Yumi Kaikai, Yumi Stories
Meaning ‘Our Feasts, Our Stories’
From the Creole language in the Torres Strait Islands. Creole is a mixture of Meriam Mer and Kala Lagaw Ya languages.
Artist Statement
We come from Badu Island (Dulcie) and Cherbourg (Leewana) and have collaboratively created a painting that represents two cultures: Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal. The painting features handprints in the four corners, symbolising the connection among girls. The blue circles around the canvas's perimeter represent Torres Strait Islander girls, while the brown circles signify Aboriginal girls. The symbols surrounding these circles denote women.
Grey wavy lines illustrate the coming together of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls as they journey through their schooling. The three white circles in the centre of the canvas represent waterholes, with white wavy lines indicating streams flowing from each waterhole. Land animals, such as the snake, kangaroo, emu, and goanna, are depicted as food sources for Aboriginal people and represent their totems. Similarly, marine animals like the dugong, turtle, squid, and fish are food sources and totems for Torres Strait Islanders, with the dolphin also serving as a totem.
Totems hold significant importance within both cultures, symbolising spiritual connections to the land, animals, and the broader environment. They serve as a reminder of one's ancestry, responsibilities, and relationships with the natural world. Storytelling through art is a vital aspect of both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal cultures, as it preserves and communicates their rich histories, traditions, and cultural knowledge.
We believe it is crucial to share our cultures with the school community, as it fosters knowledge and understanding. Through our artwork, we aim to celebrate our heritage and promote a deeper appreciation of our cultural identities.
Dulcie Loban and Leewana Harrison Year 12
Contents
2 Artist statement by Dulcie Loban and Leewana Harrison
3 Contents
4 Origin of Yumi Kaikai, Yumi Stories by Charli Jones
5 Introduction by Natalie Grant and Margot Shave
6 Brisbane Writers Festival by Natalie Grant and Margot Shave
7 Author incursion - Lystra Rose by Margot Shave
8 Home by Merrick Bin Doraho
10 Our story by Alaila Ball
11 My story by KJ Fraser
12 My story by Tiffany Nona
14 Cherbourg excursion by Margot Shave
15 A story about home by Alyssa Bowers
16 Memories with my family by Monique Bin Doraho
17 My Poppy by Cheeky Hopper
18 My move from a country town to the big city by Chloe Crook
19 William ‘Billy’ Nicholls by Bella David
20 My love for coconut curry deer stew by Nahlia Pearson-Garnier
21 My culture, my dad, and me by Tina Pearson-Nona
22 Learning about our sacred places by Frances Drummond
23 RAP Kaikai by Charli Jones
24 Reflections from Year 7 First Nations students
26 Our Northern Territory heritage by Lily-Rose Bradford and Darby Bradford
27 Family totem by Emily Burson-Gray
27 Our family by Harper Daniels and Sophia Daniels
28 Bidjara girl by Charlotte Sartor
29 Kangaroo casserole by Sharlotte Parker-Barry
30 My great-grandma by Ashley Blackman
31 Inspired by my family’s armed services heritage by Chelsea Bashforth-Harmston
32 My story: moving from home to boarding school by Gina Yamashita
33 My great-great-grandparents’ story by Amaya Bowen
34 This is me by Robyne Nona
35 A world of contrasts by Cheyanne Yamashita
36 My school journey by Kyara Bashforth-Harmston
37 Q&A by Chantay Turner
38 Simur chicken by Dulcie Loban
39 Growing up in Cherbourg by Leewana Harrison
40 Mom’s recipe for authentic Jamaican Johnny Cakes by Kyra Mulvany
41 Sunday breakfast by Sofia Nona
42 You must be willing to go to war with yourself to figure out who you can be by Charli Jones
44 Acknowledgements
Where St Margaret’s First Nations students come from.
Origin of Yumi Kaikai, Yumi Stories
The title Yumi Kaikai, Yumi Stories originates from the Torres Strait in the language Creole, otherwise known as broken English. Creole is a mixture of Meriam Mer and Kala Lagaw Ya as well as English. Sadly, due to the slow degradation and loss of these traditional languages, some of our words’ meanings have become integrated with foreign languages such as English, which became more prominent throughout the years, hence why teaching the younger generations about our culture is more crucial than ever.
Despite this, however, as kids, Creole was the easiest to understand because both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people could comprehend it to some extent, making certain language barriers easier to cross. As the next young storytellers, we decided to go for an informal magazine title that is a true reflection of ourselves – still learning, a bit fragmented like our languages, but proud. Just like Creole, we as individuals are not perfect, and we wanted to emphasise that.
Yumi means ‘you and me’ and Kaikai means ‘food’. How we interpret Yumi Kaikai, Yumi Stories is ‘our story, our feasts’, symbolising that through food, we can tell our stories and connect deeply together regardless of who we are and where we come from.
This magazine highlights the significance of community and connection, and the value of staying authentic while also developing new relationships with others. It emphasises the importance of sharing our stories, whether we are Indigenous or non-Indigenous, and one of the primary ways we express these stories, as fellow Australians, is through food.
Food is an important factor in bringing people together for a multitude of reasons. It can break down barriers, preserve cultural traditions, and create a sense of community. Whether it’s a small family dinner or a
large communal celebration, the act of eating together has the power to foster personal connections and create lasting bonds. In a world where we are often divided by differences, food has the remarkable ability to unite us and bring us closer together.
Our stories reflect our unique experiences, emotions, and perspectives shaping our identity. Whether it’s through writing, speaking, or any other form of expression, sharing our stories can help us connect with others, gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, and make a meaningful contribution to the world. In our recent magazines, we kids have had the privilege of telling the stories of our ancestors and elders, giving them a voice they may not have had the chance to share. Now, as the next generation, it is our turn to continue this tradition and make our own voices heard.
Telling your story is of great importance for personal growth, connection with others, the preservation of culture, and the promotion of positive change. Our stories are an invaluable part of who we are and sharing them can have a profound impact on both the storyteller and their audience. In our case, our audience is the broader St Margaret’s community. It’s through storytelling that we can find healing, inspiration, and understanding, and make a meaningful contribution to the world, to our country and to our communities. I invite you to read and to immerse yourself within these pages, to learn and to question further. Reconciliation isn’t just up to us. To foster reconciliation, we need everyone to be open-minded and engaged in conversations that allow you to understand more about our history and our backgrounds. It’s now more than ever.
Charli Jones Year 12
It is important to remember that, while these recipes are being shared in this publication, the dishes are not to be recreated without the permission or supervision of a First Nations person who has knowledge of that dish. As a school community, we need to be respectful towards First Nations people and their families’ decisions to allow us to learn and appreciate how traditional foods are made, but not to replicate the dishes without appropriate permissions.
In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Turrbal and Yuggera Peoples, who are the traditional owners and custodians of the lands. We acknowledge and honour these people, who have walked and cared for this land for thousands of years, and their descendants, who maintain their spiritual connection and traditions through storytelling. We thank them for sharing their cultures, spiritualities and ways of living with the land in this place we all now call home. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. May we continue to walk gently and talk respectfully together with each other.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware the following material contains images and names of deceased persons.
Introduction
In early 2023, two Year 11 students, Charli Jones and Dulcie Loban, approached us to ask what we were doing for the third edition of the St Margaret’s First Nations magazine. Bolstered by the success of Gidhal and Mulu Maguydan, the students reiterated their interest in creating a new edition of unique writing by First Nations students at the school. We remember Charli saying, ‘In the past we’ve focused on other people’s stories; we think it’s time we shared our own stories.’ For Dulcie, she wanted recipes and stories about food.
We both agreed to embark on the project to help facilitate this process of gathering stories and recipes. Over the next year, we put together a series of incursions, workshops and excursions with the secondary First Nations students to help them to develop ideas and explore what they would submit to the magazine.
As part of this process, we explored connections between food, culture and what this meant to the students. For many of them, food was a direct connection to home and memories of family. Everyone had a story about foods they missed, how it was gathered, and the way it was used in celebrations.
The students participated in a workshop with Elders at the Brisbane Writers Festival, attended a workshop with Aboriginal writer Lystra Rose, and travelled to Cherbourg to learn more about the stories
of First Nations people in South East Queensland. As part of the Reconciliation Action Plan, the students also helped to launch the first Kaikai – a cook-up where they taught staff and students traditional recipes from home.
In gathering the submissions for the magazine, our senior students have helped foster ideas, discuss, edit and write the submissions with the junior students in keeping with the protocols of respectful gathering of First Nations content. This has enabled our senior students to lead this initiative and have ownership of the magazine.
