MEDIA RELEASE
For Release: 23 November 2007

TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS – BEING PART OF THE STOLEN GENERATION

In the midst of the Federal election debate on Indigenous welfare, Mary Terszak, a fair-skinned Aboriginal woman who has constantly struggled with self-identity, has released her compelling book Orphaned by the Colour of My Skin – a Stolen Generation Story (eContent, 2008). The book provides an auto-ethnographic portrait of Terszak’s experience as an institutionalised child of the Stolen Generation, its impact on her life, mental health, identity and well being.

Terszak uses the journal she wrote to tell the story about her life, and to critically analyse and evaluate the effects institutionalisation had on her personal development as a daughter, mother, grandmother, friend and member of society. These experiences formed the basis of her thesis in a Masters Degree in Indigenous Research and Development.

Mary Terszak – who is now 65 years old – said “I needed to find some sanity and the opportunity arose through study when I was given free rein to complete my thesis. I only hope that one day the book may be implemented as part of a university syllabus so students can get insight into what happened and see that it’s not made up – I’m here and I lived it”.

In 1936 the Native Administration Act was passed, naming the Commissioner of Native Affairs legal guardian of all Aboriginal children. As a result, at the age of two Terszak was removed from her mother despite authorities citing that mother and daughter were well bonded and ‘the latter was well looked after’. Terszak spent the next 18 years of her life at Sister Kate’s Children’s Home (SKCH) in Western Australia, where she struggled with aggression, self image, depression and loss of identity issues. Terszak said “I tried to live in two different worlds – white and black. Because the 1936 Act and corresponding assimilation policy told me I was white, the person I was meant to be, I wasn’t allowed to be. Problem is that I didn’t fit in the ‘white’ category either”.

“This is a timely and topical issue as intervention policies are currently being implemented on Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory. Orphaned by the Colour of My Skin is a raw account told from the heart that enlightens readers of the long-lasting personal impact that government policies can have on the lives of human beings, their families and communities,” said James Davidson, Publishing Director, eContent Management.

“Mary Terszak’s auto-ethnographical approach to her story is both truly unique and insightful for all members of the community as it enables people to begin to understand the reality of the often abstract concept of institutionalisation – in particular its impact on Indigenous people. This book can be used as a tool for learning cultural understanding, acknowledgement and inspiration.”

Amongst eContent Management’s Indigenous titles is Advances in Indigenous Health Care, an issue of the Contemporary Nurse journal, which highlights the challenges of delivering culturally competent health care to Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and North America.

Orphaned by the Colour of My Skin (ISBN 978-1-921348-08-2) is available for purchase now from www.e-contentmanagement.com or by calling 07 5435 2900. RRP is $33.00 (incl GST).

Advances in Indigenous Health Care (ISBN 978-0-9750436-9-1) is available for purchase from www.e-contentmanagement.com or by calling 07 5435 2900. RRP is $66.00 (incl GST).

About the Author Mary Terszak is a Nyoongah woman from the South of Western Australia, who was taken away from her mother and institutionalized at Sister Kate’s Children’s Home from the age of two to 20. She completed her Master of Arts in Indigenous Research and Development in 2006, and is currently proceeding with her Doctorate of Philosophy in Indigenous Research and Development at the Curtin University. Mary also works as an Aboriginal mentor at a public school in Newcastle NSW, and is a devoted mother and grandmother.

Media enquiries/ review copies of Orphaned by the Colour of My Skin:

PINQUE 02 9360 6166 Melissa Wilson 0421 473 211 mw@pinque.com.au

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EXTRACTS FROM MY JOURNAL

Having fair skin
Throughout a dreadful childhood and relationship I have gained the most precious gifts of all, a beautiful daughter and son. There is also an added bonus and that is my son-in-law and two little grannies. This is what I am grateful for.

‘Grateful' was a word that annoyed me right the way through my childhood and I vowed, ‘I don't need to hear it again.' But I have to use it to justify how I feel today. I don't ever want to forget that it was my two children who became my anchors in times of sadness, suicidal tendencies, rejection and identity crisis. That is why it is fundamental that I don't get myself absolutely lost in the emotions of my losses. I cannot go backwards because it is too hard. My most treasured memories are of gaining this, my ‘first family', as we have each other ‘through thick and thin.'

We are all born into this world as innocent babies. The decisions that are prepared for us can transform our whole lives, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. However, we can only live the life that has been given to us and make the most of it. The choice that was made for me may not have been the best but that is something I will never really know.

