The Secret Life of an Aborigine Memoirs of Shane Coghill, Goenpul Man Quandamooka Stories As Heritage
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The Secret Life of An Aborigine Memoirs of Shane Coghill, Goenpul Man: Quandamooka Stories as Heritage Author Coghill, Shane Published 2013 Thesis Type Thesis (Masters) School School of Humanities DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1024 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365233 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au The Secret Life of An Aborigine Memoirs of Shane Coghill, Goenpul Man Quandamooka Stories as Heritage Shane Coghill, Goenpul, BA (Anthropology & Archaeology) submitted in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy to the School of Humanities, Arts, Education and Law Group December, 2010 Statement of Originality This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. It is my knowledge and belief that this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. ____________________________ Shane Coghill, 2011 Acknowledgements The majority of the research for this thesis would never have begun let alone be completed without the invaluable help of the old people who gave me the intestinal fortitude to carry on when the going got tough. I acknowledge the contributions they have made during my life, and continue to make. I mention them by name throughout this thesis. Special people I wish to thank individually are: Glenda Nalder, Jonathan Richards, Denise Coghill, Steven Coghill, Brian Coghill, Russell Coghill, Liisa Coghill, Michael & Dee Fitzgerald, Chris Hubbert, Christine Andrews, Annie Ross, Aunty Thelma Campbell, Uncle Cliff Campbell, John Campbell, Uncle Keith Borey, Elizabeth Davies, Elizabeth Nunn, Janice Mitchell, Lee Butterworth, Jill Jones, Kerry Schodel, Tracey Michel- Innocend, Paul Turnbull, Rune (Stephen Rooney), Lyndon Murphy, Dale Kerwin, Rebecca Ward, Briony, Susan Forde, Lee and Sheryl Thompson, Natalie Parish, Conrad Macrocarnis, Michael Meadows, Brad Pimm, Graham Cox, and Mick Petter. Organisations: Yuggera (Thompson Family) Traditional Owner Association, Mookin Bibonmari, Goenpul (Dandrabin) Traditional Owner Association, Wangerriburra Tradition Owner Association, Ngugi Traditional Owner Association, Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordination Committee. ii Abstract: Stories told to us by our family members, and stories that we tell inside and beyond our families not only become ‘our heritage’, but are integral to our sense of self. As ‘Aborigines’ (Indigenous, or First Nation peoples) our stories also become a form of resistance to the taking on of identities based on stories told about us by writers (historians, anthropologists, journalists) from cultures other than our own. The argument of this thesis is that strategies of colonisation – oppression, domination, and genocide – that were and still are perpetrated against Aborigines result in the living out of ‘secret’ lives. This is how we have survived and how our ancient culture has endured. My thesis encompasses the secret life of a Goenpul man in modern Queensland. It is based on my experiences of living and interacting in two worlds - one brutally harsh and public and the other secret and loving. The way that I tell stories in this thesis is in ‘memoir’ form, which is related to the autobiographic genre of the Western literary tradition. Unlike the autobiography, the memoir does not seek to encompass the lifespan of its author, nor does it seek to communicate his or her personality. The memoir is a form of writing often used by people in public life, but these are mostly considered to be self-serving, and do not stand as record until thoroughly critiqued by an ‘expert’ from the field of political and/or social science. Some see the memoir as a ‘mongrel’ form (Hampel, interviewed by Wexler, 1996) somewhere half way between fact and fiction. Whereas the autobiographical genre (provided that it is accompanied by or embedded within an appropriately researched social, cultural and historical context) is gaining acceptance within the Western academy as a legitimate research methodology known as ‘auto-ethnography’ (Sparkes, 2002), this is not the case with the ‘memoir’ form that I have chosen as my ‘methodology’. So as to gain acceptance for the results of my study, my stories are accompanied by selected contextual explanations about phenomena that have been written by Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars in the Western academic tradition. I also refer to writings about Aborigines in journalistic or other generic styles that have been ‘authorised’ by their inclusion as evidence in scholarly works by experts. iii In defense of my chosen story-telling style, I argue that the memoir is an appropriate approach because my Master’s study is not just about what happened, but also about why I remember what happened. Warning This thesis includes references to Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander people and Elders to have passed on. It contains content that some readers may find distressing and/or disturbing. It includes racist and coarse language. If anyone finds my writing offensive or disrespectful this is not its intention. iv CONTENTS Page no. Chapter One: Introduction............................................................................................1 1.1 Aims ...........................................................................................................................2 1.2 Memoirs - structure and purpose........................................................................2 1.3 Thesis argument ......................................................................................................6 1.4 Methodological issues – memoir as method ..................................................15 1.5 Justification of sources and literature referred to in this thesis.................18 1.6 Thesis overview ....................................................................................................26 Chapter Two: My first realisations.........................................................................28 2.1 The genesis of Stradbroke Island? .....................................................................28 2.2 ‘Creation’ stories ..................................................................................................29 2.3 Boundary keeping .................................................................................................29 2.4 Secrecy and survival .............................................................................................30 Chapter Three: My philosophical position........................................................36 3.1 Storylines to country ...........................................................................................37 3.2 Inter-connectedness ............................................................................................39 3.3 The role of Elders ................................................................................................39 3.4 Family Elders .........................................................................................................40 3.4.1 Granny Janey Sunflower ....................................................................40 3.4.2 Uncle Jimmy Newfong 3.4.3 Uncle Charlie Moreton 3.4.4 Uncle Leon Jones 3.4.5 Grampy (Alfred) Moreton 3.5 Accountability and respect .................................................................................43 3.6 The Elders – our ‘Unsung Heroes’ ...................................................................45 3.6.1 Aunty Beryl Wharton and Bobby McLeod ....................................46 3.7 Two worlds ............................................................................................................48 3.8 Historians’ work on accumulated and documented historical evidence .52 3.8.1 Accountability........................................................................................53 3.8.2 The Elders, and how our stories talk of Creation and discovery ....................................................................................53 v 3.8.3 Genealogies ..........................................................................................53 Chapter Four: Transition into white society and the downward spiral............................................................................................................................................54 4.1 Assimilation? ...........................................................................................................54 4.2 First encounters with racism ..............................................................................55 4.3 ‘Unlearning’............................................................................................................. 59 4.4 The downward spiral ............................................................................................60 Chapter Five: The turning point ..............................................................................64 5.1 A yearning for knowledge ....................................................................................64 5.2 Things happen for a reason .................................................................................66 5.3 Return to formal education .................................................................................68 5.4 Welfaring – after the accident ............................................................................70