EPISODE 5

A S T U D Y G U I D E b y L i b b y T u d b all

http://www.metromagazine.com.au

http://www.theeducationshop.com.au
OVERVIEW OF THE SERIES

First Australians chronicles the birth of

contemporary Australia as never told before,
from the perspective of its f 
irst people.
First Australians explores what unfolds
when the oldest living culture in the world
is overrun by the world’s greatest empire.
Over seven episodes, First Australians
depicts the true stories of individuals –
both black and white – caught in an epic
drama of friendship, revenge, loss and
victory in Australia’s most transformative
period of history.
The story begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the
friendship between an Englishman (Governor
Phillip) and a warrior (Bennelong) and ends
in 1993 with Koiki Mabo’s legal challenge
to the foundation of Australia. First
Australians chronicles the collision of two
worlds and the genesis of a new nation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the programs may
contain images and voices of deceased persons.

SCREEN EDUCATION 2
The seven episodes in the series
cover key events, people and places
throughout all Australia:

Episode 1: ‘They Have Come To Stay’

Sydney and New South Wales (1788–
1824)

The first Australians and the British, the

most powerful Empire in history, come
face to face in Sydney on 26 January
1788. Their differences are immense but
the authorities step in and resist self- Episode 6: ‘A Fair Go for a Dark Race’
apprehension quickly turns to curiosity.
determination. South-Eastern Australia (1937–1967)
Friendships form, some between
powerful men such as Governor Arthur Episode 4: ‘There is No Other Law’ Across the continent, the first
Phillip and the Aboriginal Bennelong. Central Australia (1878–1897) Australians are governed by ‘protective
But by the time this pair leave for legislation’ which binds them to
Throughout the history of white
London three years later, relations reserves, controls their wages,
settlement, individual white men, good
between the two races have soured. residency, ability to marry and travel.
and bad, have significantly affected
The bloodshed worsens as settlers Yorta Yorta man William Cooper forms
the first Australians. Supported by
spread out across the land. the Australian Aborigines League in
pastoralists keen to make their fortune,
1933 to continue his life-long campaign
Episode 2: ‘Her Will to Survive’ the homicidal police officer Constable
for equality. His nephew also becomes
Tasmania (1803–1880) Willshire, brings mayhem to the
a political animal; Doug Nichols, a
Arrernte nation in Central Australia.
The land grab moves south to Church of Christ pastor who becomes
With the authorities turning a blind eye,
Tasmania. In an effort to protect the real a champion for those affected by the
the telegraph operator Frank Gillen
estate prices, it is decided to remove Maralinga nuclear bomb tests in the
stops him. Gillen’s other legacy is
the Tasmanian Aboriginal people from 1950s.
comprehensive records of the Arrernte
the island. The Government enlists
people’s way of life. Episode 7: ‘We are No Longer
an Englishman for the job, who is
Shadows’ Queensland and the Torres
helped by a young Aboriginal woman, Episode 5: ‘Unhealthy Government
Strait Islands (1967–1993)
Truganini. Experiment’ Western Australia (1897–
1937) Eddie Koiki Mabo fights for Australian
Episode 3: ‘Freedom For Our Lifetime’
law to recognize that his people own
Victoria (1860–1890) Jandamurra is born on a cattle station
Murray Island, where they have lived
in the Kimberley in the 1870s. His
The threat of extinction hovers over the for generations. In 1992, six months
hybrid life takes a bloody turn when he
first Australians of Victoria at the time after his death and a decade after the
trades in his status as a police tracker
Wurundjeri clan leader Simon Wonga statement of claim was first lodged in
for his own people. Gladys Gilligan is
seeks land from the authorities. He Queensland, the highest court in the
one of more than 50,000 half-caste
soon gives up and leads his people to land decides in Mabo’s favour. The
children plucked from her family and
the banks of the Yarra River, claiming outcome overturns the notion of terra
sent to a mission. The Chief Protector of
a parcel of land, Coranderrk. With nullius, that is, the notion that the land
Aborigines, A.O. Neville, institutionalizes
the help of a Scottish preacher, and belonged to no-one at the time of white
her first son, orders her to be arrested,
inspired by the farming practices of the settlement.
and denies her the right to marry three
settlers, the community prospers – until
times, but she remains resolutely The series provides rich information,
independent. and raises controversial and
challenging issues and ideas about
Australia’s past, present and possible
futures.

SCREEN EDUCATION 3
CURRICULUM
APPLICABILITY
First Australians is suitable for middle
and senior secondary students
studying:

• Australian History
• Studies of Society and Environment /
Human Society and its Environment /
Social Education
• Indigenous Studies. THINKING ABOUT ‘Sorry’ to Indigenous Australians for the
suffering caused by the government
This study guide provides discussion THE PERIOD policy which removed children from
points, additional material and
their families, in what became known
classroom activities to help teachers This episode focuses on the period
as the Stolen Generations. At the end
and students develop an understanding from the 1890s to the 1930s In Western
of this episode, we see how Prime
of Australia’s past and the experiences Australia, and tells two distinct stories
Minister Rudd and his government
of Indigenous and non-Indigenous about Jandamurra and Gladys Gilligan,
became the first to admit past policies
Australians through these rich two Indigenous Australians whose
towards Aboriginal Australians were
resources. lives were dramatically affected by the
wrong. He made an official apology to
attitudes and actions of the people,
Introduction to the guide the government and the policies of the
the Aboriginal people whose families
were destroyed, and who have been so
The ‘Exploring the story’ section is times in which they lived. The episode
affected by the Stolen Generations.
designed to help middle secondary concludes with the actions of the Rudd
students follow and understand the government in 2008, when the Prime
narrative. Minister officially apologized and said

The ‘Exploring the series as a

representation of history’ section is to
enable senior students to apply critical
analysis to the series as a historical
source.

