Library: Aboriginal Writings

ID Code Title Author Description Home(s)
13947 AB1 A Guide to Records of Indigenous Australians in the Lutheran Archives Adelaide, SA Archives Working Group of the Cultural Ministers Council, 1999 This guide provides a centralised, accurate register of the records of inhabitants of each mission and directions for accessing the full record of each case. The records held at Lutheran Archives relate to Aboriginal people that were living at the various Lutheran Missions and at other locations around Australia. Hermannsburg - Northern Territory, Hope Vale & Woorabinda - Queensland, Adelaide Aboriginal Lutheran Fellowship, Ceduna, Coober Pedy, Koonibba, Point Pearce, Port Augusta & Yalata - South Australia
13948 AB2 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Commonwealth Records- A Guide to Records in the Australian Archives ACT Regional Office Compiled by Ros Fraser, Australian Government Publishing Service Canberra, 1993 A guide to records mostly between 1901-1962 with some exceptions, which relates mainly to records from the Northern Territory. -
13949 AB3 Aboriginal Perspectives on Criminal Justice Edited by Chris Cunneen, The Institute of Criminology Sydney University Law School, No 1, 1992 A collection of essays on the issue of criminal justice and Aboriginal people by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal writers. -
13950 AB4 Broken Circles – Fragmenting Indigenous Families 1800-2000 Anna Haebich, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2000 Anna Haebich writes about how there was not one Stolen Generation, there were many. She provides a moving and comprehensive account of this dark Australian history spanning two hundred years of white occupation and intervention. -
13951 AB5 Faces of Change Anne Deveson, Published jointly by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Fontana, 1984 A chapter titled ‘Coral' from page 90-117 recounts Coral's story of how she was removed from her family and placed in Cootamundra Home for Aboriginal Girls in the 1960s. Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls, NSW
13952 AB6 If Everyone Cared – Autobiography of Margaret Tucker Edited by Lesley Zuber, Grosvenor Books, 1st Edition 1977 & New Edition 1983 The story of how Margaret Tucker/Lilardia was removed from her part-Aboriginal parents and sent to Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls. Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls, NSW
13953 AB7 It is no Secret – The story of a stolen child Donna Meehan, Random House Australia, 2000 At age five Donna Meehan was removed from her large and loving Aboriginal family at Coonamble NSW and sent to the only child of a white family in Newcastle. The book follows Donna's life and tracing her birth family. -
13954 AB8 Little black bastard – a story of survival Noel Tovey, A Hodder Book, 2004 The amazing story of Noel Tovey's childhood being born in the slums of Carlton of Melbourne then abandoned at the age of six. His survival and courage to pursue his dreams of being an actor and dancer. Royal Far West Children's Home, Manly NSW
13955 AB9 Long Time Coming Home Written and organised by Dianne Decker with consultation and permission of Marjorie Woodrow, 2001 The life story of Marjorie Woodrow who was separated from her mother at the age of two and did not see her mother for another 68 years. Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls, NSW & Parramatta Girls' Home, NSW
13956 AB10 Loving Protection? Australian Feminism and Aboriginal Women’s Rights, 1919-1939 Fiona Paisley, Melbourne University Press, 2000 A book detailing how a high visible network of white women activists who vigorously promoted the rights of Australian Aboriginals during the 1920s and 1930s. Alice Springs Half Caste Home, NT
13957 AB11 Many Lifetimes – A Memoir Audrey Evans, A Bantam Book, 2006 A memoir of Audrey Evans' life. Growing up in Queensland amid alcoholism, poverty and domestic violence, Audrey Evans was told she would never be as good as white people. But after a lifetime of struggle, she was determined to prove everyone wrong, and at the age of 55 she attended university for the first time. There she would not just get a piece of paper but would change her life. Many Lifetimes is Audrey's extraordinary true story and a powerful reminder that it's never too late to change your life. -
