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Blencowe, Trevor --- "Stirrings: Colebrook Home Reunion" [1997] IndigLawB 75; (1997) 4(4) Indigenous Law Bulletin 19


Colebrook Home Reunion

by Trevor Blencowe

On Sunday 1 June 1997, former residents of the Colebrook Training Home for Aboriginal Children, along with the Blackwood Reconciliation Group and the City of Mitcham, came together at the site of the former home in the Adelaide suburb of Eden Hills.

About 2,500 people had gathered to honour the former residents in a day of community interaction between indigenous and non-indigenous people. It was also an opportunity to increase the awareness of the residents in the area of the Aboriginal people who had experienced tremendous suffering, struggle and achievements in their own neighbourhood. The large turnout had caught many by surprise, as only around two to three hundred people were expected to attend.

From 1927 to 1943, Colebrook Home was situated in Quorn, South Australia, before being relocated to Eden Hills in the south eastern suburbs of Adelaide. Between 1943 and 1972, some 350 Aboriginal children were institutionalised at the home.

The event had specific relevance to me as my mother, older brother and sister were at Colebrook Home for a period of time prior to my birth in 1965. My mother had been taken away from her community at Gerard Reserve and placed at Colebrook to work as a domestic. She had no parental say over my older brother or sister, as this responsibility was vested in the Superintendent of the home.

Indigenous leader Yami Lester, who was involved in the handback of Uluru to its Aboriginal owners, was a former resident of Colebrook Home. He came to Colebrook as a 16 year old for medical treatment on his eyes, which had been damaged as a result of the atomic bomb tests at Maralinga in the 1950s. Yami gave a speech in which he reflected on his time at Colebrook, reminisced about some of his old friends from there, and talked about his subsequent adjustment to life in the city.

Former ATSIC Chairperson Lois O'Donoghue, herself once a resident of Colebrook, followed Yami by giving an emotional speech which encompassed the sufferings of indigenous Australian people, and in particular those of the Stolen Generations:

'Australia as a nation has still to fully face the consequences of the past government policies of separation and assimilation which resulted in the removal of thousands of indigenous children from their families. The pain, the anger and the despair of the Stolen Generations continues to reach into each new generation of indigenous Australians. Government policies of separating families inflicted a great loss of identity, culture, spirituality, self esteem and language on my people. Whole generations were suddenly cut off from all contact with their families and communities. The removal of the children from their families continues to create disruptions and alienation.

'In many ways, indigenous peoples' lives and the communities in which they live are dramatically shaped by the removal of the children. The legacy of our dispossession and its consequences remain at the core of our relations with the white Australian community. The reconciliation process offers the white Australian community a chance to help heal the scars of history that still affect our lives every day. It provides a chance to demonstrate respect for our culture and fully embrace us as Australian citizens.

'Words will not be enough to set us on the path for reconciliation. What is more important is that we as a nation open up our minds and our hearts to the injustices of the past, and be able to say we are sorry. Then and only then will the victims of the misguided policies of the Churches and the Government, [which] took away from us our families, our culture, our language, and our land ...[then and only then] will the healing process begin to become a reality for us. There is unfinished business for all of us'.

However, Lois O'Donoghue's most powerful message was for the former Colebrook kids, with the words 'Let us turn our anger and frustration into positive acts of reconciliation. We can forgive but never forget the sorrow of our mothers, some who died without ever seeing their children again, and those who lived most of their lives not knowing where their children had gone, what they looked like, and whether they were alive or dead. No one bothered to tell them.'

The Mayor of the City of Mitcham, Yvonne Caddy, made a personal apology and an apology on behalf of the City of Mitcham for the pain, anguish and sorrow caused by the past practices of assimilation, including the taking of young children from their homes and bringing them to Colebrook.

Mike Brown of the Blackwood Reconciliation Group also offered his gratitude to the former Colebrook residents, but it was tinged with a great deal of sadness. He said the sadness arose because many people in the Eden Hills/Mitcharn area knew of Colebrook Home, and some of the people who lived in the area knew the Colebrook children as friends. But few locals knew of the children's tragedy, of their forced removal from their families. He also articulated the shock which was felt by locals when some of the incidents of abuse that had occurred at Colebrook became known in the neighbourhood. Mike expressed a deep shame about what had happened. He said that, as a Christian, he felt that the actions of the Christian authorities at Colebrook had been a betrayal of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Mike asked the former Colebrook residents to forgive the local community, and thanked them for their generous spirits which had already proved so forgiving.

The Colebrook reunion was held at the end of a week in which indigenous issues dominated the political agenda in this country. The Reconciliation Convention in Melbourne, the release of Bringing Them Home (the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's report on the Stolen Generations), and the Federal Government's 10 Point Plan response to the Wik decision, had put indigenous issues in both the national and international spotlight. The second World Congress on Family Law and the Rights of Children, held in San Francisco in early June, condemned the Australian government policies which had brought so much misery upon indigenous Australians.

Many in positions of authority throughout Australia have apologised to indigenous people on behalf of those they represent, for the sadness which has been caused. The South Australian Government, among other States Governments, both Liberal and Labor, has issued a formal apology for removal practices, recognising the act of apologising to be a moral imperative. In contrast, Australia's Federal Government has refused to apologise, citing its imaginary fear of legal ramifications.

What I witnessed at the Colebrook event has made me believe that reconciliation can be achieved, but it has to be done at the grass roots level of our society. It is not up to politicians to decide the nature of reconciliation. It is up to the indigenous and non-indigenous people of this nation, particularly at a local level, to shape the country in which we want to live. But the way in which Australians deal with these issues, whether at a grass roots or at a political level, will either finally bring us together, or divide us even more. We cannot afford to ignore what has happened to the children that were forcibly removed from their families, and just brush it aside.

A first step in such recognition is a proposal that a memorial be built at the site of the former Colebrook Home. A Colebrook Memorial Fund has been established to assist in this scheme. Donations to the memorial can be made to the Blackwood Reconciliation Group at 9 Serpentine Road, Belair SA 5052. Further enquiries can be made to Mike Brown on (08) 82781657.


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