The ‘Exploring issues and ideas’ and the

‘Telling the story’ sections can be used
at the teacher’s discretion with both
middle and senior secondary students.

It is recommended that teachers show

each episode in segments rather than
in a single sitting, particularly for middle
secondary students. The study guide
suggests suitable breaks or pause points.

Episode 5:
‘Unhealthy Government
Experiment’
Jandamurra is born on a cattle station
in the Kimberley in the 1870s. His
hybrid life takes a bloody turn when he
trades in his status as a police tracker
for his own people. Gladys Gilligan is
one of more than 50,000 half-caste
children plucked from her family and
sent to a mission. The Chief Protector of
Aborigines, A.O. Neville, institutionalizes
her first son, orders her to be arrested,
and denies her the right to marry three
times, but she remains resolutely
independent.

SCREEN EDUCATION 4
Key facts about the period:
• At this time, Aboriginal Australians
lived in hundreds of clan groupings
with their own distinct languages and
cultures that varied depending on
the region where they lived, and their
local environment.

• Clusters of families with special

kinship traditions lived with close
links to the land.
from their homelands, for example Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
• Archaeologists now believe that the to the penal settlement on Rottnest people?
First Australians may have inhabited Island.
• Why did Aboriginal people like
this continent for at least 60,000 and
Many Europeans on these frontiers Jandamurra struggle to ‘live between
up to 100,000 years.
of violence simply took Aboriginal two worlds?
• The arrival of Europeans had a more women in relations not of agreement
• Why did the authorities use
devastating effect on First Australians or care, but of force, violence
Aboriginal people as ‘black trackers’?
than anything that had previously and rape. Aboriginal women were
happened in their history. detained in the huts of Europeans • Why did the authorities decide to
by being chained to the furniture. remove ‘half-caste’ children from
• Europeans did not see that First
Other Europeans abused women and their families?
Australians had any rights to the land,
then moved on into other parts of
and simply took over waterholes, and • What was the role of the Protection
Australia. Children borne from these
the land. Board and A.O. Neville in Western
relationships were labelled as ‘half
Australia?
• Every aspect of the land; the castes’ and became the victims of
landscape, trees, rocks, birds and government policies which removed • What was life like for children who
animals, were central to the First them from their families in many were sent to places like the Moore
Australians’ traditional life and cases to childrens’ ‘homes’ many River settlement?
culture. thousands of kilometres away.
• Why did the Australian government
• The spread of the pastoral industries – Richard Broome, apologize to Indigenous Australians
profoundly changed Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians, 1982, p.56. in 2008?
Australians’ lives because of their
impact on the land.
Some focus questions that There is a list of references in this
any study of this period guide for further reading and research.
• Open conflict between First should try to answer However, you will find the answers to
Australians and Europeans broke many of these questions in the film. You
• Why did white pastoralists move
out across Australia: in NSW from will be asked after watching the episode
through Western Australia?
1788 to the 1840s; in Tasmania from to decide how this film contributes to
1804 to the 1820s; in South Eastern • What attitudes existed towards your knowledge and understanding of,
Australia in the 1830s and 1840s; Aboriginal people at this time? and your empathy with, the people who
in South Western Australia from were part of this historical period.
• Why did conflict increase between
1829 to 1845; in central Queensland
in the 1850s and 1860s; in North
Queensland from the 1870s to the
1890s; and in the Kimberleys and
other outback areas from the 1880s
to the 1930s. While First Australians
frequently fought back, they lacked
gun power and resources. Recorded
history does not document all the
conflict, but in many areas across
Australia, ruthless killings wiped out
whole clans.

• In Western Australia, First Australians

who stole cattle to feed their families
were often shot, or if captured, were
chained and sent to prisons often far

SCREEN EDUCATION 5
EXPLORING
JANDAMURRA AND
GLADYS’ STORIES
The stories progress through several
stages, so students should be able to
pause during the film to reflect on the
stages of the story being told about
Jandamurra and Gladys, and what their
stories reveal about the struggles and
events that other Aboriginal Australians
also faced.

Stage Key focus Aspects of the story to consider

1 The context: WA 1. At the start, how does the filmmaker create an impression of the size of Western Australia?
and increasing 2. What do you learn about the police presence and why it increased in WA?
police control
3. Why would Aboriginal Australians have killed cattle and sheep in this period?

2 ‘His warm tears’ 4. Begin to jot down key ideas that can later be developed into a timeline, class wall chart and
character profile recording what happens in Jandamurra’s life in north Western Australia. Different
Jandamurra’s life
members of your class could record notes under these headings: Jandamurra’s special skills and
powers, his character, his attitudes to non-indigenous people, and to his own people at various
times, his roles in life, his relationship with Bill Richardson, and why he was ultimately killed.
5. What were the key reasons why you believe that Jandamurra chose, in the end, to fight for his
people?