13958 AB12 ‘My heart is breaking’ – A Joint Guide to Records about Aboriginal People in the Public Office of Victoria and the Australian Archives, Victorian Regional Office Compiled by Ian McFarlane of the Public Record Office of Victoria & Myrna Deverall of the Australian Archives Victorian Regional Office, Australian Government Publishing Service Canberra, 1993 A guide to official records of Aboriginal Affairs in the government archives of Victoria. The records covered by the guide relate to Victoria's Aboriginal people until 1975 when the Commonwealth assumed the State's then responsibility for Aboriginal affairs. Mission Aboriginal Stations at Lake Tyers, Ebenezer, Lake Boga, Yelta, Ramahyuck, Coranderrk, Framlingham & Lake Condah
13959 AB13 One of the Lost Generation Marjorie Woodrow, 1990 A booklet on the life of Marjorie Woodrow. Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls & Parramatta Girls' Home, NSW
13960 AB14 Quiet Snake Dreaming Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow, Scrubfowl Press, 2007 Quiet Snake Dreaming is the true story of two women who reached across a cultural and social divide to become one family, and of children who never saw a gulf in the first place. It is also a tale of conservation, of a little boy and his dreaming animal, people rising above tragedy, and an unforgettable Christmas. Author's mother was in St Joseph's Orphanage in Largs Bay, South Australia
13961 AB15 Rabbit Proof Fence Doris Pilkington known as her Aboriginal name as Nugi Garimara, University of Queensland Press, 1996 A true story made into a major film by Phillip Noyce of Doris Pilkington's mother Molly, who as a young girl led her two sisters on an extraordinary 1,600km walk home. -
13962 AB16 Shadow Child – A Memoir of the Stolen Generation Rosalie Fraser, Hale & Iremonger, 1998 A memoir of Rosalie's removal from her parents, brothers and sisters and committed to the care of the Child Welfare Department. A two year-old Aboriginal child, subjected to abuse at the hands of her foster mother. The book traces her life after care and becoming a mother herself. -
13963 AB17 Stolen Jane Harrison, Currency Press, 1998 The play ‘Stolen' tells the story of five young Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their parents, brought up in a repressive children's home and trained for domestic service and other menial jobs. -
13964 AB18 The Australian Quarterly Essay – In Denial – The Stolen Generations and the Right Robert Manne, Schwartz Publishing, Issue 1, 2001 In the first Australian Quarterly Essay Robert Manne attacks the right-wing campaign against the Bringing them home report that revealed how thousands of Aboriginals had been taken from their parents. This essay is succinct history of how the Aboriginals were mistreated and an exposure of the ignorance of those who want to deny that history. Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls, NSW
13965 AB19 AB19
13966 AB20 The Lost Children – Thirteen Australians taken from their Aboriginal families tell of the struggle to find their natural parents Edited by Coral Edwards & Peter Reed, Doubleday, 1989 This resource is a powerful and disturbing oral history in which thirteen people describe their early memories of being removed from their parents, of institutions and foster families, tracing their families, reconciling and their struggle to recapture their Aboriginality. Bombaderry Home for Aboriginal children run by the United Aborigines Mission, Kinchela Home for Aboriginal Boys run by Aborigines Welfare Board, Bidura, Burnside Homes & more
13967 AB21 The stolen children their stories – Including extracts from the Report of the National Inquiry into separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families Edited Carmel Bird, Random House Australia, 1998 Stories and perspectives of the stolen generation, includes documents that appear in the Report from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Bringing Them Home as well as reactions to the Report by political and community leaders. United Aborigines Mission in Oodnadatta South Australia, St Joseph's Home at Sebastopol Victoria, Beagle Bay Mission Victoria, Kinchela Aboriginal Boys' Home New South Wales, State Children's Orphanage at Townsville Queensland, Sister Kate's Home Western Australia, St Gabriel's Babies' Home Balwyn, Victoria & Gables Orphanage at Kew, Victoria
