The role of the Catholic missionaries at Beagle Bay in the removal of Aboriginal children from their families in the Kimberley region from the 1890s

Abstract

This paper is an edited version of the submission which I made to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's (HREOC) Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their families. In particular it addressed Term of Reference (a): 'Trace the past laws, practices and policies which resulted in the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their families by compulsion, duress or unique influence, and the effects of those laws, practices and policies'. I drew on the research I had undertaken for a doctoral thesis: 'Aboriginal Women on Catholic Missions in the Kimberley, Western Australia, 1900-1950', University of Western Australia. In addition to this written submission I made a verbal submission at the HREOC hearing in Broome among the descendants of the children who had originally been removed to Beagle Bay Mission. My submission and the contents of my PhD thesis were made available to the Broome Aboriginal community as a contribution to their own preparation the Inquiry. This was a practical way in which the historical research could be used by the Broome community for their own purposes.