In a new initiative, this magazine also includes submissions from six of our First Nations primary students. We are honoured to share their stories in the magazine.
We thank the families and communities of these students for their generosity and willingness to share their stories with us. Our St Margaret’s community is made richer from these varied and new perspectives. We invite the broader school community to spend time with these yarns and to learn more about the oldest living cultures through our students.
Natalie Grant and Margot Shave
Brisbane Writers Festival
To launch our third edition of the magazine, we introduced the students to the premise for the 18-month project to create ‘Our Stories’. In early May 2023, we invited the students to consider how they wanted to tell their own stories in the magazine and also how food informs family stories. Both of us then prepared a dish to share with the students and read a personal piece about how this food has found a place in our own family stories. The students then responded to story prompts such as ‘have you been taught how to cook something by your grandparents?’ and ‘what foods would you like us to try?’
After this, the group travelled to the city to the Brisbane Writers Festival to attend a shared story session in Kuril Dhagun, within the State Library, where they listened to First Nations women from around Brisbane share their shadow boxes, documenting personal history.
The Our Stories project recognises the importance of building connections not just between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, but importantly between our First Nations students – many of whom are boarders and come from regional and rural communities – and the broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in and around Brisbane as an act of Reconciliation.
Natalie Grant and Margot Shave
Author incursion –Lystra Rose
In August 2023, the school was fortunate to be able to host award-winning Aboriginal writer Lystra Rose for a workshop with Years 7 and 8 First Nations students.
Lystra Rose is a Guugu Yimithirr, Biri Gubba, Erub woman with Scottish ancestry. Her first novel, The Upwelling, has won a collection of awards since it was published in 2023, including the 2023 NSW Premier’s Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature and the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards Prize for Indigenous Writing. The novel was also short-listed for the 2023 NSW Premier’s UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing, the 2023 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Young Adult Literature and the 2023 Readings Young Adult Prize and was longlisted for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel in the Children and Young Adult category. Her manuscript was the winner of the State Library of Queensland’s 2018 black&write fellowship.
Lystra is also the editor of a surfing magazine, Surfing Life, and lives on the Gold Coast with her family.
During the workshop with the First Nations students, Lystra invited the students to work on their personal stories and introduce ‘culture by stealth’ into their writing.
Margot Shave
Yumi Kaikai, Yumi Stories \7
Home
Merrick Bin Doraho | Year 8
Hello, my name is Merrick Bin Doraho, and I’m from both the eastern and inner clusters of the Torres Strait Islands. The islands where I come from are Murray (Mer) Island in the east and Hammond (Keriri) Island in the inner cluster, about a 15-minute ferry ride from Thursday Island. What comes to my mind when I think about home are the different opportunities we have in Brisbane compared to what we have at home and having to work very hard every day to keep a very tidy house. The things that I love about home are playing footy with my family and friends, swimming nearly every down day at the beach with my cousins, camping most weekends, and the most important thing of all – FISHING!
I love going fishing at Dead Men Island, which is about two minutes away from home, travelling in my dad’s dinghy. We usually use squid, sardines, and cut-up fish for bait. Mostly on the weekends, I go fishing at 4am, because that’s when the squid and the big trevally are up with the full moon. Then we fish until the afternoon. We go to Thursday Island to get some food for the day. A fun fact about me is that I started fishing when I was only around four to five years old.
When I first came to St Margaret’s, I thought it was too flashy, and not as popular as my school. There were so many kids and very popular friend groups. There were so many more teachers. The Year 7 camp was so big that I thought I would easily get lost.
When I first moved into the boarding house, I thought it was so different. There were no more brothers. I have four big brothers, and I miss them so much because of the laughter and fun moments we always have together. I was a bit homesick when I first moved here. When I was little, and I was scared, I always went to my mum, and she would tell me not to be scared. I would go to the other girls because everybody goes through it. I mainly go to Tina when I feel sad because we’re a very close family and she really helps.
My great-grandfather is Eddie Koiki Mabo. When the Mabo word is mentioned, it reminds me of Murray Island, where my mum (Lenwat Bin Doraho) comes from and brings up memories of my grandfather and images of my uncle and Eddie leading them to hunt fish and build stone walls for fish traps. When it’s high tide, the fish go in, and when it’s low tide, the fish stay trapped. Whenever I go for a check-up at the hospital, my mother says to ask them, ‘Do you know Eddie Koiki
Mabo?’, then tell your doctor ‘That’s my great-grandfather’, then they say, “I’ll lay the red carpet for you.’ And that there is a lot of loyalty.
My mum always tells stories about Eddie Koiki Mabo and what he did for my people, fighting for our island. My mum says to always include Mabo country in my Acknowledgment of Country, so they know I am a Mabo country girl. He’s my Lugiz Atha – my great-grandfather.
I would call my dad (Stanislaus Bin Doraho) a fisherman; he loves his fishing, because when it comes to the weekends, he is all ready to go. My dad and mum call me the anchor girl, because I always love to pull up the anchor so I could show them that I’m strong too. My dad is a Torres Strait/ Philippine /Manila/ Malaysian man. He gets his Hammond Island heritage from his mother (Nene) Rita, my grandmother. My dad’s dad is Athe Haron, my grandfather, and he comes from Thursday Island and Malaysia, so there are a lot of bloodlines associated with my dad and his sibling. Athe Haron worked on the boats most of the time in my dad’s childhood. Whenever he went away on the boats and came back, my dad would always run and jump on the boat for the lollies that Athe Haron got for my dad and his sibling. The boat my grandfather had was called Lumen, so my family named our old dog Lumen after the boat. My Nene Rita’s father built the big church out of rock with some other fellow family and friends who helped too. So, my dad has some hard-working and strong genes too.
I would like people to know about the different opportunities available through our island lifestyle: our dancing, our food, and the most important thing, our culture. I will make sure I pass it on to future generations, through songs and stories, and now you will know too.
These are some of the fish traps around the island. My mum says if you pick up the rock and put it somewhere else, put it back where it was before, because that is calling disrespect to the past elders that built it to supply food.
Also pictured is our Hammond ferry, which is called the St Joseph ferry. When I was in primary school with my friends, such as Monique, Tina, Nahlia, Chantay, and Aaliyah, we use to always catch the ferry in the morning to go to school at Tagai State College on Thursday Island and to get back home to Hammond Island.
Once we arrive on Thursday Island, we would always catch this bus to school.
This is St Joseph’s Church on Hammond Island. It is constructed of blue granite stones.
This is big Athe Santiago and big Aka Wasada Dorante, great-grandparents of me, Monique, and Tina.
This is Waier Island, next to Murray Island. My middle name – Wareed – is derived from the black stones you see on the island, but I am also named after my incredible aunt – big Aunty Wareed Bai.
This is big Aunty Bai who inspires me so much because of her beautiful artistic talent. That’s probably why my mum gave me my middle name Wareed.
Thank you for listening to my beautiful story. I hope you have an amazing year and that you remain blessed.
Our story
Alaila Ball | Year 8
My name is Alaila and this is my story.
My Athe (grandfather), Titom Tamwoy, and Aka (grandmother), Michelle Tamwoy, taught me how to cook. I spent years watching and learning from the family. I also learnt from my mum, Eugenie Ball. She taught me how to scale and cook fish. She taught me recipes that only women should know. I grew up watching and hearing about different recipes so I could one day master cooking them. I spent years practising so I could perfect the techniques.
As a young six-year-old, I learnt how to make a family favourite – scones. At first, they turned out hard and dry, but I never gave up and kept trying. A few years later, at the age of 10, I tried again. This time the scones came out close to perfection, but I needed to keep going until I made the perfect batch. In 2024, I tried again over the holidays. I had spent over four years practising to make this batch perfect and eventually I did.
In my culture, the women are the only people who should have these recipes, because women are the only people who cook. My sister and I always cooked together. While my dad and my godbrothers were out in the boat fishing, I, my sister, and my mum would prepare rice, curry and vegetables. We would cook for at least one hour. When my dad would come home with fish, turtle, dugong and crayfish, we would all come together as one big family and cook, as well as prepare leftovers for our Elders.
My story
KJ Fraser | Year 8
Hello, my name is KJ, and I belong to the Gubbi Gubbi tribe, which includes the areas of Petrie, Redcliffe, Caboolture, Bribie Island, Sunshine Coast and hinterlands, Noosa, Rainbow Beach, and Hervey Bay. I inherited my culture and language from my bloodline. In my language, ‘wunya nygulum bagama wangara wagara comba’ means ‘welcome to country’. I live near Woodford, which is about a 20-minute drive from Caboolture, in the countryside. Recently, I was fortunate to receive a Yalari scholarship, which has given me the opportunity to receive a better education and make my family proud.