13968 AB22 When you grow up Connie Nungulla McDonald with Jill Finnane, Magabala Books Aboriginal Corporation Broome, Western Australia, 1996 The life story of Connie McDonald and her early life in Forrest River Mission. Forrest River Mission run by the Anglican Church, Western Australia
13969 AB23 Why Weren’t We Told? – A personal search for the truth about our history Henry Reynolds, Penguin Books Australia, 1999-2000 Henry Reynolds a professional historian explores how he and many Australian's grew up with a distorted and idealised version of the past. -
13970 AB24 You Are What You Make Yourself To Be – The story of a Victorian Aboriginal Family 1842-1980 Phillip Pepper, Hyland House Publishing, 1980 The story of the Kurnai people of Gippsland in Victoria. Ebenezer Mission, Ramahyuck Mission & Lake Tyers Mission
13971 AB25 You Have The Power Archie Roach, Angus & Robertson, 1994 Collection of song lyrics by the successful Aboriginal songwriter. The songs, mostly from his two albums, 'Charcoal Lane' and 'Jamu Dreaming', focus on relationships, the spirit of the land, and the 'stolen generations' of Aboriginal children. -
13972 AB26 Tripping over feathers: Scenes in the life of Joy Janaka Williams: A Narrative of the Stolen Generations Peter Read, UWA Publishing, 2009 The story of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams' life as a member of the stolen generation removed from her mother because of her fair skin. Bombaderry Home & Lutunda Home, NSW
13973 AB27 Back on the Block William Simon, Des Montgomerie & Jo Tuscano, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2009 Stolen, beaten, deprived of his liberty and used as child labour, Bill Simon was locked up in the notorious Kinchela Boys' Home for eight years. Kinchela Aboriginal Boys' Home, NSW
13974 AB28 Home Girls – Cootamundra Aboriginal Home girls tell their stories Peter Kabaila, Canprint Publishing Canberra, 2012 A book to mark the centenary of the Cootamundra Home. The book provides a lively written history to celebrate the survival and achievements of the Home Girls. Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls, NSW
13975 AB29 Wandering Girl Glenyse Ward, Magabala Books, 1988 The life story of Glenyse Ward, an Aboriginal girl placed into an orphanage when she was a baby. This is the true story of how a girl in Australia was taken from her parents and educated in a Catholic mission. In 1965, she was forced to become a domestic on a wealthy estate, where she woke before dawn every day and slaved for fifteen hours. She ate off a tin plate and slept on a shabby cot above a garage. All because of the color of her skin. This sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen anymore. Here is the frightening yet victorious story of how it did and how that young woman who fought her way out. Wandering Mission, Perth WA
13976 AB30 Karobran – The Story of an Aboriginal Girl Monica Clare, Alternative Publishing Cooperative, 1978 A fictionalised account on the author's experiences growing up as part Aboriginal in NSW. Karobran is considered the first published novel by an Australian Aboriginal woman. Yasmar Home, NSW & Halloween Children's Home, Redmyre Road Strathfield, NSW where she learned domestic service
13977 AB31 Report upon the Operation of the Aborigines Act 1928 and the Regulations and Orders made thereunder & Aborigines Act 1928 Charles McLean, 1957 A Report of recommendations of the proposed amendments to the Aborigines Act 1928 in 1957. Attached is the Aborigines Act of 1928. Aboriginal Protection Board
13978 AB32 Through Their Eyes – Glimpses of a Changing Australia Lucy Taylor, Brigalow Press, 2013 A book telling individuals' life stories from the past Century in Australia. One of the stories includes a member of the Stolen Generation. Church of England Hostel Charleville & Cherbourg Aboriginal Community
13979 AB33 Laundry Stories Cissy Djagween & Mary Anne McKenzie as told to Margaret Hill, Spectrum Publications, 1999 A booklet on spreading the word of the Christian community in Broome, Western Australia through the stories of Cissy and Mary Anne. John of God Convent & Holy Child Orphanage at Broome, WA
13980 AB34 A Terribly Wild Man Christine Halse, Allen & Unwin, 2002 An account of The Reverend Ernest Gribble's life and work who made a profound impact on Aboriginal Australians and on Australian race relations. Christine Halse's biography reveals the humanity of this complex, tragic figure - a man whose life echoes the tensions that haunt Australia's past. -