I have lived my life with shame, anger, low self-esteem and no confidence. But the worst of all has been living my life without knowing who I really am. This is something that most people know. You may ask why I don't? I am a fair-skinned Aboriginal person who happened to be born at a time when the governments determined it was best for me to be removed from my parents, and my culture. And I was brainwashed into believing I was an orphan.

I haven't had a lot of socialising at all with Aboriginal people, as I feel they are not the same as me in their way of thinking. I believe some think I am a ‘coconut,' which means you are dark on the outside and white on the inside. Another reason has been my denial and identity crisis: I cannot openly say, ‘Yes, I am an Aboriginal person.' Throughout my childhood, my upbringing in a white society taught me to have this type of attitude as a fairer child, regardless of my Aboriginality. This was the English teaching that was introduced to enable fair-skinned Aboriginal people to forget their identity and forget about their own families. It doesn't mean that we classify ourselves as being any different; it's what we were taught to believe as children. Now when anyone asks me where I come from, I just say ‘Australia,' and leave it at that.

In 1905 an Act was passed to make provision for the better protection and care of the Aboriginal inhabitants of Western Australia. Later in 1936 another Act was passed in which Mr AO Neville, the Chief Protector of Aborigines, was made the legal guardian of all Aboriginal children. This Act has affected my life, because I was born in 1942.

Breeding out

Mr AO Neville was obsessed with the ‘breeding out' of half-caste Aboriginal children. His basic idea was to encourage women with lighter skin colour to co-habit with nearby white men. Eventually this would eliminate any traces of Aboriginality. In order to do this he had to strictly control the lives and marriages of fair-skinned young women, so his policy was to segregate them from childhood from the influences of parents and culture.

Under this Act I was institutionalised for eighteen years. I entered Sister Kate's Children's Home (SKCH) at the age of two and left when I was twenty. The memories of my childhood are empty, with stubborn scars embossed in my heart that cannot be erased. Institutionalisation experiences can be traumatic for most children, irrespective of what colour they are. However for fair-skinned Aboriginal people, their identity, culture and family unity are stripped from them as they are prevented from associating with darker-skinned people.

Whilst living in the Home we were informed that we had no parents: ‘That is the reason why you are here in the Orphanage.' We were also told we must be ‘grateful' that we had ‘someone to care for us' there. I'm not too sure what they meant about ‘caring', but I certainly don't recall being cared for. To be forthright I think we were subjected to abuse, mental trauma and rejection in all ways, so this is the form of caring we were given. They said this was being done ‘in the best interest of the child,' that it was important that the children were raised according to white Australian standards. Did anyone bother to ask us in later life whether this was the best policy? Absolutely not. Children who were taken forcibly by the Government were herded like cattle. The segregation of quarter caste, half caste and full blood was determined by the Government's own interpretation of Aboriginality and who was an Aboriginal child.

However, how does one deal with these sorts of memories and the emotions they bring up? You can't reason with this kind of behaviour and it definitely leaves you wondering how you cope without living in denial. Sometimes, the hate inside is unbearable, as you think, ‘Why couldn't I be like any other person?' I asked another girl from the Home once, ‘Why did God make us this way and why is it that life seems to be so hard?' Her answer was, ‘God knew you could handle this situation and that is the reason why you are the person you are today. There are only certain people who have the strength to survive what you have gone through.'

Now I don't really know if this is supposed to make me feel good or what?

Beginning the journey

Although we cannot change things that have happened, a journey of healing had to take place. This did not happen for me until I was 47 years old. It is an ongoing struggle of unearthing information, which through the years has taken its toll in many different ways.

My first step was in 1988 when I decided to search for my government papers, which I received from Community Services in Western Australia. This was the most unexplainable feeling, to see such documents written about me and my life as a two year old, and to know that I was the subject of that policy of separating pale-skinned children from their parents. Until then I had been unaware of all the things that went on in those years.

Through my Government Papers, I was able to find out where I was born and where I lived for the first two years of my life. The papers also gave me an insight into the type of person I was.
People, whether non-Aboriginal or Aboriginal, who have been raised with family and living with their own culture have a sound knowledge of their past and present situations. For most Aboriginal people who have been denied this experience, it generally means taking a trip to the library in search of what are known as ‘Government Papers.' This is where I discovered things about myself..

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