My nan, Lillian Pearl Douglas, my grandad, Michael James Douglas, my mum, Mandy Lee Amy Douglas, and I, KJ Janett Fraser, all belong to the same tribe. Our ancestors have lived on our tribal lands for thousands of decades.
My journey began when I was interviewed for St Margaret’s. Walking through the changing room to get my middy fitted, I felt an immense sense of pride that I had accomplished what my family and I always dreamed of – a quality education. Being present in my first few classes helped me realise that even though you are living your life, enjoying yourself, and having fun, you always need your mum when you feel down. Even if your mum is not present with you, you will always miss her and being around family.
Boarding is an amazing experience where you don’t have to worry about fitting in because people accept you for who you are. At boarding, you have limited screen time, which allows you to have meaningful interactions with nature and friends. The dinners are awesome, and my personal favourite is Thursday’s pasta night. There are also various activities to participate in, and the best one among them is the socials.
My favourite food from home is my nan’s KFC stew, my grandad’s damper and steak, my mum’s spaghetti Bolognese, and Nana’s shepherd’s pie. They always never disappoint me when it comes to their amazing cooking. Being home makes me feel safe and freer than I have ever been in my life, knowing that I have my close ones beside me and protecting me. I love them so much.
My story
Tiffany Nona | Year 8
I have one mum and one dad and have Iived on the Badu Island my whole life. I can tell you a bit about my life and my island.
I was born in Cairns
My mum had me in her belly, then she took me to the hospital. Once I was born, my brother (Numa or Darius) had to take care of me and share his room with me. He now works at the mines in Nebo, near Moranbah, with Daddy Remus and Aunty Rangi, so he can have his own house one day.
Badu Island
On Badu, we go to the wharf to catch fish and take them home to cook. While we sometimes jump off the wharf, we try to tell the little kids not to jump, because there is a groper, a big tiger shark and croc.
It is lots of fun when we have a tombstone opening where we come together and celebrate. We do island dances, and some of the people, like my dad, go and catch food like fish and all kinds of sea animals. We eat dugong and turtle, cooking it in many different ways, such as curry soup, Simur Chicken and Sop Sop. For Amai Turtle, we dig a hole in the sand, then we add rocks to the bottom and line this with coconut husks or paper. We then light this and add the wood. Finally, we put the turtle in alfoil and put it in the shell when we add the turtle in and then add the slip n slide.
Going camping
When we go camping at our camp, Argun, we love to swim in the ocean and catch squid. Before we leave, we grab a basket with all the sauces and meat so dad can make us food. To get there, we ride our motorbikes and sometimes Mum and Dad ride in the car behind me. When we first get there, I like to ask my mum if I can swim first and jump off the motorbike and into the water straight away. I normally say, ‘last man there has to do 10 pushups’ and we quickly run down and jump in the
water. Sometimes when I say, ‘ready, set, go’, I promise to take them for a ride when we are finished. We like to watch the sunset go down while we swim. After this, we grab some big wood and small wood to make a bonfire and just yarn until the place comes completely black and dark.
My life away from home
My life away at boarding school is fun. I get to meet all the boarders and they are so kind. We have the loveliest housemothers in the world, and the best head of boarding, Mrs Fowler. She is so kind and lovely, and it’s fun go on of all of the boarding activities such as ice skating and seeing NRL footy. The food here is great and at St Margarets you can do anything – you can be a teacher or a basketball player.
My mum and dad’s jobs
My mum is a police officer on the island and went to Sydney to receive a big award. She is the best cop I know and will always be the best and bravest cop ever.
My dad is a construction worker and works out on the islands, building sea walls to stop erosion from coming in and taking away all the homes. My dad is the best worker I know, along with his brother Uncle Skinny. He used to work as a dump truck driver, and we would always go for a ride in the dump truck and pick up the bins from people’s houses.
My dream jobs
My dream jobs would be to become a miner like my uncle, or basketball player like Bala Patty Mills, or a police officer like my mum. It is so hard to choose what I would like to become when I’m older, because all the jobs seem like fun.
Cherbourg excursion
In October 2023, as part of the Our Stories project, a group of St Margaret’s students and four teachers boarded an early morning bus to Cherbourg. The purpose of the excursion was to visit the Ration Shed Museum to learn about the history of many of the Aboriginal communities around the area. Throughout the day, Uncle Eric Law, president of the Ration Shed, spoke with the students about living under the Protection Act, the early days and the rations system, the Stolen Generations, and dormitory life. In addition, we also learnt about the Boys from Barambah exhibit (the story of the Black diggers of Barambah-Cherbourg World War 1), sporting stars exhibit, and a general history of life in Cherbourg.
Margot Shave
A story about home
Alyssa Bowers | Year 8
Where I live, there is dust and dirt all around. It’s a little town called Mount Isa where many people work in the mines. When I walk around my home, my feet get very dirty, just as if I was jumping in mud for the weekend. I have been in Mount Isa since I was 10 years old. I have a brother and a sister. When I sat down to write my story, my brother Kayde was two and my sister Isabella was just three weeks old.
I have been in Mount Isa for three years now. When I was in Year 6, my mum and dad sat me down and said there were not many schools here in Mount Isa. Some friends told my mum and dad that there was a company called Yalari that provides scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from all around the country to attend good schools. Some girls who are on a scholarship don’t have high school where they come from, so they go to boarding school.
We had to wait for Yalari to tell me if I was going. I felt scared to come to St Margaret’s because I would be away from home, and I felt nervous to meet other people that I hadn’t met before or weren’t from the same place as me. However, when I found out, I was also happy to come to boarding school to get a good education. Boarding school is a good opportunity to get to know new people and to meet people from all over the world. When I came to St Margaret’s, I didn’t know anybody, and I felt scared to ask them to help me to my next class. However, Ms Montgomery was there for me when I couldn’t find my classes. It made me feel good because she helped me.
What I miss most about home when I’m at school is my siblings. I miss getting to play with my brother and have cuddles. I miss getting to do activities at home with my family, like playing on the waterslide in the backyard and going to the waterpark down the road.
Memories with my family
Monique Bin Doraho | Year 9
Hi, my name is Monique Bin Doraho. I live on Hammond Island in a small community, and I’m a proud Torres Strait Islander. My totems are the hammerhead shark and turtle, and they come from my mum’s side of the family. Totems represents your family and heritage. When you die, you come back as those creatures.
What comes to my mind when I think about home is that I am reminded how at boarding school we have the same food every day. Back at home, we have different kinds of food, like turtle, dugong, fish, octopus, squid, and more yummy food. My favourite food from home is dugong, because it is nice and juicy when it steamed.
My dad, Stanley, taught me how to make coconut curry, and I used to stand there and listen to him and try to remember the ingredients.
We eat it with rice, veggies, mash potato and salt. His dad taught him how to make it.
The person who inspires me is my brother Marcus, because he is successful in his job and I want to follow in his footsteps and be respected like him. He inspires me to get my dream job and to be myself. He says don’t wear makeup, because ‘you don’t need to put makeup on to be pretty. Beauty is on the inside not the outside.’
Ingredients
2-3 onions, chopped
1 tsp garlic
1 tbsp Keen’s curry powder
2kgs chicken pieces (wings, legs)
Potatoes, carrots, chopped
2 tins coconut milk
Method
1. In a saucepan, put some oil and cook the onion for five minutes.
2. Add the curry powder and cook.
3. Put in the chicken pieces, the coconut milk, and enough water to make a paste. Mix together. Add potatoes and carrots.
4. Cook for 45 minutes on a low heat.
Coconut Curry
My Poppy
Cheeky Hopper | Year 9
This is my great-grandad, Poppy. My Poppy (grandad) was born on 26 March 1939. He was raised on his property in Kenilworth from when he was a little boy and lived with his own family there with my Nana until he unfortunately passed away in October 2023.
Poppy married Kay (my Nana) and had three kids: Tammy (my grandma), John, and Tracey. Throughout his life, he used to go out on his farm and shoot pigeons and eat them with his other siblings. He used to milk cows and would work in the forest, timber cutting. He would also take care of his mum and dad, as well as his own family.
I enjoyed playing the piano with him as well as eating biscuits, drinking tea, and chatting about our day. I think he was the best Poppy in the world because of what he did to support his family – what he sacrificed to make sure everyone else was happy and how much he loved us.
