The Stolen Generation

Cootamundra Girls Home

I slept in a small room which was locked from the outside and I shared with up to ten other girls at a time. We were woken up at around five each morning and then at breakfast in the hall, we were given a single piece of bread with nothing on it. We began working not long after that. We would work for at least eight hours at a time with no breaks. At night we stayed up and talked about our families and how much we miss them, we talk about our old lives and our old traditions. We had to talk quietly to make sure we wouldn't be heard by the English people. If we were, we would be taken into the hall and we were beaten.  We were given hardly any food and were often very sick. I remember when my grandma use to tell me the story about when these people came here, she would say "Our ancestors watched the big ships sail into our harbour, the people were as white as ghosts and greeted us with weird animals, diseases and punishments. They killed our animals and stole our land from us.". Now I understood her hatred.

The place was cold and lonely, the only spot I liked was the old well in the front yard. Sometimes when we were not training, I sat on the well facing the driveway for hours on end, waiting for my parents to come, but they never did. I would imagine that the well was a wishing well and that I could wish for anything my heart desired. I wished to go home.