FROM THE ARCHIVES | CAN.ORG
2 min
Not Black. Not White. Not Wanted.
Uncle Walter Eatts
There's a reason Uncle Walter Eatts chose this as the title for the first book he authored – it sums up a big part of his life.
The product of a mother from the Stolen Generations and a father who was white, Uncle Walter was well into adulthood before he came to know and appreciate his Aboriginal heritage.
"Mum couldn't teach me any culture because that was stripped from her by the nuns and the priests. No language. No land. No people. Mum would never talk about her people. When we'd ask questions, she'd just clam up."
Uncle Walter's parents met and fell in love at Beagle Bay Mission in the Kimberley.
"Mum couldn't put enough dust between herself and the priests and nuns at Beagle Bay."
The family moved east, settling in Queensland. Uncle Walter spent many years working on stations, breaking horses, droving and fighting in boxing tents. It was only later in life that he returned to Western Australia.
"I had no identity, no culture."
But then he met Doolann Leisha Garlett – a strong, Whadjuk Ballardong yorga, whose cultural strength and knowledge inspired Uncle Walter to dig into his own family history and piece together the missing parts of his life.
"No one can ever say in 55 years that I ever took a step in front of her. I've always been a step behind her because my love and respect for her was that strong that I'd never break a protocol of her being the Elder."
Although he spent many years lost in an identity wilderness, his 55-year marriage to Leisha led him back to his culture and his place as a respected Elder in Boorloo/Perth.
"When Leisha brought all that back to me, the things that I had lost, or never ever had, like my identity and all that, I was able to live a constructive life."
It may have taken Uncle Walter all those years to find his voice, but since he has, he's used it to fight for Aboriginal rights. He has authored seven truth-telling books, all self-published.
He recently completed his eighth and final book, Doolann: A True Legend. A tribute to his beloved wife.
Uncle Walter Eatts is proud to call himself a poet, an author, storyteller and a songwriter. But most importantly of all, an Aboriginal Elder.
Written by Michelle White
Produced by Community Arts Network during the Ngaluk Waangkiny project.
can.org.au/ngaluk-waangkiny
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