The best memory about Poppy is that he was always open to chatting with you and making you happy. He lived in Kenilworth his whole life. Poppy never moved to a new town and never moved to a new house. We always went to his doctor appointments with him and made sure he was always strong and healthy. The reason why I am talking about him is because he was a role model to me, and he made me happy and would joke around with me when I was sad and feeling lonely.
My move from a country town to the big city
Chloe Crook | Year 9
Growing up in Blackwater in Central Queensland, which is a small mining town, my mum always wanted me to go to a boarding school, but I never knew where. When I was in grade 6, my parents and I applied for Yalari scholarships for Brisbane and Gold Coast schools. I made the interview stages and met with Llew Mullins, one of the Yalari founders, and a student support officer.
During my interview, I was very nervous about the questions they asked me such as ‘why I wanted a scholarship’, ‘what sports did I play’ and ‘how I would cope with home sickness’. After the interview, I waited a couple of weeks for the next stage. When I received the phone call to say I got the interview, I cried out in excitement. Then my parents and I set out to see St Margaret’s.
When I walked in the gates of St Margaret’s, my first thought was ‘wow this school is really big, compared to my school back home’. I then met the Head of Boarding and toured the school. Then I tried on the uniforms, and I thought to myself: ‘I don’t like this uniform, as it’s too long’ and ‘This isn’t like the shirt and shorts like my school back home’. Once I left with all my new uniforms, I was really excited to start boarding school the next year.
For the first week of school, I felt a little sad to have left behind my old friends but excited to meet new friends. I thought I would get homesick, but I never did. With the help and support of my new friends, boarding house mums/staff, other Yalari students, and my Yalari student support officer, I was able to thrive in my first year at boarding school without much problem.
William ‘Billy’ Nicholls
Bella David | Year 9
For my story, I would like to tell you about my great-greatgreat-grandfather, William Nicholls, who was a light horseman in World War 1. These stories were told to me by my family members.
William ‘Billy’ Nicholls was born on 5 May 1894 in Coen, Cape York, Far North Queensland. When he was only 17 years of age, Billy left Coen, and somehow travelled across the Daintree River by foot, although it is still unknown how he completed this all by himself. Once getting across the river, he walked all the way to Second Beach in Yarrabah. My Nene (great-grandmother) said that when it was low tide when she was younger, they could walk from Cairns across to Yarrabah. This is where he met my greatgreat-great-grandmother, my Nene’s grandmother, Flora, in 1913.
Flora and Billy were unfortunately part of the Stolen Generation. Flora was taken along with many other girls who were transported by truck from Yarrabah all the way to Mackay. Flora was given to the Ball family, which was why her last name was changed from Joinbee to Ball. Flora stayed with them, but like all of the children, once they reached a certain age, they were taken from the families in Mackay and sent back to Yarrabah. Billy was also removed to the Yarrabah Aboriginal Mission. This is where he met Flora, and where they got married.
Billy was described as a quiet man, and before being enlisted for war, he worked as a stockman on a sugar cane farm. He had an amazing knowledge of horses and cattle. While working as a stockman, everybody knew Billy as ‘Old Billy’ or ‘Old Billy Nicolls’. At one point, he also stayed in Herberton, where my Nene was born, to work in one of the mines. Flora and Billy had three children together: Esther, Michael, and William. At the age of 25, William was enlisted at Cairns, Queensland, to serve in World War 1 in the 11th light horsemen regiment. When William left to serve, Flora was heavily pregnant, and only six weeks after he was enlisted, she gave birth to their fourth child, Ruth.
William sailed on the HMAT Ulysses in December 1917. He left his three children and heavily pregnant wife at home to serve in the war. He was enlisted to Cairo, Egypt. When applying for war, he did identify as an Aboriginal man, even though at the time Indigenous people of Australia were not considered as citizens of Australia. During enlistment, there was a simple spelling error of his last name – Niccolld instead of Nicholls – making it hard for the family to track his service history. There was a photo taken of the soldiers standing on a pyramid in Egypt before leaving for battle.
The soldiers arrived in Egypt during January 1918. While serving in the war, his job was to ride through the hills of Turkey to take out the Turkish snipers hiding in the hills. Once arriving at the hills, they would have to get off their horses and travel up the hill by foot. He served his time in the war with Cathy Freeman’s great-grandfather as they were both light horsemen in the 11th regiment. While attempting to take out the soldiers, it is known by my family that his life was saved by a tin of corn beef.
To elaborate on this, he was carrying a metal tin of corn beef in his sachet pouch across his chest, and when he was shot by the Turkish snipers, the bullet went through the metal tin and was caught there instead of travelling through into his body. After continuing to serve and fight in the war, he unfortunately got very sick and was diagnosed with Malaria. He was very sick for a couple of years and stayed in the hospitals in Egypt. While he was in the hospitals, his family in Australia did not know where he was, what had happened to him or any information about him. He was then classified as missing. When the soldiers were returning to Australia, he was still sick and was still classified as missing. This resulted in him having to pay his own way back to Australia because he was not classified as being found yet. After serving in World War 1 and returning to Australia, he returned to his family in August of 1919, where he was later employed in the Cairns City Council. In May 1948, at the age of 59, he passed away, leaving his wife Flora with their six children, including my Nene, who, at the time, was only eight years old.
I feel privileged and proud of my family, Elders, and culture, and that I have the opportunity to share this story with you all.
My love for coconut curry deer stew
Nahlia Pearson-Garnier | Year 9
My love for coconut curry deer reminds me of my dad and how he goes out and hunts the deer. I remember watching my dad skin the deer and giving me lessons on which meats are good versus which meats are bad in the deer, and how to use it for the stew.
My other memory is of me eating the stew when I was 11 years old. My dad cooked the stew, and I ate the bay leaf that he puts in the stew, but which he had forgotten to take out before serving. I accidentally choked on the leaf, and my mum had to slap me on my back to get the leaf out of my throat.
Every time I eat coconut curry deer now, I always have a little giggle to myself and think of that moment.
Coconut Curry Deer Stew
Ingredients
1 deer leg, meat diced
2 onions, diced
Garlic cloves
Ginger
2 tsp Keens Curry powder
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
Bay leaf
Garam masala
Coconut milk
Potatoes
Carrots
Rice of choosing
Method
1. In a pot add all the chopped ingredients –onion, ginger, garlic.
2. Add the diced deer and mix together in the pot. Once this is done add over the steam of fire and slow cook until meat is tender.
3. Once the meat is tender, add the carrots and potatoes, and then cook until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
4. Once that is done, add the other spices, and as much curry powder as you want, depending on your like for curry.
5. Add two tins of coconut milk, depending on the size of the stew you are making.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve with rice of your liking (Jasmine rice). Enjoy with a refreshment of your choosing.
Thank you and enjoy my favourite dish.
My culture, my dad, and me
Tina Pearson-Nona | Year 9
I am a proud Torres Strait islander and live on Hammond Island in a small community. The things that come to my mind when I think about home are:
• island dancing
• traditional food
• the salt water
• sea animals
• traditional festivals
• my family
• jumping off the jetty
• making turtle on the beach with sand.
My favourite childhood memory is when my dad, my little sister and I were down at the beach near my grandmother’s house, and we were building sandcastles and digging into the sand. Then my dad said, ‘Let’s make a turtle.’ So, we ended up building a huge turtle on the beach, which was so fun, and that is my best and favourite memory from my childhood.
The person who inspired me as I was growing up and still does today is my dad. I look up to my dad because he is a proud Torres Strait Islander who keeps his culture strong and is not ashamed of it. My dad is a very wise, patient and humble man, who is a good-hearted person. Every time we go shopping or to another island, my dad always says hi to people that I don’t even know. And then I’ll ask him, ‘Who was that?’ Then he’ll say, ‘They are all old school mates’ or ‘I used to verse them in this sport’, and stuff like that. My dad is a very well-known person wherever we go. He is also a very hard-working father, and that’s why I love him very much. He’s the best dad I could ever ask for and I want to be just like him.
Stories of food
My favourite memory of food from home was when I was just a little girl. I remember my father used to work on a crayfish boat, and every night I used to stay up waiting for him to come back home with some huge and juicy crayfish just for us to sit down and eat together. This is my favourite food memory.
Learning about our sacred places
Frances Drummond | Year 9
As a part of the Yalari scholarship program, every year, scholarship holders go on a different camp to various locations. In Year 9, we were fortunate to visit the most scared spot in Aboriginal history – the Rock (Uluru), in the Northern Territory.
Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area known as the Anangu. This was my first time travelling to another state and connecting with other Yalari Year 9 students who I do not get to see as much as the girls I go to school with. Witnessing the amount of Aboriginal history and the original artwork of the Anangu people in the area was an honour. When I was at the site, it left me feeling like a sense of wonder and wanting to know more about the Aboriginal culture. It made me question ‘why were we allowed to be this close to the rock’ and ‘how were non-Indigenous people still
taking photos of the spaces when it said that there were no pictures allowed to be taken’. I also thought it was sad there were still chain marks present within the rock.
During this weeklong camp with Yalari’s founder Waverly Stanley, we went on a road trip throughout Alice Springs and Kings Canyon and listened to Waverley talk about the history of each spot and tell us a significant story behind its location. Another fun thing we did was to sleep outside in swags and see the stars. We also saw wild dingo!
I would love to go back and visit this location when I am older and be able to really understand the history and the significance of this land to the Aboriginal peoples.
RAP Kaikai
As an initiative of the St Margaret’s Reconciliation Action Plan, the students helped to launch our first school Kaikai in July, 2023. The girls suggested this idea to me, mainly because they were homesick and craved traditional dishes that were usually made to soothe them and make them feel full. Although the chefs do an amazing job, some things cannot be replaced and that’s the sense of home or belonging they receive when making or preparing food.
The Kaikai was a chance to teach more about our culture and our background. It is an opportunity for others to learn in a more practical and handson basis so they are able to gain insight into our everyday lives. Food brings us together, regardless of your ethnicity, or religion. Families sit around a table for dinner, community gatherings or even special celebrations. Food is always a major contributor in developing relationships.
Charli Jones
Year 12
Yumi Kaikai, Yumi Stories \23
Reflections from Year 7 First Nations students
Hadassah Young-Dai
Where are you from?
Umagico is where I live, in the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA). My dad’s side is from the Top Western Islands, Dauan and Saibai. My mum’s side is from near the Western Islands, Badu and Mabuiagkubin.
Do you have any advice to new Yalari girls?
If you get scared that high school would be hard, you could always think of it as primary school again.
What is your favourite dish from back home and why?
Sop sop because it’s nice.
What is your favourite memory of this dish?
When my family had a special event and I went to try it.
Maria-Elena Harrison
Where are you from?
I’m from Mount Isa.
What would you like to get out of boarding school?
Many opportunities from sport and a bright future.
What is your favourite dish from back home and why?
My mum’s bush scones or dad’s camp oven/fire coals damper. Sometimes mum puts in carrots, beans or potatoes or whatever veggies she has.
What is your favourite memory of this dish?
We would make them every time we went out bush or went camping; making damper with dad was fun because we would get it everywhere and make a huge mess.
Tiandra Lichtendahl
Where are you from?
I was born on Thursday Island but spent most of my time on Yam Island. Then I moved to Seisia, in the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA). My grandmother is from Daru and Port Moresby. My grandfather is from Holland, and my dad is from Yam Island.
What would you like to get out of boarding school?
I came to boarding school because I wanted to get further in life and learn new things and also get a better education.
What is your favourite dish from back home and why?
My favourite dish is simur chicken.
What is your favourite memory of this dish?
My favourite memory of simur chicken was when we had a food fight on one of my friend’s birthdays.
Dewardhi Nona
Where are you from?
Badu Island in the Torres Strait.
What would you like to get out of boarding school?
I came to this boarding school because I wanted to try something new.
What is your favourite dish from back home and why? Amai totol.
What is your favourite memory of this dish?
It was the last food I shared with my favourite best friends before we went our separate ways.
Pippi Young
Where are you from?
Koa tribe, located in Winton.
What is your favourite dish from back home and why? Scones.
What is your favourite memory of this dish?
Every time my grandma visits our house, she brings scones with jam and cream, and we all eat them together.
Where are you from?
I live in Mabuiag. My mum is from Mabuiag and my aka is from Mabuiag. My dad is from Kubin. My athe is from Senpol. My real dad is from Bamaga. My mum’s dad is from Yam Island.
What would you like to get out of boarding school?
I’d like to play rugby for St Margaret’s.
What is your favourite dish from back home and why?
Dhagal and rice because it is traditional food.
Where are you from?
I am from Bamaga, but my blood lines are from Badu Island and Fiji Islands.
What would you like to get out of boarding school?
I would like to take new friends with me. I would like to take my new mind (learning). Also, I would like to take so much more information about my wonderful school.
What is your favourite dish from back home and why?
Simur chicken and sop sop. I also love coconut curry because I loved the flavours in the coconut touch. And I love dugong (it is delicious).
What is your favourite memory of this dish?
My favourite memory is that I loved making my siblings jealous of what I’m eating, and I loved eating these dishes with my whole family.
Shakira Tamwoy
Viema Nadredre
Our Northern Territory heritage
Lily-Rose Bradford | Year 6
Darby Bradford | Year 3
Our names are Lily-Rose and Darby Bradford. We are proud Murrumburr kids from Kakadu NT. We are very proud of our Aboriginal culture and heritage and love visiting our family in Kakadu.
We are very lucky to be able to go back to country whenever we like. Our favourite activity is fishing as there are so many barramundi in Kakadu that you don’t even really have to be good at fishing to catch one. Once we catch our fish, our uncle helps us make our own fire and cook our fish. Sometimes we will bury it underground to cook it, which is also a traditional way of eating on our country. We would love to tell you about our amazing family.
Our Mum
Our mum is the founder of Kakadu Organics – an Aboriginalowned female-led company originating from a small Aboriginal community in Kakadu. Mum grew up in Kakadu and has a passion for creating sustainable communities and increasing economic empowerment for Aboriginal people in business. Mum has featured and been offered investment on the reality TV show Shark Tank Australia and also appeared on Better
Homes and Gardens. She owns a successful international wholesale and e-commerce store specialising in native food and wellness products and even has a shop and catering business in Samford Valley. Mum has won many awards for her entrepreneurship. She speaks at international conferences and helps many First Nations businesses. We are very proud of her.
Our Nana
Our nana, Sheril Cahill, is a traditional custodian of Kakadu and is very missed by us all as she is now in the Dreamtime with our grandfather.
Our nan was a very well respected Elder of her community, fighting for mine closures on country and always developing ways of bettering our Aboriginal communities. Our nana taught us language and how to look after country. She taught us how important it is to listen to country and to learn as much as we can about our culture.
Our Great-Grandfather
Paddy Cahill, our great-grandfather, is an incredible man, one of the most famous buffalo shooters and pioneers of his time. He spent his life on cattle stations, working very hard for his family and even built Darwin’s first pier. He would always go shooting and drop everything to all the communities so they would have food.
My grandfather was so famous he even met the Queen of England when she came to Darwin. Nan said she couldn’t believe it when a limousine came to pick her dad up.
Family totem
Emily Burson-Gray | Year 2
We are Murrawari with Yorta Yorta connections. Emily’s paternal great-grandfather was Yorta Yorta and her grandmother was Murrawarri.
After NAIDOC Week celebrations in 2023, Emily wanted to draw a picture of her family totem, the wedge-tailed eagle. She drew this with help from the childcare educator.
Our family
Harper Daniels | Year 2 Sophia Daniels | Pre-Prep
We have drawn a picture of our family and my Aunty Edith from the Kooma Mob based in Gympie. My Aunty is a proud Kooma elder who still competes in the Indigenous Senior Games. We have researched our Indigenous heritage right back to 1882.
For many years, our people have maintained a powerful connection to our traditional lands and waters, which span approximately 28,720 sq km between Balonne and Widgeegoara. This area features many sites of great significance to our people, including stone and ochre quarries, native wells, fish traps, permanent shelters, burial sites and sacred trees, which we have cared for since before European settlement using knowledge passed on from our ancestors for generations.
We have also drawn (above) a black snake resting on a dry water bank in the afternoon summer sun.
The photo (left) is of our greatgreat-grandmother and greatgreat-aunty.
Yumi Kaikai, Yumi
Bidjara girl
Charlotte Sartor | Year 2
My name is Charlotte and I am a Bidjara girl. My people are from the rainforest in Central Queensland – a magical place called Carnarvon Gorge. I am proud to be Indigenous and have strong connections with my family, the spirits, my ancestors, and the land.
My great-poppy, Ducko Fraser, was the first Indigenous person to win the world rodeo championship. He rode both bulls and horses.
My poppy would also give me bush medicine when I was sick called ‘Gumbi Gumbi’. He also use to play the harmonica around the camp fire and sing Aboriginal songs to me when I was upset.