3 Gladys Gilligan’s 6. Who was Gladys Gilligan?

life and 7. Jot down key ideas that can later be developed into a timeline and wall chart depicting what
experiences happens in Gladys Gilligan’s life in this time. Different members of your class could record
notes under these headings and questions: Why was Gladys taken away from her family, what
was her character, what was her life like at the Moore River settlement? How and why did she
escape? What happened to her after Moore River, and at the end of her life? What was her view
of A.O. Neville?
Note: Her story is told in several stages of the episode.

4 Jandamurra: his 8. What roles did Jandamurra undertake?

life and roles 9. Why was he respected in both worlds?
10. Why did this respect change?

5. The killing times 11. What happened to Aboriginal people in WA in these times?
12. Why was the life on Rottnest Island so difficult for Aboriginal Australians?

6. Outright war 13. Record the series of events where the ‘guerrilla war’ erupted into outright war between
Aboriginal people and the WA authorities
14. What part did Jandamurra play in these events?
15. What happened to those who survived?
16. Why do you think that Jandamurra became so famous and a hero to his people?

7 Life at Sister 17. In addition to learning about the Moore River settlement where stolen children were taken, the
Kate’s episode recounts what life was like at Sister Kate’s home, where very fair-skinned children were
taken after they had been picked out as very white by Mr Neville. How would you describe
the experiences that Jerry Walker endured? What insights does Sue Gordon provide into what
happened at Sister Kate’s?

8. The Native and 18. The story returns to Gladys and what happened when she went to Perth. In what ways did Mr
half Caste home Neville still control Gladys’ and other First Australians’ lives at this at this point?
in Perth
Comment particularly on his instructions in 1927 on White City.

SCREEN EDUCATION 6
 9. Mary 19. Mary Montgomery Bennett was a wealthy feminist white woman who was appalled by the
Montgomery treatment of Aboriginal women and the policy of removing children from their families. Note
Bennett down what happened after she forced a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the policy of removal.
20. What impact did the nation-wide policies have on Aboriginal people?

10. Gladys 21. Why wasn’t Gladys allowed to marry, and how did she beat the system?
22. What finally happened to Gladys?

11. The apology 23. What did Prime Minister Rudd say when he apologized to the First Australians?

After watching EXPLORING Aboriginal Australians

fighting back
the episode ISSUES AND
In this episode, we learn that the late
Complete these tasks either as IDEAS FROM THIS 1800s to 1910 is known as the ‘killing
individuals, as pairs or as group work.
EPISODE times’.
Your responses could be presented • Why did this happen?
Jandamurra: Living at the
either written or given as oral reports.
crossroads of two worlds • Why did the Aboriginal people
• Decide how the episode has succeed at first, but then later face
• Why did Jandamurra have to live at
helped you gain knowledge and defeat?
the crossroads of two worlds? Which
understanding of, and empathy
world did he ultimately decide was • Find out more about the frontiers of
with, the First Australians who lived
more important to him and why? conflict in other parts of Australia.
in WA in this period.
• Why do you think that, at various You can consult references listed in
• Imagine that a television guide this guide that are available in many
stages, Jandamurra was respected
has asked you to summarize the school and public libraries and on the
and admired by people in both
episode in a few sentences. How internet.
worlds?
will you describe it?

• What do you think is the message

in this film about the impact of the
movement of white settlers into
Western Australia, and the impact
of government policies on the
nature of First Australians’ lives?

• The television guide also wants

you to write a short comment or
evaluation of the episode. Write
your own assessment piece.

• Go back to the focus questions

listed in the ‘Thinking about
the Period’ section. In a class
discussion, talk about which of
these questions this episode of
First Australians has helped you
answer.

SCREEN EDUCATION 7
Human Rights
The treatment of the First Australians
across Australia frequently denied them
the most basic human rights.

This episode shows and discusses what

happened at this time when hundreds of
Aboriginal people were collected up by
police and jailed in places like Rottnest
Island.
• Consider this question from the • In this episode, through the story
• Why did this happen? viewpoint of different groups of of Gladys’ father, we gain insights
• What were conditions like in the jail women: women in willing or unwilling into why so many fathers may
on Rottnest Island? relationships with white men, have stopped contacting their
mothers whose children were taken children who had been stolen. What
• Find out more about Aboriginal links away, stolen children. understanding have you developed
to this island that is known to local of why Gladys’ father stopped
Aboriginal people as Wadjemup. The • Reconsider the views of Marcia
communicating with Gladys?
Island is believed to be a spiritual Langton in particular on this issue.
• Complete some further investigation
place and is of particular significance The Stolen Generations
to Aboriginal communities. Visit on the Stolen Generations using the
<http://www.rottnestisland.com/ In the past, students in Australian internet.
schools had limited access to resources
en/History+and+Culture/default. The power of the Chief
which provided factual accounts of the
htm> and explore the links about Protector: Mr Neville
the colonial past and the penal impact of the Stolen Generations on
settlement. the First Australians’ lives. This episode Note: The text in the following section
increases understanding through the is drawn from The National Centre for
• Develop and present a short story of Gladys Gilligan. History Education website <http://
documentary on Aboriginal links to hyperhistory.org>. Visit this site to
Wadjemup. • How might these effects have
see further discussion of A.O. Neville,
continued into following generations?
Aboriginal Women’s Rights activities on the film Rabbit-Proof
• Why do you think people in power, Fence (Phillip Noyce, 1992), and links
This episode also provides insights into many of whom were good people to further resources on the film which
the rights of women in Western Australia who cared about what happened provides further insights into the Stolen
at this time. to the First Australians, have been Generations).
• What does this episode reveal about prepared to implement such policies?
… The Chief Protector of Aborigines,
the particular difficulties that women • Find out why generations of children A.O. Neville was the key policy maker in
faced during the period 1897–1937 in were stolen. the WA government in the development
Western Australia?

