hopevale

Looking very much unstable

" Indigenous knowledge and manipulation of plants is neither simple nor pre-agricultural, and can only be understood by detailed study of the particular cultural and biological systems within which they operate. These patterns can be extremely dynamic and can affect both people, and the environment through occupational continuity. Most importantly, some plant communities may have been not merely modified by Created by Aboriginal cultural activity. Aboriginal interaction with plants are the outcome of strategies that include not only physical resource exploitation but as well systems of locality and territoriality that recognize ties between particular individuals and groups and particular home environments." Source: Plants, Sites and Domiculture: Aboriginal Influence upon Plant Communities in Cape York Peninsula R. A. Hynes and A. K. Chase, 1982 www.jstor.org/stable/40386578

Every photo is a real treasure of hidden knowledge. If it was not for this photo I would never discover the painful sides of the life of Australia's First Nations. History shapes us into who we are today.

According to an Honours thesis by Therese Forde (1990), Army Intelligence regarded the Lutheran Superintendent (George Schwartz, who was of German descent) at Hope Vale with suspicion, and he was taken into internment on 17 May 1942. Forde writes that when the army came to Hope Vale the mission itself was levelled: 'crops of maize, sweet potatoes and fruit were flattened, and the R.A.A.F. built an aerodrome and runway on the site' (p.41) Forde writes that while some elderly people were sent to Palm Island from Hope Vale, the majority were taken to Woorabinda in an arduous journey 'by steamer, train and cattle truck'. A Queensland Government website states that 60 of the Cape Bedford people died while at Woorabinda. The high death rate amongst the Cape Bedford people was partly attributable to inadequate housing and medical care at Woorabinda. The residents from Hope Vale were not equipped with clothing, blankets or bedding that was appropriate for winter conditions in southern Queensland. Forde writes that many people died from pneumonia shortly after their removal from Hope Vale. Source: www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/qld/QE00829