I miss my great-poppy and poppy, who are now both in the stars, but I know from time to time they will come and visit me in the form of a bird.
My Bidjara totems are the Red Kangaroo and the Emu. These are sacred animals to my mob, and we are not allowed to eat them.
Here are some Bidjara words I know and use:
Dilli (eye)
Munga (ear)
Gunin Gunin (poor thing/feeling sorry)
Mantha (bread)
Yurrdi (meat)
Gudja (dirty)
Gundanoo (child)
Mirrili (sunshine/shiny)
Pictured above Charlotte’s great-pop, Ted Curry (left), and Pop Bruce (right).
Kangaroo casserole
Sharlotte Parker-Barry | Year 10
Every time I think of kangaroo casserole, it reminds me of my dad, as we used to make this together. It makes me think about having a laugh with my old man and all the memories I share with him from going out bush with him. He’s not only my father but a role model. He has taught me the importance of hard work and resilience. I’m very grateful for my father, now more than ever, because he is building a beautiful home for my family with his love where I can’t wait to make many more memories. And I know making kangaroo casserole is going to be one of those ever-lasting memories in this new house.
Kangaroo Casserole
Ingredients
2kg kangaroo meat
500g plain flour
Oil
1 onion, sliced
3 to 4 medium-sized potatoes, halved
3 large carrots cut into inch pieces
1/4 jap pumpkin, cut into pieces the same size as potatoes
Green beans, sliced in half
1 litre beef stock
500ml vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
3 cloves of garlic
Pinch of sweet smoked paprika
1 tablespoon gravy mix
Method
Dice the kangaroo meat into inch cubes. Rinse the meat, and dry with a paper towel.
Put the flour into a large bowl, add meat and mix until all the meat cubes are covered in flour.
Place a small amount of oil into a frying pan and cook the meat until light brown.
Remove meat and place onto baking paper and cover. Put to one side.
Place 500ml of vegetable stock into the pot and add carrots, potatoes, onion and beans. Check the level of liquid and make sure all ingredients are covered. If not, add a little bit of beef stock until covered.
Bring stock and vegetables to the boil until they are half cooked, then turn down to medium heat, add the meat, check level of liquid (make sure it covers all ingredients) add pumpkin, bay leaf, mixed herbs, paprika, salt and pepper to taste, and chopped garlic. Place on lid and simmer until vegetables are soft.
If the dish needs thickening, add 1 tablespoon of gravy mix to water in a cup and mix, then add to the pot on low heat until thick.
My great-grandma
Ashley Blackman | Year 10
My great-grandma, Mavis Blackman, was born in Blackjack, which is just outside Charters Towers. She was born on 14 October 1933. When she grew up, she first lived in Charters Towers, then was moved to live on Palm Island when she was about eight or nine years old. When all of this was happening, her dad, Charlie Alley, went to World War II (his father – my great-great-grandfather – was also called Charles). Her mum’s name was Elsie Mae Kyle, born in Bowen and from Barragaba country. My great-grandfather, Charlie, built two houses on Palm Island, and that is where he met his wife, Grandma’s mum, after coming back from war. Mavis lived on Palm Island for eight years at her granny Kyle’s place, and they lived in a coconut house with four other kids called Olive, Clifford, Phyllis, and Travor.
When Mavis was younger, the two main sports she did were basketball and running. Her favourite memory as a kid was swimming and being at the beach on Palm Island. When she was in school, she went up to Grade 3 or 4. She first went to school on Palm Island, then they sent her to a boarding school in Singleton. When she was about 15 or 16, she had her first job at a school called St Gabriel’s to help with the washing and ironing.
Grandma has lived in four towns – Townsville, Charters Towers, Palm Island, and Singleton. Her proudest moment was singing in the church and having all her kids and looking after most of her grandkids. Grandma had five kids called Lynn, Sharon, Errol, Ashley, and Vanessa. She also has eight grandkids called Bradley, Karina, Raymond (my dad), Manford, Leah, Patricia, Carli, and Maya, and nine greatgrandkids called Jada, Rayshana, Ella, Josh, Leland, Ashley (me), Olivia, Matthew, and Darmian. My great-grandma is 90 years old now, and this was just a little bit of her life.
Inspired by my family’s armed services heritage
Chelsea Bashforth-Harmston | Year 10
I am from a small town called Tara, four hours west of Brisbane. I am proud to say that I come from a line of family members who have been in the armed services.
My gran, Carolyn Spence, was a corporal in the Royal Australian Signals Corp and a communications technician. She joined on 16 January 1991, at 18 years of age, as a member of the 46th Army Apprentice intake. Her postings were 136 Signal Squadron, SQLDG and 1 JSU (joint support unit). All her training was done at Enoggera. In October 1999, she went to East Timor, spending most of her time in Dili, running a secure communications system across the country.
Carolyn has received the Australian Active Service Medal, the East Timor Champagne Medal, and the Australian Defence Medal.
Carolyn served for 12 years in the army and loved it.
‘I loved the work and the comradeship with my fellow workers. I was proud to go and help the East Timorese people gain their independence from the Indonesians,’ Carolyn said.
I have an aunt, Emily Bashforth, who is currently an intelligence analyst in the army. She joined in 2020 at the age of 17 and is based at Enoggera.
Gramps (Craig Bashforth) also served in the army, joining the Regular Army in 1983 as a young 17-year-old. In his time in the army, Gramps was awarded several medals including the Australian Active Service MedalEast Timor clasp, INTERFET Medal, Long Service Medal, Defence medal and Soldier Commendation.
Craig said: ‘After basic training, I went to Infantry training and then served as an Infantry soldier for 15 years in a variety of roles including Mortars and Rifle Companies. My hearing became too bad, and I had to change jobs, so I became a signaller and served another five years as a signaller.
‘My overseas deployments included Vanuatu and New Zealand and my Active-Duty deployment was to East Timor in 1999 as part of INTERFET
(International Force East Timor). I was posted to Townsville for 10 years, and then to Brisbane for 10 years, in different units. I worked alongside other armies including British, Canadian, and American units. I left the Army in 2003 and went into civilian life. I am now retired and grumpy,’ he joked.
This year, I have started doing Navy cadets at TS Magnus at Churchie every Monday afternoon. TS Magnus is a school-based unit that is the second oldest Australian Navy Cadet unit in Queensland. As a part of our orientation in February, we did a weekend onboard, where we got to go out on the water canoeing and powerboating. This was a good insight into what cadets would be like in the future.
For cadets, the sessions are called parades and the recruits are split into four divisions. Within those divisions, we are split in half into groups known as watches.
On a usual Monday afternoon in Term 1, half of the parade is drill and the other half is learning. For drill in Term 1, we do marching. Some of the commands are ‘right dress’ where you put your arm up on the shoulder to the person on your right to space out, and the files (lines of recruits) behind line up in line with the person in front of them. Another command is ‘right wheel’, where the division on the right file takes smaller steps and the people on the outside take larger steps to turn the whole division. I like when the marching is in sync because it’s very satisfying. I would like to continue cadets throughout the senior years because it is something to look forward to every week.
For the learning half of the parade in Term 1, we learned about the ‘slang’ used on boats, navigation and communications, different types of knots, safety and how to hook the boats onto a car correctly. We also learned what we needed to do to prep the boat, such as putting the ‘bungs’ in, to prevent sinking. When we return, we need to flush the motor out, take the bungs out and then also turn the battery off.
In Terms 2 and 3, we rotate through different activities on the roster, such as powerboating, canoeing, communications, navigations and more marching.
At this stage after school, I am considering a career in mechanical engineering in the military or becoming a maritime officer in the Navy. I feel like the routine of this lifestyle would appeal to me, and I’m also really keen to travel and increase the quota of driven, successful women in the armed forces.
My story: moving from home to boarding school
Gina Yamashita | Year 10
Growing up on Thursday Island in the Torres Straits, I was surrounded by all my family and friends. My mum always told me that I would go off to boarding school. Then she applied for a Yalari scholarship for me, and I made it through to the final round, which was an interview with Yalari founders Waverley Stanley and Llew Mullins, as well as a student support officer. During my interview, they asked me questions like ‘why did I want to go to boarding school’, ‘how would I cope with homesickness’ and ‘what would I do if I didn’t get this scholarship’.
As a 12-year-old, these questions seemed very scary to me as I was a very shy person around unfamiliar faces. After the interview, it seemed like it took forever to get an answer about whether I would be attending boarding school in Brisbane. Then one day, my dad rang me to tell me I was going to St Margarets. I was initially confused by what my dad was saying, but then he clarified things by telling me I had received the Yalari scholarship and the school I would be attending was called St Margaret’s.