SCREEN EDUCATION 8
of the policies to remove half-caste
children form their families. He was
Chief Protector in that state from 1915
to 1940. In 1936, the West Australian
parliament passed legislation that gave
Neville the power to implement his
‘breeding-out’ policy.

• Why did Neville and other

governments in Australia want to
implement this policy?

The new law made sexual relations and it therefore recommends that all Thirty or forty years ago there existed
between Europeans and Aborigines efforts be directed to that end. a better type of half-caste. These
without permission an offence. People were robust, meat-eating people
Policy-makers expected that mixed-
could be imprisoned if they broke – the women big like the men and
descent Aborigines would assimilate.
this law. as vigorous. The family heads were
They thought that the ‘white blood’
mostly first-cross people. They traveled
• Suggest reasons why Neville in mixed-descent Aborigines enabled
the country with their camel carts,
introduced this law. them to be educated in European
horses, buggies and what not, in family
ways.
In 1937, the top administrators in groups, and they were good, hard
Aboriginal affairs came to Canberra • Discuss this statement: ‘The workers. They were a people apart,
from all over Australia to discuss government views on “mixed blood” and intermarriage was inevitable. The
Aboriginal welfare policies. Neville Aborigines was racist and unfair.’ offspring were not equal to the parents;
played a leading part in this they ran to seed through intermarriage
After his retirement, A.O. Neville wrote
conference. He told his audience and became lethargic. But with the
a book called Australia’s Coloured
that the ‘half-caste’ problem could admixture of further white blood they
Minority. Its Place in the Community
be solved, principally by removing recovered some of the original traits,
(Sydney Currawong Publishing Co.,
children from their Aboriginal families. acquiring part of the good qualities of
1948). Here are two excerpts from
He emphasized the importance of both races; the physical improvement
Neville’s book:
removing the children before they were being notable. It is because the
six years of age. … I make no apologies for writing success of our plan of assimilation is
the book, because there are things so allied with the question of who shall
• Why was it seen to be so necessary which need to be said. So few of our marry whom, and because colour plays
to remove children who were so own people as a whole are aware of so great a part in the scheme of things,
young? the position [of the coloured people that we must encourage approach
There was much discussion about the of Australia]. Yet we have had the towards the white rather than the black,
practical problems of child removal coloured man amongst us for a through marriage. (p.68)
and how these problems (e.g., parental hundred years or more. He has died
• In your own words, construct a view
opposition) might be overcome; there in his hundreds, nay thousands, in
of what you think Neville is really
was also discussion about the details pain, misery and squalor, and through
arguing.
of institutional life for the children and avoidable ill-health. Innumerable little
the control of their futures, notably children have perished through neglect • What do you make of these
control of whom they could marry. The and ignorance. The position, in some statements? Sources: <http://hyper
main outcome of the 1937 conference vital respects, is not much better today history.org/index.php?option=dis
was the adoption of a policy of than it was fifty years ago. Man is playpage&Itemid=455&op=page>.
assimilation. Assimilation aimed to entitled to a measure of happiness in
• Do some further research to assess
absorb mixed-descent Aboriginal his life. Yet most of these people have
the child removal policy in your
people into mainstream Australian never known real happiness. Some are
state using the state-by-state data
society. never likely to know it. The causes of
at <http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/
their condition are many. Mainly it is not
• In a class discussion, talk about your other/IndigLRes/stolen/>. For the
their fault, it is ours, just as it lies with
views on this policy of assimilation. historian studying child removal
us to put the matter right. (p. 21)
policy, perhaps the main task is to
The report of the 1937 conference • From what you know about Neville unravel the racial and the welfare
stated: and the way he is represented motives that drove the policymakers.
… the destiny of the natives of in Episode 5, does this excerpt What are the motives at work in the
aboriginal origin, but not of the full surprise you? Why or why not? documents?
blood, lies in their ultimate absorption Explain your answer and compare
by the people of the Commonwealth your viewpoint with classmates.

SCREEN EDUCATION 9
EXPLORING THE SERIES AS A REPRESENTATION OF HISTORY
First Australians is a representation of history. This means that it is somebody’s version of what happened. Every secondary account of
history is a representation. The creator of the version has chosen what to include and what to exclude from all the possible elements
and sources, and has chosen the sequence in which they will be presented. In the case of film, the creator, the writers, director and
editor, have also chosen the sound, lighting, expert commentators, images and other filmic elements that constitute the final product.
If senior students are to use this film as a source of information and ideas in their study they must be prepared to critically analyse and
evaluate it as a historical source.

The use of expert commentators

One of the features of First Australians is the use of commentators. We need to consider who they are, how they present information,
and how the filmmaker uses them in the overall representation.

1. Think back to the commentators. What was their role?

2. How did you respond to them?
3. Why do you think the filmmaker chose them?
4. Why do you think they are used in the film?
5. What insights do each of them give into the lives of the First Australians in this episode?

