Bringing up nine children of your own is a major achievement in itself. Bringing up a further fifteen foster children is truly remarkable … Alice Bilari Smith had lived in the Pilbara all her life, on stations and in the bush, on government reserves and in towns. As a girl on Rocklea Station she narrowly avoided removal from her family by ‘the Welfare’. Instead, Alice learned to cook and launder, sew and clean; shoe horses, chop wood and milk cows. Her working life on stations continued as a young married woman and she added mustering, dingo scalping, shearers’ assistant and sheep-yard building to her skills. Alice Bilari Smith also grew up in the ways of her country, hunting, cooking and building in the traditional manner. Some of her children were born in the bush; others in hospital. By the time she had five children of her own she was playing an active role in caring for other Aboriginal children and she initiated the establishment of a Homemakers Centre in Roebourne. Both a remarkable life and a typical life, Alice’s story is insightful and inspiring.
Bringing up nine children of your own is a major achievement in itself. Bringing up a further 15 foster children is truly remarkable. Alice Bilari Smith had lived in the Pilbara all her life, on stations and in the bush, on government reserves and in towns. As a girl on Rocklea Station she narrowly avoided removal from her family by "the Welfare." She grew up in the ways of her country, hunting, cooking, and building in the traditional manner. Some of her children were born in the bush, others in the hospital. By the time she had five children of her own she was playing an active role in caring for other Aboriginal children, and she initiated the establishment of the Homemakers Centre in Roebourne. Both a remarkable life and a typical life, Alice's story is insightful and inspiring.
This will help us customize your experience to showcase the most relevant content to your age group
Please select from below
Login
Not registered?
Sign up
Already registered?
Success – Your message will goes here
We'd love to hear from you!
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.