My mum and I then left for an interview with St Margaret’s, which was the first time I had come ‘big city’ and automatically thought ‘wow’! Then I walked into St Margaret’s and felt both happy that I was leaving my small community but also scared at the same time. The fact that there were other girls from back home attending this school made me feel more at ease.
Mum settled me into my Year 7 room for the first time where I had my own space with a roommate. This was a little different for me, as while she I knew my roommate and she was another Yalari girl, I didn’t know her well enough, and she wasn’t family. At home I had always shared a room with another family member.
I was excited to see and explore the big world and learn things without my mum or dad or other family members around me. I felt like I was able to learn how to be independent and try and make new friends from around Australia and the world. My first year was a bit tough with having to follow the rules and learning how to be a part of a new community, and even though there were times when I thought it was too hard, with the help of my older Yalari sister and student support officer, I was able to make it through the first year of boarding school.
My great-great-grandparents’ story
Amaya Bowen | Year 10
This is the story about my great-great-grandparents from Hope Vale.
On 11 May 1942, the Department of Native Affairs informed the Cape Bedford Hope Valley Mission Director Theile that the military authorities had ordered an evacuation. The United States of America army trucks arrived six days later, taking people by surprise. The Rev’d Schwartz was arrested and imprisoned in Cooktown. People were given little notice before men, women and children were rounded up like cattle by authorities and army soldiers with guns. They were made to walk long distances through bushland and rivers to arrive at what is now called Cooktown. They waited at the wharf in Cooktown for 24 hours without food and water before boarding a steamer ship – the Poonbar – anchored in the Endeavour River.
The removal was traumatic for our people; it was due to suspicions about the loyalties of the German-Lutheran mission which prompted allegations of a possible invasion, a theory that is still unfounded today. Did they think that the Aboriginal people of these parts would become allies to the Japanese, or use their bush skills and expertise to lead the Japanese solders through unknown territory?
During the harrowing journey, many people died due to sickness, fevers and exposure to cold elements. My greatgreat-grandparents, Walter and Ella Bowen, were part of this evacuation. Ella, as we will call her, was just 14 years old when she walked aboard the steamer with her family and her people. Previously that day, Ella had been out hunting and gathering when soldiers herded her and other family members onto trucks to Cooktown.
Ella was clutching a small billy can in which she had some honey (mula) from her day out hunting and gathering with her family. They all sat in the truck with very little information about what was happening. On arriving at the wharf in Cooktown, they were ordered off the truck and shafted towards the steamer ship and crowds of other people.
Ella could not recall what took place from then, until she was approached by a soldier carrying a billy can, which she recognised as her own. He handed this billy can to her, and as she reached out a reluctant hand to receive it, she realised it still had her honey in it. This gesture from the soldier would
stay with my great-great-grandmother for a long time to come. This soldier had earlier seen her carrying the billy can and was respectful enough to return it to her, showing some humanity in otherwise inhumane circumstances.
Many people were so afraid of the ship, not having seen anything of this size before. They were afraid of the ship’s foghorn when it sounded; some people were almost about to jump overboard they were so afraid of the loud noise. It was only due to a missionary who spoke the local language that their fears were quickly calmed. Speaking to them in their language, he assured them that it was only the ship alerting other approaching ships or vessels.
The ship was bound for Rockhampton in Central Queensland.
Here, the Guugu Yimithirr or Cape Bedford people remained in the Woorabinda Aboriginal Settlement for nine years before nine men, of which my great-great-great-grandfather George Bowen was one, were sent back to Hope Vale (where the community is today) to clear land and build homes for the return of their people.
Many people in 1942 left their traditional lands as children, and by 1949 had married, had children of their own, or perished in cold climates, or had moved to other smaller towns with permission. Some had built their own lives in Central Queensland and by choice remained south. Others longed for their homelands and welcomed the plan to return north. By this time, Ella had married and had two young children. My great-grandfather Richard was born 6 August 1948 and was only 18 months old when he returned to Hope Vale. He is the second son of Walter and Ella Bowen (nee Pearson). This story was his mother’s story.
This is me
Robyne Nona | Year 10
My name is Robyne Nona and I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself. I come from the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait is a small Indigenous community located between Cape York and Papua New Guinea. There are around 200 islands in the Strait but only 15 of these are inhabited. I have lived on Thursday Island since I was born; however, growing up, I also spent a lot of time on Badu and Horn Islands.
Totems are objects that represents a clan’s or family’s unique identity. Some of the Torres Strait Islanders are identified by our totems such as birds, turtles, reptiles, sharks, crocodiles, and fish. These are a very important part of our cultural identity. Because of my dad’s generational family ties through parents and grandparents and spread through family marriages, his clans include:
Island Clan Totem
Badu Island Wakaid and Argan Dog and Thorn Ray (Thoopmul)
Saibai Island Ait Red Belly Snake
Mabuyag (Mabuiag) Wagadagam Crocodile
Mua (Moa) Island Arkai Dog
My home is always surrounded by beautiful blue, clear water. The warm climate brings a tropical feel to it and the best boating weather. Because it is a small community, everyone knows each other, which makes it feel secure and also makes me appreciate it more.
I applied for a Yalari scholarship in 2020. Over the holidays, I was fortunate to be awarded a position at St Margaret’s. I was extremely grateful but overwhelmed by all the new changes. Starting in Year 7 was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Facing homesickness, getting used to the routine and trying not to get lost within this big school was challenging. Despite all the tears, the phone calls, and trying to catch up with schoolwork, I was able to see all the positive things boarding school had to offer, such as all the fun activities over the weekend, developing new friendships and bonding with the other Yalari girls.
Although I am only in Year 10 and still have a lot to learn and a lot of time to grow, I can say that boarding school has been an incredible experience. I hope that one day I can encourage the next generation of Indigenous kids to come to boarding school and to learn and embrace who they are and receive the same opportunities that I am having.
A world of contrasts
Cheyanne Yamashita | Year 11
My name is Cheyanne Yamashita. I am a proud Torres Strait Islander from Thursday Island and started boarding at St Margarets in Year 7, 2020. Starting at a new school at only 11 years old was a bit of a challenge, especially coming from a remote place where all our shops were on one street in about a 300m long strip and which stayed opened until the 5pm at the latest and would only open for four hours on a Sunday. In contrast, Brisbane shops would open at 7am and close as late as 9pm Monday to Friday and then stay open until 6pm on the weekends. This was very exciting for me coming from a small community. I also noticed the difference between the shop sizes: one shop in Brisbane could fit our grocery shop in it at least two times over.
Another thing I have noticed is that during the summertime in Brisbane the scenery is a lot greener than back at home where it is drier and browner. Personally, I do not like the beaches down here because they are too rough and murky, whereas the beaches in the Torres Strait are very calm and clear, which is way more relaxing to chill in. When I came to Brisbane for my school interview, it was my first time ever being in Brisbane. As I was in the taxi on my way to the hotel where my mum and I were staying, I thought to myself: ‘Wow! This is where I am going to be living for the next five years of my life.’ I also realised it would be a bit of a challenge.
On the first night I was finding It difficult to sleep because I was so used to sharing a space with my other family members. In boarding school, I suddenly had my own space, and I was unfamiliar with my new surroundings.
To get through my home sickness, I was able to listen to a range of island music, as well as confiding in my friends and the older Yalari girls. The older I got the more I was able to control my homesickness, with each bout becoming further apart.
When I finish school, I want to take a gap year and travel to Fiji and the Philippines. I’d also like to study at university – something in health sciences perhaps. I’ve always had an interest in nursing and eventually want to go back to my community and help out.
My school journey
Kyara Bashforth-Harmston | Year 11
My name is Kyara Bashforth-Harmston, and I am a proud Bunjalung and Kamilaroi woman. This is my schooling journey.
I grew up in Tara, a small town about four hours’ drive west of Brisbane. I started my schooling at Tara Shire State College in Prep and continued all the way until Year 4 until I was moved to another school about 20 minutes outside of Tara, which had around 25 kids in the whole school. I caught the bus every day with my little sister, Chelsea, which added an extra 25 minutes to our school trip. We were sitting on a bus for an hour and a half every day five days a week just to get a better education. When I reached Year 6, the three other kids in my grade were organising what school they would go to for high school. One of the four of us was going to boarding school, another was going back to Tara school where I thought I would go, and another ended up doing home schooling. I wanted something more for myself than the local high school.