Now look at this brief biographical information on each of them and answer the questions that follow.

Professor Marcia Langton is a leading Noel Nannup is a Yamatji/Nyoongar Phillip Prosser is Gladys Gilligan’s
Indigenous scholar, commentator and man, with extensive knowledge about son and in this episode shares his
activist, Professor of Australian Indigenous traditional culture and stories. He is memories and insights into his
Studies at the University of Melbourne. She dedicated to teaching and sharing mother’s story.
has published extensively on Aboriginal indigenous information about the rich
• What information is he able to share,
affairs issues including land rights, resource cultural heritage of his people.
and how does this assist in the
management, social impacts of development,
• What insights does Noel share? development of our understanding
indigenous disputes, policing and substance
of her life?
abuse, and gender and identity.

• What insights does Marcia share?

Steve Kinnane is a descendent of the Dr. Gordon Briscoe is from the Marduntjara/ Doris Pilkington Garimara is best known
Miriwoong people of the East Kimberley. Pitjantjatjara peoples of Central Australia He for her 1996 book Follow the Rabbit-Proof
His work has centred on investigations of is now an Indigenous activist and researcher. Fence, a story of three Aboriginal girls,
Aboriginal history, removal of children and He helped form an Aboriginal Progress among them Pilkington’s mother Molly
the surveillance and control of Aboriginal Association in the late 1950s, worked for the Craig, who escaped from the Moore River
community members by various state Aboriginal Legal Service in the late 1960s, Native Settlement in Western Australia
regimes. and helped establish a health service for and travelled for nine weeks to return to
the urban Aboriginal population in Sydney their family.
• What does Steve tell us about the ‘Killing
in the 1970s
times’ from the late 1800s to 1910? • Find out more about Doris Pilkington.
• What insights does Gordon share? • What insights does she share in this
episode?
• View the film Rabbit-Proof Fence.
See the study guide available
through ATOM.

SCREEN EDUCATION 10
• Comment on why each historian
and commentator might have been
chosen to be part of this episode.

• Do you think they are appropriate

and believable experts? Justify your
view.

Different representations of
Jandamurra
The website <http://www.australiasnorth • Which representation do you think is Different representations
west.com/en/Kimberley/Jandamarra. accurate? Explain your view. of living at Moore River
htm> provides a succinct summary of
If you complete an internet search for settlement
Jandamurra’s story, and another can be
found at <http://www.bluekingbrown. tours of Jandamurra’s country, the land (Note: The complexity of the following
com/aboriginal/prominant.htm>. of the Bunuba clan, you will see that discussion of extracts means that this
there are many camping and adventure activity is suitable for senior or more
John Nicholson’s book Kimberley companies that visit the area where he able History students)
Warrior: the story of Jandamurra (Allen lived.
& Unwin, 1997) about Jandamurra and Michele Grossman raises important
the struggle for justice by the Bunuba • Find out where these tours visit and questions about how Gladys Gilligan
peoples in the late nineteenth century is why. represented her own experiences at
suitable for school students. • Do you think these tours are a good the Moore River Native Settlement.
idea? Why or why not? In her discussion, ‘When they write
• Read at least two of these
what we read: Unsettling Indigenous
representations and compare them • Some of the tour groups label Australian life-writing’, (Australian
with the film and its depiction of Jandamurra as an ‘outlaw’. Is this Humanities Review, Issue 39–40,
Jandamurra and his story. appropriate, why or why not? September, 2006, see <http://www.
• In what ways are the representations • Others compare Jandamurra with australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/
similar and different? Ned Kelly. Do some further research Issue-September-2006/grossman.html>
to decide is this comparison is fair, where this article is publicly available.
just, accurate or inaccurate. After viewing Episode 5 of First
Australians, senior students should read
the following extracts from Grossman’s
article:

