1901

Joseph Wandin, a Wurundjeri man

In 1901, Joseph Wandin, a Wurundjeri man from Coranderrk, passed his examination and was appointed to the West Brunswick State School as a pupil teacher. The Board for the Protection of Aborigines awarded him an allowance because "A letter from School Inspector W. Gamble was considered asking if the Board would assist the boy Joseph Wandin, half caste from Coranderrk, who as a pupil could be appointed to Brunswick State School, but whose salary at present would not be enough to keep him with board and lodging."

In 1902, the Report to the Board stated: "The half-caste boy (Joseph Wandin) mentioned in my last years report is still getting on satisfactorily, as a pupil teacher, in one of the State Schools under the Education Department". In 1908, the Report to the Board stated that: "…Joseph (Wandin) is the state schoolmaster at Mordialloc, and is a credit to the (Coranderrk) station." (My Heart is Breaking)

1903

Aunty Hazel Day

"My mother, Hazel Day was born in 1903. She went to school at Cummeragunga mission until grade 3 because that was the education for Koories back then. My mother could read and write. Mum got married and lived on Cummeragunga until 1939 when they had the Walkoff. After that she moved to the Riverbank flats near Mooroopna. I was born in 1934 and was reared on Cummeragunga until 1939. I lived with my grandparents who kept going back to Cummera. They travelled everywhere. When I went to school, I was put in a special grade because Koorie kids and poor white kids were put in the special grade. When Koorie kids went to Kindergarten, only two were allowed there each year. I left school when I was 13 and got a job in Mooroopna Hospital for 12 months. I then went back to Cummera and worked for the Manager for rations. When I was 15, I went to Melbourne and worked. I often went to Echuca. I did a lot of seasonal work then because that was the only way Koories could get a job. I went to Yanco to work and got married to my husband. We moved back to Echuca and settled there." (Aunty Melva Johnson, 2001).

1912

Pastor Doug Nicholls

Pastor Doug Nicholls was a, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wotjoboluk, and Yupagalk man. He was very influential in the sAboriginal movement in Victoria. He was born at Cummeragunga in 1906. "When Doug started attending the Cummeroogunga school, there were more than a hundred pupils. They spilled out of the school room on to the veranda. But the Department of Education had now laid down that third-grade standard-equalling that of the white eight-year-olds-was high enough for such Aboriginal schools. Grandpa James, getting older, went as far beyond this standard as numbers, space and time would allow…..The Government did not make attendance at school compulsory, but Grandpa James did." (Mavis Thorpe Clarke:1956:35)

1914

Aunty 'Lulla' Bamblett

Aunty 'Lulla' (Esmerelda) Bamblett was a Moira woman from Cummeragunga. "My mother, 'Lulla Bamblett' was born in 1914 at Cummeragunga mission. In those days, the schooling was only until grade 3. My mother couldn't read or write until after she was married because her family travelled around a lot. Mum taught herself to read and to write her name after she got married. I went to school until year 7 when I left school because mum and dad had 14 children, and my father was a shearer and depended on seasonal work. I got a job to help them out with the younger children. In those days, it was an achievement for Koories to get through school until year 7.

Despite her lack of education, my mother would speak up for our people. In 1964, mum was a part of a delegation including Pastor Doug Nicholls, Valda McGee, Violet Harrison, Alick Jackomos and Geraldine Briggs who went to the Minister of Housing and Aboriginal Affairs to lobby for the rights of the people living on the Rumbalara Aboriginal Reserve in Mooroopna. As a result of this deputation, the Government eventually moved the people into Housing Commission homes in Mooroopna and Shepparton." (Aunty Merle Bamblett, 2001).

1922

Aunty Flo Brabham

"My mother, Flo Brabham, was born at Lake Boga in 1922. She went to grade 7 at Tresco Primary School. It was a bush school and there was only one other Aboriginal student at the school. In 1978, mum was a member of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Consultative Group as a representative from Mildura. Despite her lack of formal education in her early years, Mum went back to study as a mature age student at Deakin University in 1995 and obtained a Graduate Certificate in Natural Cultural Heritage. Mum has passed down her belief in education and today, five of her daughters are qualified teachers: Beth Griffin – Diploma of Teaching (Primary) and Bachelor of Education, Trudy Bell – Diploma of Teaching (Primary), Jennifer Brabham – Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Teaching, Vicki Shriever- Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Education, and, me - Diploma of Teaching (Primary)." (Wendy Brabham, 2001).

1932

Australian Aborigines League

William Cooper founded the Australian Aborigines League in 1932. Other members included Shadrach James, Kaleb Morgan, Pastor Doug Nicholls and Eric and William Onus. It was the first Aboriginal organisation with all Aboriginal members. The aims of the League were to gain the human and civil rights for Aboriginal people that they were being denied. This organisation was the forerunner of the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League that was formed in 1957.

1938

National Day of Mourning

On Australia Day, 1938, a National Day of Mourning was held in Sydney during an Aboriginal conference to which only Aboriginal people were invited. The Day was organised by two community leaders, William Cooper of the Aborigines Advancement League and Jack Patten from the Aborigines Progressive Association. The day came about because "William was a man of thought and action. Each January when he saw the white Australians celebrating 'Australia Day' …his heart was bitter. "For us it is a Day of Mourning…This is the day we lost our land, lost our spirit culture, lost our language-..Today we have no land. No rights." (The Boy from Cumeroogunga. Page 104)

The Manifesto "Aborigines Claim Citizen Rights" stated that: "the principle behind the Protection Act is the same in all states. Under these Acts, the Aborigines are regarded as outcasts and as inferior beings who need to be supervised in their private lives by Government officials. No one could deny that there is scope for the white people of Australia to extend sympathetic or real, protection and education…But what can be said for a system which regards these people as incurably "backwards" and does everything in its power to keep them backward?" This Day of Mourning led to the establishment of the National Aboriginal & Islander Day Observance Committee, to get the government to gazette a public holiday as a National Day of Observance for Aboriginal people. Over the years, this Committee has achieved the celebration of NAIDOC week in schools throughout Australia. This celebration continues today and is an important part of school calendars. It gives Aboriginal community members the opportunity to showcase Aboriginal culture to the whole of the school community as well as the wider community, and it gives the wider community an opportunity to recognise Aboriginal achievements."