yarrabah

Education at the Mission The mission was declared an Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act in 1865 English was the only language of instruction and all links with the children's culture were deliberately broken Children slept and learned on concrete floors and often harsh discipline Education was only 2 hours a day but often came 2nd to work The education levels were low They didn't really aim for much to come out of the education except for the Aboriginals learning white ways Sometimes if there were brighter Aboriginals they would teach them more so that they could become teachers and end up teaching at the mission when they were older Education standards were purposely low so that more attention was on obedience, discipline, work, and routine Children would go to school to be taught how to fit in with the rest of society For adults, there was limited education- often just teaching them how to read and write so that they could become servants Source: yarrabahlife.weebly.com/yarrabah-mission.html

The I Do! Wedding Stories from Queensland exhibition at the Queensland Museum is featuring never heard before stories from Djunngaal Elders and Yarrabah community members. The exhibition features a mission style basket and commissioned wedding dress designed in partnership with Djunngaal Elders, Gunggandji descendantand Yarrabah artist Simone Arnol and Cape York Peninsula, Umpila, Djabuguy, Yirrganydji man, Bernard Singleton. With strong roots in Yarrabah and over 20 years working in Indigenous law and Native Title, Arnol has been part of the arts and fashion industry for five years. "I use strong connection to family and Country as a foundation to all my works, always keeping it grassroots while respecting the Elders, our keepers of knowledge," Arnol told NIT. She said what started out as an artistic commission of, "a perspective of Indigenous weddings for a traditional wedding ceremony" soon turned into a 12-month long process of storytelling the Yarrabah Elders narrative. "Soon into consultation with the Elders of Yarrabah we found that there was a more important story to be re-told," Arnol said. The story in question would instead shed light into the dark history of prior policies of forced protection and assimilation and how this affected cultural traditions and lore. "The girls and boys when they fell in loveâ€"they couldn't come out of the dorm in the yard to be with their boyfriend or husband ... they had to stay behind the fence," Granny Hope said. "The girls were inside the fence, [while] the boys were outside the fence." In many cases mob weren't afforded the privilege of marrying someone they loved, however this wasn't the only restriction they faced. "This impacted harshly on them as it included separate education for Aboriginal children, town curfews, alcohol bans, no social security, lower wages, State guardianship of all Aboriginal children," Arnol said. "Laws that segregated Indigenous people into separate living areas, mainly on missions, special reserves outside towns or in remote areas." That's why when first asked to do the commission, Arnol was quick to establish the true purpose. "Everything we do is a voice for our Elders ... It is not going to be a pretty dress." Source: nit.com.au/09-11-2020/1512/aboriginal-designed-wedding-dr...

Music and dance are important to Aboriginal culture. They are used as part of everyday life and to mark special occasions. Songlines tell stories of the Creation and Dreamtime as Aboriginals made their journeys across the desert, while other sacred music is used in ceremonies. By singing the songs in the appropriate order indigenous Australians could navigate vast distances in the hostile desert environment. Source: developmenteducation.ie/feature/a-focus-on-aboriginal-aus...