SCREEN EDUCATION 11
… At the beginning of 1930, a of institutional, welfare and legislative Maushart’s Sort of a Place Like Home:
young Aboriginal woman named schemes. One of Neville’s contributions The Moore River Native Settlement
Gladys Gilligan forwarded a written to the state’s management of (1993: 22–41).
composition entitled ‘The Settlement’ Indigenous peoples in Western Australia
… Gladys Gilligan’s sojourn at Moore
to A.O. Neville, ‘Chief Protector of was the Native Settlement Scheme,
River guaranteed her involvement in
Aborigines’ in Western Australia and a program of ‘social engineering and
schemes designed to demonstrate
senior administrator of Aboriginal affairs segregation intended principally for
the effectiveness of rehabilitating
in that state from 1915 to 1940. The Aborigines of mixed descent’ (Haebich
Aboriginal ‘natives’ through pedagogy
‘Settlement’ in question was the Moore 2000: 259) that echoed earlier schemes
and discipline. According to Gladys
River Native Settlement1 at Mogumber, devised by colonial administrators
Gilligan’s cover-note to Neville
established by Neville in 1918 and in other parts of Australia to rescue
(Maushart 1993: 13), the set-piece
‘home’ to hundreds of Aboriginal Aboriginal ‘savages’ and rehabilitate
she wrote had been solicited by the
children until its closure in 1951. Along them as industrious subjects of Empire.
Chief Protector during an earlier visit
with more than 60 other government
… The localised and decentralised to Moore River. Gladys Gilligan had
settlements and missions that operated
nature of educational programs and lived and worked at Moore River Native
between 1842 and 1965, Moore River
opportunities for Indigenous children, Settlement since 1921, after being
Native Settlement was a key player
many of which were run by an taken at age seven from her home at
in the institutionalised removal and
assortment of missions and churches Moola Bulla, a government-managed
separation of Aboriginal children
and overseen by state governments Aboriginal cattle station located in the
from their families and their enforced
with varying philosophies and practices East Kimberley region. ‘The Settlement’
assimilation under Western Australia’s
of Indigenous welfare in general, was composed when she was 16 or
Aborigines Act 1905,2 policies from
virtually guaranteed that educational 17 years old, and had already provided
which it is estimated ‘“not one”
programs for Aboriginal children would ‘years of unpaid service as a pupil
Aboriginal family in the state … escaped
be inconsistent at best. In a comment teacher at the settlement school’
the effects’. (Haebich 2000: 228)3
published in a local Western Australian (Maushart 1993: 271–272). The essay
The Moore River Native Settlement, newspaper in 1922, Phillip Morrison, a produced by this ‘graceful, well-spoken
like that of nearby Carrolup in its first Nyungar man, observed of the Moore prodigy’ would have been intended, at
incarnation (1915–1922), was run River Native Settlement: least by Neville, to serve as ‘a charming
according to principles that Haebich advertisement of what the settlement
I see little boys and girls humpin’ sugar
characterises as the ‘hallmarks of system was capable of accomplishing’
bags full of gravel for long distances
[Neville’s] administration – economy, (Maushart 1993: 271–272), much as
from the pits to the camp to make
efficiency and control’ (2004: 260). Gladys herself served when she was
footpaths, instead of bein’ at school.
The settlements were funded on a ‘displayed with pride to white visitors’ to
… We can’t let our children [from the
‘shoestring budget’; living conditions, Moore River (Maushart 1993: 271).
Katanning district] go there for schoolin’.
bleak from their inception, resembled
Too far to go – anyhow only teach them To read ‘The Settlement’ against the
internment camps, with children
to carry gravel and wood. (quoted in background I have outlined above is
living ‘in dormitories in a compound
Haebich 2000: 261–262)5 to enter a realm of contradictory and
supervised by white staff,’ and exposed,
elusive textual motives and motifs.
particularly at Carrolup, to disease, Morrison’s remarks here leave little room
The settlement condemned by the
limited rations and regimes of excessive for doubt about the subordination of
Moseley Royal Commission as a ‘woeful
physical labour (Haebich 2004: 260–61). education – which in any case merely
spectacle’ four years after Gladys
By 1934, according to Haebich, the reprised the ‘three Rs’ at Moore River,
Gilligan composed her text is described
‘Moseley Royal Commission described rather than following Western Australia’s
by her thus: ‘The settlement lies on the
the [Moore River] settlement as a general state school curriculum – to the
bank of a river called the Moore River,
“woeful spectacle”’: the buildings imperatives of disciplining Aboriginal
the hills surrounding it making it look
were overcrowded and vermin-ridden, schoolchildren through labour and
quite a pleasant little home’, neat, tidy,
the children’s diet lacked fresh fruit, ‘training’ in preparation for lives to be
ordered and bucolic, with ‘a patch of
vegetables, eggs and milk and their spent in domestic service (girls) or as
young pines of one year’s growth, which
health had been seriously affected. The stockmen and labourers on pastoral
are all growing rapidly’.
Commissioner concluded that in its stations (boys).6 Despite this, one of
present condition Moore River had ‘“no the most frequently cited justifications There is no mention of vermin,
hope of success” in its work with the for removing children – particularly overcrowding, or poor health
children’ (2004: 262). those deemed ‘half-caste’ … from amongst the children. In fact, the
their families and relocating them to daily regimen described by Gladys
As the research of a number of
settlements like Moore River, was the Gilligan is punctuated by interludes of
historians and anthropologists has
need to provide schooling for Aboriginal wholesome play and leisure, including
demonstrated,4 government policies
children, as attested by the recollections cubby houses, fishing, swimming,
throughout the assimilation era were
of many former inmates in Susan and mushroom picking, interspersed
enforced through an interlocking matrix

