Eileen Cummings is a member of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations. This case study traces her life story and journey of healing. It also explores how her experiences as a member of the Stolen Generations has affected her family. Born on the Mainoru River, Central Arnhem Land in 1943, Eileen had a happy childhood growing up with her extended family on Mainoru Station. In 1948 her life changed forever when she was forcibly removed from her home and family according to the Commonwealth Government policies of the day. Eileen was taken to live at the Methodist Mission on Croker Island from 1948 to 1960. Eileen experienced some happy times on Croker, but she always grieved for her mother and country. Eileen first reconnected with her mother Florrie in 1962. For Eileen reconnecting with her mother, family and country would be a journey of healing that continues today. How this journey has impacted on Eileen's entire family is told through the experiences of her daughter Raelene and Granddaughter Grace.On Crocker Island Eileen's most important relationships were with the other children, but one by one they were unexpectedly 'taken away' from her and moved to other parts of Australia. Despite the constant grief and trauma of broken relationships Eileen's resilience enabled her to do well at school and complete her secondary education in Darwin and then tertiary studies in Brisbane 1961-1963. Eileen's educational success underpinned a long and distinguished professional career. In 1964 she returned to the Northern Territory as its first Indigenous early childhood teacher. Later, while her own family grew, Eileen went on utilise her community negotiation and engagement skills with great success in a variety of Northern Territory Government policy areas. Australia's Stolen Generations is a blight on its history. Its impact then and now on those removed from their families and the generations who followed is ongoing and profound. The Cummings Family's story illustrates how they have lived with and overcome this traumatic event by keeping family close and reclaiming their culture through their connections to country. It is a story of love, resilience, and courage.
In 2019 the Northern Territory Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation commissioned case studies based on oral history interviews of some of their members and their families to explore issues related to the inter-generational impacts of the Stolen Generations. This case study focuses on the life of Lance Stott. Lance was removed from his family at birth when his mother died in childbirth in Darwin in 1959. Lance was taken to the Garden Point Catholic Mission on the north-west coast of Melville Island, part of the Tiwi Islands, approximately 125km north Darwin. Lance grew up at Garden Point between 1959 and 1969. During the mid-1960s Lance was fostered on multiple occasions with families in Adelaide, South Australia but returned to Garden Point on each occasion. Lance recalls his time at Garden Point in a mixture of happy nostalgia and grief due to physical violence from staff and bullying at the hands of other children. In 1969 Lance was put into the care of his own family which, until that time, he did not know existed. The case study explores how Lance's Garden Point experiences may have affected his life. Lance lived and worked in Darwin and the Northern Territory's Top End all his life. He survived Cyclone Tracy and enjoyed life in Darwin through the 1970s and 80s. He has created his own family and over time he reconnected with his traditional homelands in the Daly River area. Later in his work life he was employed as a house parent at Kormilda College, an Aboriginal boarding school in Darwin, drawing on his own experiences at Garden Point to support the boarders. In his own words Lance has 'taken life as it comes.' It has not always been an easy journey. His early life at Garden Point Mission has left a dark lifelong legacy that cannot be forgotten or forgiven. Lance tells his own story convinced that 'You got to tellem right story'.
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