Reconciliation Week 2019 Morning tea at the Maritime Museum
A report by student social worker Amaleed Al-Maliki
Fremantle Maritime Museum hosted a very successful morning tea on 30 May, as part of Reconciliation Week 2019. Representing Tuart Place at this event were social worker Jan Newman, volunteer social worker Yoyo, and me.
The Reconciliation Week morning tea featured two very interesting speakers – Justin Martin from Djurandi Dreaming (a tour guiding and Aboriginal art company), and fifth-generation West Australian Mike Lefroy. Both speakers told stories about the sand/ limestone bar in Fremantle that used to cross the mouth of the river, adjacent to where the Museum stands today. Their stories were told from two very different perspectives. Justin spoke about the importance of limestone to the Whadjuk people, as a collector of fresh water and food, and also told a Dreamtime story about how the Southern Cross was formed. Mike spoke about the sand/limestone bar in the context of his engineering ancestors – unlike the Aboriginal people, they wanted to change the landscape and his great-grandfather, engineer C.Y. O’Connor, blasted the limestone bar to make Fremantle harbour. Mike spoke movingly about his greatgrandfather’s achievements, as well as his mental health struggles and tragic death. The two stories were wonderful to hear from these very talented speakers and certainly captured the spirit of Reconciliation Week. At the Maritime Museum morning tea (L-R) Amaleed, Mike Lefroy, Justin Martin, Jan and Yoyo.
Salute to service of Aboriginal veterans The military service of Aboriginal people was remembered on 29 May 2019, at the 12th State War Memorial service in Kings Park. Services commemorating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans, from the Boer War to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iran, took place across Australia as part of Reconciliation Week. About 500 Aboriginal people enlisted in World War I and about 3000 in World War II. Others joined up for the subsequent Korea and Vietnam conflicts, peacetime service and more recently many Aboriginal soldiers served in Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. Yamaji man and Korean War veteran Len Ogilvie (91) of Innaloo, signed up after a run-in with a policeman in Mount Magnet before the 1950-1953 war on the Korean Peninsula. “Before I joined the army, as an Aboriginal man you had no rights. In any town you went to, the police would want to know who you were,” he said. Having experienced basic ‘equality’ in the army, when Len returned home after seven years of service he noticed some change in social attitudes. “They’d say you have done a good job; that you’d fought for your country,” he said. 6
As a child, Len lived at Moore River Mission (later known as Mogumber). Its always a pleasure to see Len and his wife Jean when they visit Tuart Place.
Len & Jean Ogilvie at the Memorial Service