SCREEN EDUCATION 12
with hair combing, sewing for girls, stands quite still until the Nurse who’s of the bells, speaks poignantly to the
arithmetic and the Lord’s Prayer at on duty comes in. Grace is said, and possibility of Gladys Gilligan’s struggle
tea-time. The children are collectively they sit down and have dinner. … The to say what she could about life at
described as ‘skipping’, ‘chattering’, same is done at teatime … (Maushart Moore River while avoiding censure,
and ‘scampering’; they are obedient and 1993: 18-19) punishment or humiliation. It also
know how to ‘stand quite still’, ‘form speaks to the complexities of how
… From the opening sentence, the text
… straight lines’ and ‘march into their Gladys Gilligan may understand and
makes it possible to contemplate the
places quietly’ when cued by the bells negotiate her own subject position as
fissure between how things appear
that ring at various points in the day. an Aboriginal person… as the slippage
to outsiders and how they are, or are
The children are ‘seen to’ by Matron between ‘they’ and ‘our’ indicates (‘they
experienced, by insiders at Moore River:
and by Nurse, and they are said to sit down and have dinner’, ‘some of our
appreciate: The Settlement lies on the bank of a colour’ [emphasis added]).
river which is called the Moore River, the
the goodness of the government … While the piece functions
hills surrounding it making it look quite
and Chief Protector in providing superficially as textual confirmation of
a pleasant little home [emphasis added].
food and clothing, and are thankful the assimiliationist imperative – that
for the kindness of the Matron and Within the stifling strictures of the set- is, that the task of suppressing and
the Superintendent and Staff for the piece [Gladys’ essay] (that drearily excising all traces of ‘Aboriginality’ and
good work they have done for them, familiar model of school composition transforming Aborigines into ‘white’
particularly the teacher who has taught set for generations of pupils in England citizens of the nation – at another level,
them to read and write which is the and the colonies to demonstrate their as I have suggested above, it brings into
most important thing to know. (Maushart ‘good learning’ and progress in letters), sharp focus the kinds of subversions
1993: 21) it is possible to read this as a subtle and resistances that may be manifest in
but defiant subterfuge that, like the even the most apparently compliant and
There are no sugar bags full of gravel,
careful lingering over the regimentation conventional of literary texts.
no labouring to make footpaths in
Gladys Gilligan’s portrayal of ‘The
Settlement’. The entire composition
is testament, on its face, to the ‘good
works’ of ‘Superintendent and Staff’ on
behalf of these children, who are spared
the suffering of ‘some of our colour
who are still uncivilised [and] are being
cruelly treated by some of the bad white
people.’

There are, however, the bells. Bells

ring constantly in ‘The Settlement’, a
minimum of nine times a day, excluding
awakening and breakfast. In a narrative
that is opaque when it comes to details
about some things – there are no
specifics given about what kind of food
is served up at mealtimes, for instance,
although each daily meal is mentioned
– the bells and their ringing come in
for a good deal of attention in Gladys
Gilligan’s brief composition. ‘At 8:30 the
sewing bell rings and the girls go down
to the workroom immediately they hear
it ring’, ‘then at nine the school bell
rings’, ‘then the school bell rings again
at eleven’, and when:

the dinner is ready at twelve … the

bell is rung three times, to make sure
everybody hears. The first bell rings
when the dinner is being given out,
when the second bell rings everybody
comes to the dining room. When the
third bell rings everyone goes in and

SCREEN EDUCATION 13
• How did the Moseley Royal
Commission describe the Moore
River Settlement?

• What was Neville trying to achieve at

the Moore River Settlement?

• What impressions did Phillip Morrison

give of the Moore River settlement in
a local Western Australian newspaper
in 1922?

• How does Christine Walton explain

why Gladys wrote the essay about
• What insights do these extracts
provide into the difficulties educated
TELLING THE
the Moore River settlement? First Australians would have faced STORY (FILM
• What is meant by the phrase that in expressing the truth about the
experiences that they endured?
STUDY)
Gladys had already provided ‘years
of unpaid service as a pupil teacher First Australians uses a variety of
Conclusion elements to tell the story.
at the settlement school’?
• First ask each member of the class to
• Why do you think that Gladys would 1. What are the main problems that you
note down one fact or incident they
have written a representation leaving think face a filmmaker in creating a
learn about in the film that is new to
out many of the negative aspects of documentary about Jandamurra and
them or they had not heard about
life at the settlement? Gladys Gilligan?
before.
• What is the significance of the 2. Divide up your class and allocate
• Next, in a class discussion, talk
discussion of the bells in the daily individuals or pairs to comment on
about what you think are the main
routine? the role that each of these elements
strengths and the main weaknesses
plays in this episode:
• In your own words, explain what you of this episode of First Australians as
think Grossman means when she a representation of history. • Narrator
says: • How important do you think it is for • Experts
From the opening sentence, the text wider audiences of Australians to
• Archival images
makes it possible to contemplate the see this series, and in particular this
fissure between how things appear episode of First Australians? • Voices reading documents
to outsiders and how they are, or are • Impressionistic modern film
experienced, by insiders at Moore elements
River.
• Sound effects

• Music

• Editing

• Camera movement over static

images

• Narrative structure – focus on

individuals

3. Prepare a new scene for the film in

which you would incorporate new
information. Try to follow the style
of the episode. Use the columns
on page 15 to help you summarize
your presentation of the scene. For
example, you might decide to use
more details about Gladys Gilligan
and her written composition entitled
‘The Settlement’ that she sent to A.O.
Neville. You could include someone
reading her comments, and then
someone else discussing why she
might have presented a rosy view of
life at the Moore Rover settlement.

SCREEN EDUCATION 14
 Aspect of Images Readings Experts Current film Other
the story

4. Do you think the filmmakers have achieved a good result?

SCREEN EDUCATION 15
FURTHER
INFORMATION and
REFERENCES
Bain Attwood, The Making of the
Aborigines, Allen & Unwin, Sydney,
1989.

Tony Birch, ‘Half caste’, Australian

Historical Studies, 1992, pp.99, 458.

