Related stories: Man with a business plan
New signs installed at the site of the Northam Aboriginal Reserve hope to tell the story of the culturally significant site on the banks of the Avon River.
For the past two years, Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management has co-ordinated a project to clean-up the reserve on Katrine Road and record the historical events that occurred at the site when it was in operation from 1946 to 1978.
The maintenance work has included the removing weeds and rubbish and planting over 300 native trees. But more importantly, the project has brought families together who lived on the reserve, and has allowed them to share their stories and contribute to the project.
I remember my sister Teresa being taken at 10-years-of-age by the police to a girls’ school in Perth
- Yvonne Kickett
The organisation hosted a barbecue and invited local families to attend the event to identify all of the families who have lived at the reserve. An organisation spokesperson said at least 30 families had travelled back to Northam to attend the event.
Ruth Hayden, who lived on the reserve in the 1930s, said she remembered how women would meet at the birthing site with their midwife under a fig tree. The tree is featured on the new signage at the site.
“I remember living in a tin house eating djilgies (crayfish) and turtles from the river,” Ms Hayden said. “The good part was we all lived together on the reserve, which kept our families close.”
Dawn Ugle who lived on the reserve in the 1960s, said her mother was one of the last born at the birthing site in 1938.
“The way my mother used to talk about the site inspired me to help tell this story,” Dawn Ugle said. “She always wanted the site to be remembered as an important part of our history.”
Yvonne Kickett who grew up on the reserve in the 1950s, said the new signage would recognise the history of the Northam Reserve and its importance in the community.
“The story of the reserve needs to be told, both the good and the bad,” Yvonne Kickett said. “We used to run and hide down by the river whenever the police arrived, because we were scared and didn’t want to be taken away.
“I remember my sister Teresa being taken at 10-years-of-age by the police to a girls’ school in Perth.”
Wheatbelt NRM project officer Michelle Winmar has been working with the wider Nyoongar community to install further signage that includes all the family names that have lived on the reserve and to install a fig tree sculpture.
