildren Lee and
Troy who were a joy for her to dote over. She was instrumental in
the setting up Winja Ulupna in the Aboriginal community in
Brunswick. She was the first Aboriginal Catechist of the Aboriginal
Catholic Ministry, and she thoroughly enjoyed being able to pass
on the messages and gospel stories about Jesus to Aboriginal
children, and seeing them go through their sacraments.
When she married Frank she imagined life with him wherever,
forever, until the sun set.
Margaret was a shy, quiet achiever who was resilient and
resourceful, strong in faith and identity, and who loved meeting
people. She loved to watch the “Magpies” win, or listen to a bit of
country and western music. She loved her husband and family,
and her involvement in the Aboriginal community. Her relationship
with Jesus brought her great comfort. Her dream was to see
growth in the Aboriginal Catholic congregation at the Aboriginal
Catholic Ministry. Another was to become a great grandmother.
Avila College
14. Eddie Mabo
Name: Eddie Mabo
Born:
1936
Entered the Dreaming: 1992
Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo was born in the community of Las on Mer,
known as Murray Island in the Torres Strait. His birth name was
Eddie Koiki Sambo; however he was raised by his Uncle Benny
Mabo through a customary ‘Island adoption’. When Eddie was
growing up, life was strictly regulated by laws made by the
Queensland Government. However, the Meriam people strived to
maintain continuity with the past and continued to live a traditional
lifestyle based on fishing, gardening and customary laws of
inheritance. At the age of 16, Eddie was exiled from Murray Island
for breaking customary Island law, and he set off for the mainland.
Eddie had many jobs throughout his life, including an assistant
teacher; a deck hand on pearl luggers and tug boats; a fettler on
the Queensland railway tracks; a cane cutter; and a grounds
keeper. Eddie was also an artist and writer.
It was during his time as a grounds keeper at James Cook
University in Townsville that Eddie learned about Australian land
ownership laws. He believed the land he grew up on, Murray
Island, belonged to the Torres Strait Islander people who had lived
there for thousands of years. But, Australian law stated that the
Government owned the land. Eddie believed that these laws of
land ownership were wrong and decided to fight to change them.
In 1981, Eddie Mabo made a speech at James Cook University in
Queensland, where he explained his people’s beliefs about the
ownership and inheritance of land on Murray Island. A lawyer
heard the speech and asked Eddie if he would like to challenge
the Australian Government through the court system to decide who
the true owner of land on Murray Island was — his people or the
Australian Government.
Eddie did not live to see the final decision passed down from the
High Court. Ten years after the case was first heard, at the age of
55, Eddie died from cancer. Five months later the High Court ruled
in the plaintiff’s favour, expelling the notion of “terra nullius” from
Australian law and paving the way for the creation of Land Rights
legislation called Native Title. In 1992, Eddie was posthumously
awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal by the Human Rights
and Equal Opportunity Commission and in 1993, the Australian
newspaper named Eddie the Australian of the Year for 1992.
Aboriginal Catholic Ministry of Victoria
15. Elizabeth Pike
Name:
Born:
Tribe:
Elizabeth “Betty” Pike
1927
Minang
Elizabeth “Betty” Pike is a writer who believes in the power of
story. Through her writing she has offered support and solidarity to
people like her, who have struggled with their identity. Elizabeth
did not learn of her Aboriginal heritage until she was a teenager.
Her Aboriginal mother left when she was five years old and her
non-Indigenous father found it hard to get work during the
Depression.
After questioning her heritage, Betty paid a visit to the Register of
Birth and Marriages, where she discovered that her great
grandfather had been an Irish convict and her great grandmother
an Aboriginal woman of the Minang people near Albany in Western
Australia. When she confided in her uncle about this discovery he,
a relative of her mother, sent her away, unwilling to risk his
family’s involvement with the harsh welfare laws affecting those of
Aboriginal descent.