Bringing Them Home, Report of the Carlton, Victoria, 2003, pp.25–42. Rosalind Kidd, The Way We Civilise:
National Inquiry into the Separation Aboriginal Affairs – the Untold Story,
Michele Grossman (coord. ed.),
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait University of Queensland Press, St
Blacklines: Contemporary Critical
Islander Children from Their Families, Lucia, Queensland, 1997.
Writing by Indigenous Australians,
Commonwealth of Australia, April 1977.
Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne University Steve Kinnane, Shadow Lines,
The full report is available at <http://
Press, 2003. Fremantle Arts Press, Fremantle, 2003.
www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/
rsjproject/rsjlibrary/hreoc/stolen/> or Michele Grossman, ‘Beyond orality Steve Kinnane, Black Lives, Government
<http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/ and literacy: Textuality, modernity and Lies, University of New South Wales
IndigLRes/stolen/>. representation in Gularabulu: Stories Press, Sydney, 2000.
from the West Kimberley’, Journal
Gordon Briscoe, and Len Smith (eds), Marcia Langton, ‘Culture wars’ in
of Australian Studies, 2004, pp.91,
The Aboriginal Population Revisited: Michele Grossman (coord. ed.),
133–147.
70,000 years to the present, Aboriginal Blacklines: Contemporary Critical
History Monograph, 2002, p.10. Anna Haebich, Broken Circles: Writing by Indigenous Australians,
Fragmenting Indigenous Families 1800- Melbourne University Press, Carlton,
Richard Broome, Aboriginal Australians,
2000, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Victoria, 2003, pp.81–91.
Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1982.
Fremantle, Western Australia, 2000.
Andrew Markus, Australian Race
Michael Dodson, ‘The end in the
Anna Haebich, For Their Own Good: Relations, 1788–1993, Allen & Unwin, St
beginning: Re(de)finding Aboriginality’,
Aborigines and Government in the Leonards, NSW, 1994.
Australian Aboriginal Studies No. 1,
South West of Western Australia, 1900–
1994. Reprinted in Michele Grossman Susan Maushart, Sort of a Place
1940, 2nd edition, University of Western
(coord. ed.), Blacklines: Contemporary Like Home: The Moore River Native
Australia Press, Nedlands, Western
Critical Writing by Indigenous Settlement, Fremantle Arts Centre
Australia, 1992.
Australians, Melbourne University Press, Press, Fremantle, Western Australia,
1993.

D.J. Mulvaney, ‘The Australian

Aborigines 1606–1929: Opinion and
Fieldwork’ in Susan Janson and Stuart
Macintyre (eds), Through White Eyes,
Allen & Unwin/Australian Historical
Studies, Melbourne, 1990, pp.1–45.

Henry Reynolds, Frontier, Allen &

Unwin, Sydney, 1987.

Tim Rowse, After Mabo: Interpreting

Indigenous Traditions, Melbourne
University Press, Carlton, Victoria, 1993.

The Human Rights and Equal

Opportunity Commission website
<http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_
justice/bth_report/index.html> has
special sections devoted to ‘Frequently
Asked Questions’, ‘Who Spoke Out at
the Time’ on child removal, and stories
of people who were removed during the
Stolen Generations.

SCREEN EDUCATION 16
Endnotes 4. A by no means exhaustive list of
work in this arena includes, for
Rodan continues:

While she was at Moore River, Mr.

1. This and subsequent references to example, Haebich (2000) and her
Neville came to visit the mission.
Gladys Gilligan’s writing and her time earlier work on Western Australia
Nannup recounts that when she was
at Moore River are drawn from Susan (1992), Andrew Markus (1994; 1990),
in the sewing room on one visit she
Maushart’s remarkable documentary Maushart (1993), Rowse (1992;
overheard Mr Neville ‘standing talking
history, Sort of a Place Like Home: 1998), Ann McGrath (1995), Heather
to the sewing mistress’. She heard
The Moore River Native Settlement Goodall (1996) and Rosalind Kidd
him say: ‘Ohh, it’s all right, as long as
(1993). See especially ‘Introduction: (1997; 2000).
they can write their name and count
One: The place’ (13–21) and Chapter
5. The original citation for Morrison’s money … that’s all the education
6, ‘One Half-Caste Girl’ (271–315).
quotation is The Southern Districts they need’. (Nannup 1992: 71: Rodan
2. For a detailed discussion of Western Advocate (Katanning, WA), 4 2000).
Australian policies concerning the September 1922.
Rodan also includes an account from
government and administration of
6. Debbie Rodan cites the following Connie Nungulla McDonald, which:
the area’s Aboriginal inhabitants and
from Alice Nannup’s When the
the complex network of institutions, recounts that at Forest River mission
Pelican Laughed to provide some
settlements, homes and missions school the missionaries taught
insight into the circumscribed role of
that supported this, see Haebich the girls ‘to learn the 3R’s; going
education for Aboriginal children at
(2004: 208–287). The Summary of to church to learn about God and
Moore River:
Aborigines Act 1905 is reproduced by learning to cook at home, learning to
Haebich in Table Two of this chapter Moore River did nothing for me sew, learning to set a table, learning
(220). by way of schooling; I had to learn to run a household so that when a
through experience and picking up girl got married she would know how
3. See also Western Australian
little bits here and there on my own. to run and look after her home and
Government, 1996.
Really, all I ever did there was work. I family’. (McDonald and Finnane 1996:
had chores to do before school and 14; Rodan, 2000).
chores to do after. I tell you, they
never allowed me to be idle. (Nannup
1992: 69; Rodan 2000).

This study guide was produced by ATOM.

© ATOM 2008 editor@atom.org.au
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SCREEN EDUCATION 17