-
This image has been sourced from online.See full AustLit entryThe book 'covers the time from Cherbourg's origins as a refuge on the banks of the creek in south-east Queensland, to life under the Aboriginal Protection Act, up to the town today.' (Source: Koori Mail 2014)
(...more) -
There are so many stories of Cherbourg to share.
Below are a few highlights:
-
Image courtesy of Magabala Books'... Forcibly Removed is a personal story told with humour and a confidence that comes from experience and achievement. It reveals the journey of a spirited family who maintained their dignity and fought to survive while living on Cherbourg Mission, Queensland, in the mid-20th century.' (Backcover). (...more)See full AustLit entry -
Courtesy of UQPChris Sarra is best-known nationally as the school principal who turned around the toxic culture and poor attendance rates at Cherbourg State School in Queensland. Slowly, Sarra's 'Strong and Smart' vision lifted community expectations and transformed Cherbourg into a school with below-average rates of truancy, growth in student numbers and low levels of vandalism. Under Chris' leadership the school became nationally acclaimed for its pursuit of the 'Strong and Smart' philosophy and Chris' work there was featured on ABC's Australian Story (2004). (...more)See full AustLit entry -
Image courtesy of UQP'It that you...? Matron's voice would ring out across the dormitory. In that pause sixty little girls would stop in their tracks, waiting to hear who was in trouble. All too often the name called out would be that of the high spirited dormitory girl Ruthie. In the depression years Queensland's notorious Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission became home to four-year old Ruth until her late teens when she was sent out to serve as a domestic on a station homestead.' (Source: University of Queensland Press website) (...more)See full AustLit entry -
This image has been sourced from online.See full AustLit entry'Lesley Williams was forced to leave the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement and her family at a young age to work as a domestic servant. Apart from pocket money, Lesley never saw her wages – they were kept ‘safe’ for her and for countless others just like her. She was taught not to question her life, until desperation made her start to wonder, where is all that money she earned? And so began a nine-year journey for answers.'
'Inspired by her mother’s quest, a teenage Tammy Williams entered a national writing competition with an essay about injustice.
(...more) -
See full AustLit entry
Cec Fisher was born at the Cherbourg Aboriginal Community in 1933 and was a recognised Elder in the south-east region of Queensland. He was educated to Year 4 level and sent out to the workforce at 14 years of age. He had many occupations, including stockman, railway fettler and he served in the Korean War. In additon, Fisher was a Brisbane witness at the Stolen Children Inquiry in 1996.
Through his poetry Fisher explores the history of the Indigenous people in Queensland from the Dreamtime to the present.
-
See full AustLit entry
Lionel Fogarty was born on Wakka Wakka country at Barambah, now known as Cherbourg Aboriginal Reserve near Murgon, Queensland. His traditional background is the Yoogum and Kudjela tribes and he has relations from the Goomba tribe.
After being educated to ninth grade at Murgon High school, he worked at a variety of local casual jobs, went ringbarking, worked on a railway gang, and came to Brisbane when he was sixteen.
In the early 1970s Fogarty became actively involved in Aboriginal politics after a realisation of the injustices experienced while growing up on the Reserve.
-
Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council: http://www.cherbourg.qld.gov.au/
The Ration shed museum: http://rationshed.com.au/
Cherbourg Memory: http://cherbourgmemory.org/
Winifred Fischer Knowledge Centre: Click Here
Cherbourg Radio: Facebook
You might be interested in...
