'You took our children' : Aboriginal autobiographical narratives of separation in New South Wales, 1977-1997

Abstract

The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families emerged from a 30-year history of articulation and publication of autobiographical accounts of separation in a variety of discursive contexts. I explore a small fragment of this history through a case study of individual and community-initiated autobiographical projects that bear witness to separation in New South Wales. Three of the texts centre on individuals: Jimmie Barker, The Two Worlds of Jimmie Barker (1977), Margaret Tucker, If Everyone Cared (1977) and Monica Clare, Karobran (1978). Two of the texts, the Lost Children (1989) and In the Best Interest of the Child? (1997), are collections that emerged from Link-Up (NSW) community, a grass-roots organisation dedicated to reuniting separated people with their families, communities and Aboriginal heritage. The five texts negotiate a range of discursive and generic contexts including anthropology, autobiography, fiction, oral history and judicial testimony. The thesis explores separation discourse, paying particular attention to the contexts in which the narratives were enunciated and to the engagement of the authors with non-Aboriginal interlocutors and editors. The last chapter includes personal reflections on my own participation as an editor in the production of In the Best Interest of the Child?