At 63 she enrolled at Deakin University's Institute of Koorie
Education and for the first time in her life her Aboriginal heritage
was formally recognised. In 1993 she graduated with a Bachelor
of Arts. This led Betty to work at the Catholic Education Office and
subsequently in the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry. Betty became the
ministry's writer-in-residence and has since become a regular
contributor to publications, journals and magazines, including
Madonna and Pacifica, writing articles with an Indigenous
perspective.
In 2008 Betty wrote A River Dreaming, a parable about a platypus.
Within it she wove a message of understanding and hope for
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders of mixed descent, who, like her,
struggle to find an identity of their own.
In 2011, she launched an anthology called The Power of Story. The
same year, she won a National Volunteer Award. She is loved
dearly by her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Frayne College
16. Wally Cooper
Name:
Born:
Tribe:
Robert “Wally” Cooper
1949
Yorta Yorta/Bangerang
The Yorta Yorta and Bangerang Elder was born in Mooroopna in
1949. His father, Robert, worked as a shearer and wood cutter.
His mother, Kathleen, was a descendant of the Mutthi Mutthi
people of south-western New South Wales. Wally was the eldest in
a family of 18 children.
The family lived on the outskirts of Shepparton, on the banks of
the Goulburn River, at a rubbish tip known as Daishes Paddock.
When he was 10 years old, Wally and several of his siblings were
taken from their parents by government authorities. Wally was
placed with a non-Aboriginal family in Melbourne. Rather than
accept his fate, the young boy ran away within a year and
embarked on an epic six month journey to reach his grandfather in
Balranald, New South Wales. However, his fear of being removed
again meant he did not see his parents until he was 22 years of
age.
When he was 18 years old, Wally was drafted into the Australian
Army. He went on to complete a tour of Vietnam.
In 1985, Wally became a founding member of the Koorie Heritage
Trust. He was made a life member of the Trust in 2006 and has a
room named after him at the Koorie Heritage Trust in Melbourne.
Skilled in traditional techniques such as boomerang making, emu
egg carving and spear throwing - to name but a few - Wally is a
passionate cultural ambassador who proudly shares his traditional
knowledge with the wider community.
Through his work with the Catholic Education Office, he has helped
teach hundreds of school children about Aboriginal culture,
including the stories of the Dreamtime. He has enriched the
experience of participants at countless workshops and events,
including during NAIDOC Week celebrations.
A close working relationship with the Victoria Police and
Corrections Victoria has seen Wally called upon by both to mediate
during crisis situations. He is acknowledged as having had a role in
curbing Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Uncle Wally is a man whose pride in his Aboriginal heritage and
message of hope for the future has inspired and enlightened.
Aboriginal Catholic Ministry of Victoria
17. Valentine Moloney
Name:
Valentine “Monty” Moloney
Born:
1934
Tribe:
Djabugay/Okla/Western Yalanji
Entered the Dreaming: 2004
Totem: Black & White Cockatoo
Monty was born in Yarrabah Aboriginal Mission in 1934, under the
birthing plum tree. He was the youngest of 4 children to Horace
Moloney and Zena Ross. Times were very difficult and both his
parents were sent away to work, leaving him to fend for himself as
he was too light skinned to be allowed in the dormitories. He was
lucky enough to be taken in by a strong Aboriginal family where the
father was a good hunter, so at least they had fresh meat to eat.
He spent 2 years in hospital with a bone disease, which is where
he taught himself to read and write using Donald Duck comics that
the nurses would kindly bring in to break the boredom.
When he left hospital he had nowhere to go as his parents had
been sent away. He was not allowed back to the mission. He
found his older sister Gertrude pregnant, aged 12, years and living
in a humpy in the swamp area. It was not long until Gertrude was
having the baby so Monty took her to hospital.
Monty had no one and nowhere to go and found other homeless
Aboriginal children living in large army refrigerators, and gathering
food from the tip to survive. This was his home until his dad came
back from working for the war effort.
Monty eventually moved to Sydney where he became involved in
the fight for Aboriginal rights in the late 50s and early 60s. He was
a founding member of the Redfern “All Black” Rugby team. Monty
worked for many years in the BLF (Builders Labourers Federation)
and was known by many as “Brother Mont” as he was constantly
in the front line fighting for workers’ rights.
