FROM THE ARCHIVES | CAN.ORG
2 min
Home is Where the Heart is
Aunty Irene McNamara
A proud Yamatji-Mirrning woman, Aunty Irene McNamara says she was born in Carnarvon, but raised everywhere.
In 1940 her grandmother and eight of her aunties and uncles were put on a boat and sent from Carnarvon to Fremantle. From there, they were taken to Moore River Native Settlement.
"Mum and my aunty were expecting, so when Mum had me, she followed her family down as well and so we went to Moore River."
Aunty Irene says her early childhood was spent surrounded by her loving family.
But once she reached school age, everything changed. Aunty Irene was taken from her family and put into care at the settlement.
"All the girls used to be locked up in a big dormitory and all the women were kept on another side, so we used to have peepholes where we could see our mothers.
"You'd look through the peephole at night and you'd be crying for your mother."
They were locked inside the dorm every night. So close to their mothers, but yet so far.
"I never did get to know why they did that."
When Moore River Settlement closed down in 1949, Aunty Irene and all the other Catholic girls were bundled into trucks and sent to Wandering, St Francis Xavier Mission Farm.
"My aunties and I used to go home every Christmas to my mum, dad and grandmother. After three years, one Christmas we said we didn't want to go back. Mum and Dad said that's okay, you don't have to."
Her parents fought the Native Welfare Department and won. Aunty Irene came home again.
"My best memories come from at Moora Reserve because everyone looked after the kids. No one came to Moora Reserve to take kids away. It was good because everyone helped look after each other."
Her fondest memories are of the dances.
"It's funny, Moora Reserve used to be an army base and there were all cement places [pads] around. So the first people built their houses on the cements, but they left one big one in the middle that had a big chimney and that was our dance floor."
"So, we had dances there. Everyone played an instrument and we used to do cups of tea and sandwiches to sell. Our camp had this window where you'd lift it up and put a stick in and people would come there and get a cup of tea and sandwich."
Her love of dancing is something she still shares with her husband of 60 years, Albert. They met in Perth as teenagers and were regulars at dance halls. While they never crossed paths there, they both have fond memories of the famous, Aboriginal-run Coolbaroo Club.
They might be a little bit older but you'll still find them on the dancefloor at every NAIDOC ball.
Written by Michelle White
Produced by Community Arts Network during the Ngaluk Waangkiny project.
can.org.au/ngaluk-waangkiny
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