Author's speech

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To the Mayor, Cr Neal, CEO, Leon Yeatman, elders, ladies and gentleman and young people, good morning. Thank you for your welcome. I acknowledge the traditional owners and thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful homeland.

This project started in 1991 when Roy Gray, Darren Miller and Lyndal Thomas recorded the oral histories of dozens of Yarrabah elders. These oral histories are important because they provide a personal side to our history. They captured many voices.

The oral histories were all very similar – as they would be – because all the elders who shared their stories had grown up at Yarrabah and had similar experiences: removal of their parents to Yarrabah, separation from their parents into the dormitory, lack of food, no wages and so on.

The other valuable source of information used for the project was the records located within the State Archives – family records kept by various government departments – such as the Chief Protectors Office, Native Affairs, Health and Home Affairs and so on.

Not just anybody can access these records – a lot of them have 100 years restricted access – and in order to get a copy of them you need to be the next-of-kin of the person whose file it is.
I had no way of knowing what was in the files. I have only ever seen one batch of these files – Norman Baird’s records. This file belongs to an Aboriginal man from China Camp who was never under the Act although his children were subject to the Act and his son, Joseph Aubrey, spent ten years at Yarrabah. This is a big file for a Bama never under the Act.

One by one the files were processed by the Community and Personal Histories Unit, sent to the family and then onto me. As each of the files was analysed and followed up with additional research and more record finding – I found the stories that needed to be told.

And I was surprised.

This community has had a tough history. A common belief is Yarrabah operated as a haven for ‘waifs and strays’ but the evidence says otherwise.

I now know the people of Yarrabah provided slave labour for the economic development of Cairns and the tablelands. Adults and children alike were removed here and trained to be domestics and farm labourers for whites: lawyers, police officers and farmers had ready access to the workforce of the mission. Aboriginal people like Henry and Victor Lyons provided the labour that built the wealth of Cairns.

And when a worker was no longer useful – such as a young girl made pregnant by her white boss, or an elder getting sick and unable to keep working – when that happened they were sent on to Yarrabah and another worker filled their place.

That’s what these records reveal. This is the foundation behind the economic prosperity of Cairns and the Tablelands. A ready supply of labourers just down the road - strictly controlled and poorly paid.

Despite this Yarrabah people have a strong tradition of standing up for their rights and there is also evidence of this in the records. The strike of 1957 is something more should be written about. I have just touched on this part of your history – there is so much more to tell and I encourage you to keep on telling it.

This book is the result of the strong leadership of your community. It is because of committed and focused people like Roy Gray with the backing of Council that projects like this are achievable. Yarrabah has a rich community resource – this museum - and through this resource your young people can know their history and build a strong future.

Thank you.