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Session MM2.2: Urban Migration: disconnections, continuity and change

1. John Doolah: Migration of Torres Strait Islanders to mainland Australia in the 1960s and 1970s

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Abstract

The migration of Torres Strait Islanders from the Torres Straits to main land Australia presents specific challenges to contemporary Indigenous cultural practices and the unique ‘Ailan Kastom’ (Island Custom). The Archival research within the 1960s and 1970s periods will cover topics /reasons for the migration. Historical analysis provides an overview of the affect and progress of colonisation and the shift of Indigenous communities from their homeland (countries). Benefits arising from this research include: raising awareness for Torres Strait Islanders as to their educational status and job opportunities in the 1960s and 1970s. This led to the establishment and formation of urban Torres Strait Islander communities in main land Australia and within the major cities and the interaction and extent of Torres Strait Islanders in main land urban Australian society (the broader community) with the Law and Justice system, education, and employment and sports.This paper fulfils an identified information/resources need concerning the situation and movement of Torres Strait Islander people and demonstrates how the Ailan Kastom has been affected in main land urban Torres Strait Islander communities.

Author bio:

John Doolah is a Torres Strait Islander Meriam man who is currently a Lecturer in Aboriginal Studies at The Wollotuka Institute of the University of Newcastle, NSW.  His late father was a railway worker. John spent his childhood in Innisfail, Townsville, Hughenden, Mackay, Rockhampton and Brisbane and after leaving school in 1976 began a career as a railway labourer and later a ganger/supervisor for over 14 years with the State Rail Authority of NSW. John completed a double degree in Consumer Science and Aboriginal Studies at the University of Newcastle in 2005. He his concerned with the effects of colonisation on the lifestyle and health of Indigenous Australians and is currently completing his Masters in Aboriginal health.

2. Bill Edwards: Adelaideala Nyinanytja: Living in Adelaide

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Abstract

In this paper the contemporary situation of Anangu Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people who reside in Adelaide is outlined and analysed. Having lived in the Anangu lands from 1958 to 1980 and being involved in the changes leading to incorporation of communities and granting of land rights, and now living in Adelaide, I am in contact with an increasing number of Anangu who now live in Adelaide. Despite what were seen as positive measures in the 1970s, several people have been forced, or have chosen to leave their homelands to live in an urban setting. In the paper, some of the reasons they give for this move are outlined, and issues which confront them in relation to health, housing, education, finance, law and social relationships are identified and analysed. As an interpreter in Pitjantjatjara I have had firsthand experience of involvement in these issues. Attention is given to attempts by organisations such as UCWesley and Better World Arts to assist in dealing with problems they face. Reference is made to recent discussions on the question as to whether the future of these people should be in remote homelands or urban centres.

Author bio:

Rev. Dr. WH (Bill) Edwards is a retired Minister of the Uniting Church in Australia. He served as Superintendent of Ernabella Mission in the Pitjantjatjara region in the north-west of South Australia (1958-72), Superintendent of Mowanjum Mission in the north-west of Western Australia (1972-73) and Minister of the Pitjantjatjara Parish (1976-80). He lectured in Indigenous Studies at the South Australian College of Advanced Education and the University of South Australia (1981-1996). In retirement he is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research at the University of South Australia and completed a thesis entitled Moravian Aboriginal Missions in Australia for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Flinders University. He interprets in Pitjantjatjara in the health and legal sectors.

3. Greg Blyton: Sixteen pound hammers, fettlers and railway tents: the demographic relocation of Aboriginal people from rural to urban areas of New South Wales in the Assimilation Era 1950-1967

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Abstract

This paper will look at the impact of assimilation policies on the lives of Aboriginal people in New South Wales through employment in the NSW Department of Railways. During this period hundreds of Aboriginal people were employed on the construction of railway track throughout many parts of New South Wales, which resulted in not only the relocation of Aboriginal employees from traditional rural settings to urban areas, but as well their entire families. This paper will explore the nature of railway life for Aboriginal people and their families; the hard arduous labour of track laying, twelve hour working days swing sixteen pound hammers, families living in railway tents alongside railway tracks and the eventual permanent relocation of these families from rural to urban areas.

Author bio:

Dr Greg Blyton is a Lecturer and research co-ordinator at the Wollotuka Institute in the University of Newcastle who teaches Indigenous History, Health and Research Methodology. Dr Blyton has written several books and journal articles focusing on contact and medical history of Indigenous Australians with a particular focus on the Hunter region of central eastern New South Wales. Dr Blyton’s Indigenous lineage is drawn from Sydney and the south coast of NSW and he is a member of Mimiga Wajaar traditional custodians. Dr Blyton is a strong advocate for reconciliation and recognition of the rich history and heritage of Aboriginal Australia, along with legal justice and social equity.

4. Chris Gall: Documenting Tl’azt’en nation’s ancestral history of Yeko (Cunningham Lake in British Columbia Canada)

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Abstract

Someone extolling the value of history once told me, “you cannot tell where you are going, unless you know where you have been” (Unknown). This profound advice has been fundamental not only personally, but succinctly describes the raison d'être for my project. My research is developing a community-based documented history that will record Tl’az’ten Nation’s settlement at Cunningham Lake (Yeko) and their eventual movement to more urban locations. This research is being completed under the guidance of the Elders as part of their language and culture program to preserve their knowledge and pass it on to the younger generations. The documented information about the land and settlement will be used further for educational purposes (in the form of an educational book) as well as for the restoration and protection of these important areas. Yeko was a main thoroughfare during the fur trade, and its large supply of whitefish was traded all throughout the north in times of famine. This history is relevant and important to many Carrier groups.

Author bio:

Christopher Gall is a graduate student in the First Nations Studies MA Program at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. He has been working for two years with Tl’azt’en and Yekooche Elders recording their oral history. He is also working with the Tl’azt’en Elders Society to develop an archive to preserve the Elders knowledge. One of his main research interests has been the comparison of British colonial policy in regards to indigenous people. This has included explorations of how various policies have been shaped by colonial events on the other side of the world.