Read Remembered By Heart: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing for Free Online Page A

did I tell you this?’ Well of course she couldn’t answer, so Ruby lifted her too.
    Then the girl who had told us to let off fighting butted in and it was a free-for-all. It ended up us telling them that if they wanted to find anything to make a fight over, they’d better make sure they knew what they were talking about. See Ruby was a Nor’wester — she came from Carnarvon — and all us North people stuck up for each other. It was that kind of a place, you just had to stick up for one another.
    The North and the South would have many a fight you know, they were terrible. They’d fight rather than have a feed — just like the Irish and the English. The two sides were a very strong thing. Northies were anyone from Carnarvon up. See, someone would make up a story that wasn’t even worth talking about and it’d spread and spread, until it was way out. Then that would be passed around and, before long, there’d be a fight over it.
    One thing I was lucky about at Moore River was I never got a beating. Lots of girls got a thrashing but I never did.They used to take them down to the storeroom and the superintendent would belt them until they weed all over the floor. They never spared them, and in the afternoons I’d have to go down with a mop and mop it up.
    So for those that got punished, the punishment was harsh. If girls ran away they’d send the trackers after them and they’d be brought back and their hair would be cut off, then they’d do time in the boob.
    At the sewing room we used to make clothes for Forrest River Mission, and for Moore River as well. They never had to buy clothing for us, we made it all. It was terrible material too. But if you were a good worker, at Christmas they’d give you a piece of good material and you could make yourself a frock. Me and another girl, Dorothy Nannup, were really favoured — we used to get a piece and we’d make ourselves something nice to wear.
    One morning me and Dorothy stepped outside to get into line for church and all these boys looked across and wolf-whistled and shouted. We had our new dresses on and they reckoned I was a butterfly and goodness knows what else. My dress was a plain one, but Dorothy, she made a flarey, flouncey one. When she’d spin around it would twirl out. Mine was more of a plain Jane sort of thing, but still, I made a good job of it.
    Although there were awful things that went on at the settlement, and once you were there you were there until it suited them, good things used to happen too. I used toreally enjoy going to church, and I loved swimming down at the river. Another one of the things I liked was going to the dances they held once a fortnight. The compound would have our dance on a Wednesday night, and the campies would have theirs on the Saturday.
    Everybody looked forward to these dances. We’d wear the dresses we made, and get electric wires and do one another’s hair. Olive Harris was a good friend of mine and we used to go off to Nanna Leyland’s, or down to old Aunty Pat Rowe’s, and sit by the fire warming up our electric wires. When the wire gets hot enough you curl your hair around it and you end up with ringlets or lots of curls. Matron used to give us some hair clips, and we’d all get dressed up for the dance.
    These old fellas from New Norcia — Charlie Bullfrog and Ben Jedda — used to come over. Old Charlie played the piano accordion and Ben played the violin. Oh, Ben was beautiful, he used to make that violin talk, and we’d all just get stuck into it. We used to love square dancing too you know. Four here, two over there and two there, and you promenade, and do this that and the other. Oh, it was beautiful. We enjoyed it so much we’d be saying, ‘Oohh, come on Wednesday night.’
    Abridged from
When the Pelican Laughed

Alice Nannup, Lauren Marsh and Stephen Kinnane, 1992.

Hazel Brown
GROWING UP AROUND