13981 AB35 Saltwater Fella – An Inspiring True Story of Success against All Odds John Moriarty with Evan McHugh, Viking, 2000 John Moriarty recounts his story as an Aboriginal-Irish Australian growing up in mission homes after being taken from his mother and community. Mission Home at Mulgoa, NSW
13982 AB36 Saints or Sinners – Based on a True Story B. Yond, Austin Macauley Publishers LLC, 2019 A biography and autobiography of seven children who endured the experience of being taken away from their home and placed in temporary care at St Pettington's Orphanage and foster homes. -
13983 AB37 The Stolen Generations – The Removal of Aboriginal Children in NSW 1883 to 1969 Peter Read, Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, 1981 Ground breaking paper is among the first attempts to document the devastation of forcibly removing Aboriginal children in Australia from their parents. Bomaderry Home, Kinchela Boys' Home, Cootamundra Girls' Home, Parramatta Girls' Home & Mt Penang
13984 AB38 Last Truck Out Betty Lockyer, Magabala Books Aboriginal Corporation, 2009 From the Beagle Bay Mission to the pearling town of Broome after World War II, Betty Lockyer's childhood was influenced by culture, religion and strict government policy. Having an Aboriginal mother and an Asian father, she felt both the heart-wrenching effects of family forcibly removed from country and the protective authority of the Catholic nuns and brothers. Beagle Bay Mission in Victoria & Holy Child Orphanage, Broome in Western Australia
13985 AB39 The Burnt Stick Anthony Hill, Illustrated by Mark Sofilas, Viking Penguin Books Australia, 1994 A mostly fictional story of a young Aboriginal boy, John Jagamarra, who was taken from his mother by the Welfare Department and sent to Pearl Bay Mission. A tale for everyone about the pain of separation and the strength of the human spirit. -
13986 AB40 Link-Up Carol Kendall assisted by Peter Read An information booklet on Link-Up which is an Aboriginal organisation based in NSW. Link-Up (NSW) Aboriginal Corporation was founded in 1980 to assist all Aboriginal people who had been directly affected by past government policies; being separated from their families and culture through forced removal, being fostered, adopted or raised in institutions. Link-Up (NSW) supports the healing journeys of those removed; delivering professional, culturally sensitive and confidential research, reunions and Social, Emotional and Wellbeing services to those over the age of eighteen. -
13987 AB41 Wilam naling…(knowing who you are) Improving Access to Records of the Stolen Generations – A Report to the Victorian Government from the Koorie Records Taskforce Department for Victorian Communities, May 2006 The Report contains the landscape as at 2006, key findings from consultations, recommendations and a chapter on making a better future. -
13988 AB42 Always Was, Always Will Be Koori Children – Systemic inquiry into services provided to Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care in Victoria Commission for Children and Young People, Victorian Government, October 2016 Contains background information, legislative requirements, learning from Taskforce 1000, Inquiry findings, Opportunity to respond and appendices. -
13989 AB43 In The Child’s Best Interests – Inquiry into compliance with the intent of the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle in Victoria Commission for Children and Young People, 2015 The Inquiry contains an Executive Summary, recommendations, background, inquiry context, methodology, intent of the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, policy and program compliance, defining practice compliance, assessing practice compliance, opportunity to respond, appendices and references.
13990 AB44 Bringing them home – Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families Ronald Wilson, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, April 1997 The Inquiry contains tracing the history, consequences of removal, reparation, services for those affected, contemporary separations and appendices. -
13991 AB45 Who Am I? The Diary of Mary Talence Sydney 1937 Anita Heiss, Scholastic Australia, 2001 Mary was taken to Bomaderry Aboriginal Children's Home when she was only five years old. Now she's ten years old and living with a white family in Sydney. She doesn't fit in and starts to question why. Cootamundra Girls' Home, Kinchela Boys' Home & Bomaderry Aboriginal Children's Home