In 2004 Monty was awarded Aboriginal Elder of the Year for the
Western Suburbs. He was very proud of this moment.
Mater Christi College
18. Cathy Freeman
Name:
Born:
Cathy Freeman
1973
Catherine (Cathy) Freeman was born in Mackay in Queensland.
She won her first gold medal at a school athletics championship
when she was eight years old. Once, after winning many races at a
primary school competition, Cathy, who wasn't given a trophy, had
to watch as the white girls she had beaten received trophies. Her
family worked hard to raise the money Cathy needed to take her to
competitions in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. The family
moved to Brisbane in 1989 to be near Cathy, who had won a
scholarship to Kooralbyn International School where she was
being professionally coached by Mike Danila. In 1990 Cathy
moved to Melbourne.
At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand,
Cathy won a gold medal as a member of the 4 x 100 metres relay
team. With this medal win, she became the first female Australian
Aboriginal to win a gold medal at an international athletics event.
Cathy Freeman won the 200 metres and the 400 metres at the
1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada. After her first win, Cathy
ran a lap of honour carrying the Aboriginal flag and the Australian
flag. The chief of the Australian team criticised her, and said she
must not do it again. After her second win, Cathy defiantly carried
both flags around the track. The Australian public loved it, with
three out of four agreeing with her action.
In 1997, at the World Athletic Championships in Athens, Greece,
Cathy won the 400 metres sprint. At the World Athletic
Championships in 1999 in Seville, Spain, Cathy successfully
defended her 400 metres sprint title.
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 Cathy had the honour of lighting
the Olympic flame at these games and won the 400 metres.
Star of the Sea College
19. Mum Shirl
Name:
Shirley Smith
Born:
1921
Tribe:
Wiradjuri
Entered the Dreaming: 1998
Shirley Colleen Smith, better known as “Mum Shirl”, was a
prominent Aboriginal Australian and activist committed to justice
and welfare of Aboriginal Australians. She was a founding member
of the Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Medical Service,
Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the Aboriginal Children’s Service, and the
Aboriginal Housing Company in Redfern, a suburb of Sydney.
Shirley Smith began to visit Aboriginal people in jail after one of
her brothers was incarcerated and she discovered that her visits
were beneficial to other prisoners as well. Her community activism
also saw her accompanying Aboriginal people who were unfamiliar
with the legal system to court when they had been charged with a
crime. Her nickname came from her habit of replying, "I’m his
Mum," whenever officials queried her relationship with the
prisoners - the name by which she became widely known.
Because of her work visiting Aboriginal prisoners, Mum Shirl is the
only woman in Australia to have been given unrestricted access to
prisons in New South Wales. Later the Department of Corrective
Services revoked her pass, making her prisoner support work near
impossible.
Smith's welfare work, however, was not confined only to prisons
and the legal system. She also spent considerable time and money
finding homes for children whose parents could not look after
them, and helping displaced children to find their own parents
again. The children with nowhere to go often ended up living with
her. By the early 1990s she had raised over 60 children.
Catholic College Bendigo
20. Brien Nelson
Name:
Brien Nelson
Born:1940
Tribe:
Jaara/Dja Dja Wurrung
Over many years, Jaara/Dja Dja
Wurrung Elder, Uncle Brien Nelson, has made a huge contribution
to Aboriginal people and culture, the Reconciliation movement, the
Parks Victoria section of Department of Sustainability and
Environment (DSE), civic life in the City of Greater Bendigo and
Mount Alexander Shire, and to education, particularly La Trobe
University. He is also a singer, ceremonial dance performer and
accomplished artist.
