Southern Aboriginal Corporation
Bringing Them Home Program
The 1905 Act:
An Act to make provision for the better protection and care of the Aboriginal inhabitants of Western Australia.
This Act specified that Aboriginality was a biological matter rather than a matter of identification and lifestyle. Aboriginal people
who were presumed to be of more than one quarter Aboriginal descent were brought under the provisions of this Act. People
who fitted this description were removed from there families and homes and put
into mission. At the time, it was the government’s view to be rid of the
Aboriginal bloodline. By putting
the children in missions it was hoped that they would no longer associate with their
people and this would assist in breeding out their Aboriginality.
“The Pain Of Separation”
The 1905 Act affected so many Aboriginal people within the state of Western Australia.
Here is just one story that I would like to share with people to show how separation affected Indigenous
people in our state yesterday and today.
I recently sat and talked to a man who went through this process and this is what he told me.
“I was 9 years old when my mum died, the missionaries didn’t come and tell me at all,
I found out when I was 15, I also didn’t know at the time that my dad was also dead.
How I found out was when I left the mission and went out looking for them both after I had left the mission. The missionaries never told me of their deaths.
I had reached an age where I was too old to stay in the mission so I had to leave and go out and
support myself. I had no idea of what happened with any of my family as other
siblings were also taken away from my mum and dad.
Years later after finding my other siblings, I found that separation has also had a big impact
on them.
I am really saddened by all of this today,I see my family suffer from drug addiction and alcoholism
trying to deal with the pains of the past. Some members have also committed suicide because they could not deal with the abuse
(sexual/physical) they received whilst in the mission.”
Today I still suffer from this injustice and I am still trying to find answers that can ease some
of the pain”.
“Still The Pain Lingers”
Separation / Identity:
·
Many of the Aboriginal people who were separated
from their families were left to pick up the pieces on there own as soon as they were at an age where they could no longer
stay in the mission. There was nowhere for people to go, no one that they could
call family, as the only family they knew were the children that were in the mission and there was also the problem of identity
as they did not know where they belonged or who to.
Abuse:
·
Many Aboriginal people have not been able
to come to terms with their past as it has been too painful. Many people suffered
physical, sexual and mental abuse as children and because of this, many people may take to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain. This then creates another problem, their mental health being affected.
Outcome:
·
When Aboriginal people present to the Mental
Health Services, they are often in a very bad state. Their mental health is usually
at a critical stage.
Clinical Treatment:
·
After seeing so many of my Aboriginal people
go through this, it saddens me to see that non-Aboriginal people do not take time to look at underlying issues like separation
or matters associated with the Stolen Generation. Mental Health practitioners are too quick to say that their mental illness
has been caused by alcohol and/or drugs.
Too many
mental health professionals take a clinical view on their client, and this is where they may misdiagnose a client. Many of our people suffer more because of this as they can not get the “Watjella” person to
fully understand what their problem is.
Solution:
·
What the “powers to be” need
to do, is, look at is employing more Aboriginal people within the health services to provide a culturally appropriate service.
Aboriginal people have the full understanding of what is happening with their people.
Many non-Aboriginal people have no idea on what the “Stolen Generation” people went through and how it
affected their lives yesterday and is still affecting them today.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
v
Employment of more Aboriginal people in
health services
v
Culturally appropriate service deliveries
v
Understanding of what the “Stolen
Generation” was about and what impact it had on Aboriginal people
v
Non-Aboriginal services to network/work
together more with Aboriginal services and communities
1905 Act in Western Australia
v
Identification by blood
v
Forced Removal
v
Aboriginals controlled by the Chief Protector
v
Segregation
EFFECTS OF SEPARATION
v
Loss of identity
v
Loss of culture
v
Loss of belonging
v
Sexual and Physical abuse
v
Alcohol and Drug Abuse
v
Violence
v Low self esteem