Uncle Brien is Chairman of the Jaara-Jaara Aboriginal Cooperative
and has held many positions of responsibility in Aboriginal
organisations concerned with land-rights, economic development
and community well-being. He is a pre-eminent Traditional owner
living on Jaara / Dja Dja Wurrung Country; he acts as mentor and
educator of younger Aboriginal people and is constantly involved in
the work of preserving, recovering and passing on his culture. He
often works giving archaeological advice on the protection of
Aboriginal heritage during major projects such as the duplication
of the Calder Highway. He has organised many cultural ceremonies
where Aboriginal dancers and artists have been able to display
their capacities, gain confidence and feel pride in their traditions;
this has been especially important for the children of the local
Aboriginal community.
Uncle Brien is an important Aboriginal leader in Central Victoria,
widely loved and admired, and his participation is sought by many
from all levels of government and church communities. His
standing in the community is of the highest order.
St Columba’s College
21. Chern’ee Sutton
Name:
Born:
Tribe:
Chern’ee Sutton
1992
Kalkadoon
Chern’ee is a young contemporary Indigenous upcoming artist and
is an inspiration for many painters and young Indigenous leaders.
Chern’ee is part of the Kalkadoon people from Mt Isa in
Queensland Australia. Her great great grandmother is listed as an
apical ancestor1 of the Kalkadoon people and her great uncle is
the chairman of Kalkadoon Communities.
Chern’ee started to paint in January 2010 and was encouraged to
enter Yoorellgoo Indigenous art competition which she won in the
painting category. Chern’ee has used her paintings to help
charities and local communities fundraising in Bundaberg for a
variety of causes from the homeless to local high schools in the
area.
She has been interviewed by ABC Radio Breakfast News
Broadcast, 4BS Brisbane, several local newspapers in Bundaberg
and local radio station 4BU Classic Hits, Bundaberg. Channel 7
news has reported on her artworks as well as Dolly Magazine.
Chern’ee was awarded ‘Youth of the Year’ for Wide Bay during
NAIDOC Week, 2011, accepted to YMCA Queensland Youth
Parliament and painted a tie for Rob Messenger, her local MP, for
NAIDOC Week in 2012.
Chern’ee has had her artworks displayed and sold internationally,
as well as on souvenirs all around Australia. Recently Chern’ee
was awarded the “Junior Creative Australia Spirit Award” for
Bundaberg.
In anthropology, an apical ancestor is a common ancestor from whom a
lineage or clan may trace its descent.
1
Sacred Heart College
22. Evonne Goolagong
Name:
Born:
Tribe:
Evonne Goolagong
1951
Wiradjuri
Born Evonne Fay Goolagong, she is the third of eight children. Her
parents, Kenny Goolagong (an itinerant sheep shearer) and
Melinda, are members of the Wiradjuri people. She was born in
Griffith, New South Wales, and grew up in the small country town
of Barellan. Although Aboriginal people faced widespread
discrimination in rural Australia at this time, Goolagong was able to
play tennis in Barellan from childhood thanks to a kindly resident,
Bill Kurtzman, who saw her peering through the fence at the local
courts and encouraged her to come in and play. In 1965, Vic
Edwards, the proprietor of a tennis school in Sydney, was tipped
off by two of his assistants and travelled to Barellan to take a look
at the young Goolagong and immediately saw her potential. He
persuaded Goolagong's parents to allow her to move to Sydney,
where she attended Willoughby Girls High School. Here, she
completed her School Certificate in 1968, and was at the same
time coached by Edwards, living in his household.
Goolagong won seven Grand Slam singles titles in her career, out
of a total of eighteen Grand Slam singles finals.
This material may contain images of members of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Communities who have entered the
Dreaming. They are used with the greatest respect and
appreciation.
Thank You
Thank you to then following schools for entering their bollards into
the “We Value the Vision” NAIDOC exhibition:
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Sacred Heart College
Holy Spirit Primary Ringwood
Clairvaux Primary School
St Kevin’s Primary School Lower Templestowe
Frayne College
Aquinas College
St Columba’s College
Mother Teresa Catholic Primary School
Catholic Ladies’ College
Star of the Sea College
Avila College
Mater Christi College
Catholic College Bendigo
Your ongoing support of the Proud Race initiative and NAIDOC
week celebrations is much appreciated.