My nanna had seen something about Yalari and had mentioned it to my mum. Yalari is an Indigenous scholarship program that strives to give Indigenous kids a better education. Every young kid deserves a good education, but many are not given the chance. My mum thought it was a great idea and had a meeting with my Year 6 teacher to talk about my options. I was then called into the meeting and asked if I wanted to try to get a scholarship through Yalari. We had hope, but we also had our doubts.
I started filling out the application. I rewrote the whole thing six times until I was sure it was perfect. I sent it off and went
through the application process. We then heard back from Yalari, and I was to have an interview with Waverly. My family and I then waited again to hear if I had been selected. I had gone to school on a normal day, and while I was there, my mum had been told I made it in. She called my Year 6 teacher and told her of the success. That afternoon, mum sat me down and told me I had been given the opportunity to go to boarding school. It was an opportunity that I didn’t even know was an option for me.
Year 7 came around very quickly; I was a small country town kid packing up her life and travelling to a city she had only visited a few times before. The transition to sharing a room with my sister to sharing a room with a complete stranger was scary, but it soon became one of my favourite things about boarding. As the year went on, we experienced the COVID-19 pandemic all while becoming one of the closest grades in boarding. In the blink of an eye, I was in Year 8, then 9, then 10, and now Year 11. I was given the chance to open the doors to a world of opportunity and to one day give back to my community. I have made it this far.
At times, the journey to here has been hard and rocky, but there are definitely memories and experiences I will remember for a lifetime. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I was given and the people who believed in me and pushed me to try my hardest. This education will benefit me every day for the rest of my life, and I will forever live with the amazing impacts it has had and will have on my life.
Chantay Turner | Year 12
My name is Chantay Johanna Lucy Turner. I am a proud Torres Strait Islander and an Aboriginal young women in my last year of high school at St Margaret’s through a Yalari scholarship. I am a proud descendant of King Kebisu from Yam Island in the Torres Straits, which is approximately 100 kilometres northeast of Thursday Island. I am from the Wuthati tribe (Shelburne Bay), located on Cape York Peninsula, approximately 136km south of Cape York.
Q: What was it like growing up in the Torres Straits?
A: Growing up in the Torres Straits is a unique experience due to the region’s rich cultural diversity, which includes a mix of Indigenous Australian and Melanesian cultures.
Q: Do you love living on Thursday Island?
A: Yes, I do love living on Thursday Island because I love going out in the boat and spending time with my family. Life on Thursday Island is different to life in the city because you don’t have a lot of shopping centres on the islands, but living on Thursday Island is fun and I enjoy it.
Q: What was primary school like for you back at home?
A: Primary school was my favourite time at school because you didn’t have to study as hard and prepare for the external exams you have at the end of Year 12. My favourite highlight of primary school was being appointed house and school captain at the Tagai State College Primary Campus.
Q: What was one of your biggest regrets in your final two years of high school?
A: My biggest regret in my two final years of school was not taking the opportunity to apply for senior leadership roles for Year 12. I really think that it would have made a difference to my resume when I apply for jobs after I finish school.
Q: Was there ever a time when you were homesick?
A: Years 7 and 8 were the two years where I was extremely homesick, but as the years passed, I started to realise that home was always going to be home, and nothing would change about home except for the climate change we are experiencing.
Q: Who was someone you looked up to growing up?
A: I looked up to a lot of people growing up, but the main person I looked up to was my great-grandmother, Aka Kailang, who sadly passed away in 2007 before my sister was born.
Q: What was your favourite sport growing up and why?
A: My favourite sport growing up was basketball, because my mum got me into the sport that she started playing at a very young age. Basketball is a very fun sport that I enjoy playing and meeting new people through.
Q: What is the definition of culture to you?
A: The definition of culture to me means being proud of where I come from and representing my culture by doing island dancing or speaking my language and sharing this with other people.
Q: Why did you apply for a Yalari scholarship?
A: I applied for a Yalari scholarship because it was a good way for me to meet new people from other remote and rural communities all over Australia. I also want to thank Yalari founders Llew Mullins and Waverley Stanley for rewarding me with the scholarship to attend St Margaret’s, as I am grateful for the journey I have had since coming to the school.
Simur Chicken
Dulcie Loban | Year 12
Ingredients
180g bean vermicelli noodles
¼ cup soy sauce
1kg chicken drumstick and wings
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 onion, sliced
1tbsp oil
¼ - ½ tsp cinnamon
3-4 cloves
¼ - ½ tsp nutmeg
Method
1. Put oil in the saucepan with the onions, ginger, and garlic. Cook until the onions turn translucent. Then soak the vermicelli noodles in hot water for 15-20 minutes until soft.
2. Add chicken, soy sauce, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to pan. Simmer for 25-30mins.
3. Use scissors to cut the noodles to the preferred size. Then drain the hot water from the noodles.
4. Add cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to the chicken.
5. Add the noodles to the saucepan. Simmer until noodles take on colour of sauce, 10-15mins.
Growing up in Cherbourg
Leewana Harrison | Year 12
My name is Leewana. My tribe comes from Cherbourg, which is the Wakka Wakka tribe, located to the northwest of Brisbane. I grew up in a town not far from Cherbourg called Wondai. Even though the community isn’t an Aboriginal community, we still grew up learning about the culture. When we would go to Cherbourg for NAIDOC week and watch the traditional dances, I remember feeling very connected to my culture through these dances.
My dad would sit down and yarn us his stories of when he was younger and tell us about the cultural heritage of Cherbourg. He would take us out to the community and sit down with family, and the younger ones would go for walks around the mission or play touch in the backyard. We would always go
out in the bush looking for bush lemons and echidna. The boys would go out with an axe looking for tree trunks to make didgeridoos. They would bring the trunks back into town, where they would use a steel post to clean the inside of them, wax the brims and get a bucket of water to clean out all the little bits that were left in the middle. The best part of going out in the bush was driving the cars and riding the motorbikes, but most of the time we walked there because we had to go through grass, and it wasn’t driveable.
On one holiday, Dad and I learnt how to clean out an echidna, because every time we used to catch one, we would have to take it out to my uncle so he could clean it for us. So, one day he showed us how to clean it out, which made it easier for us because we wouldn’t have to wait for him to do it.
Mom’s recipe for authentic Jamaican Johnny Cakes
Kyra Mulvany | Year 12
The story behind the well-loved ‘Johnny Cake’ or dumpling stems from a telephone-like mispronunciation game of ‘Journey cake’ since the small, handheld cake is perfectly made for warming up on long trips with butter or margarine. It can be compared to its Australian variant of damper as it serves the same purpose but is made in a slightly different way.
In my family, it’s usually enjoyed as a breakfast dish on a Saturday morning after a long lie-in. Mom reminisces about eating it with ackee, saltfish and plantain on a Sunday morning after church. Ackee is a relative of the lychee and is Jamaica’s national dish; it resembles scrambled eggs when cooked but doesn’t taste anything like it. Saltfish is a way of preparing salted cod.
I have memories of getting up to play sous-chef to my mom and frying them up together. The simple smell of them reminds me of making silly jokes while we hastily pick off parts cool enough to eat.
I hope to continue making Johnny Cakes with people who are special to me, because they represent familiarity and love. They remind me to stay grounded and to not worry about the big things you can’t control in life. Stay in bed and spend the time you have with the ones you love the most.
NOTES
Mixing with a fork helps to evenly distribute the ingredients to help prevent clumps.
Serves: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Johnny Cakes
Equipment Needed
Either a cast iron pan, skillet, or pot deep enough for frying
Cookie rack (for drying)
Measuring spoons
Large mixing bowl
Clean surface for kneading the dough
Ingredients
All-purpose flour (3 cups)
Double acting baking powder (3 tsp)
Granulated sugar (3 tsp)
Salt (1 tsp)
Water (as needed for a soft inside and crunchy outside consistency)
Oil (for deep frying, ensuring there is enough for the dumplings to float and not stick to the bottom)
Method
1. Add all ingredients into a sieve and begin to gently shake them out into a large mixing bowl. Gently mix the ingredients with a fork to ensure everything is mixed properly.
2. Make a well or small hole in the centre of the mixture and gently pour in the room temperature water. Use a spoon to gently combine the mixture into a shaggy dough.
3. Use your hands to knead the dough until soft and smooth. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 10 minutes.
4. After the dough has rested, divide and shape it into 8-10 golf-sized balls. Indent the tops of the dumplings.
5. Heat a pan of your choice. Add oil to heat for deep frying. When oil reaches medium heat, gently lower the dumplings into oil. Start with half the dumplings so the pot is not overcrowded, which would lower the cooking temperature too much.
6. Let dumplings fry on one side for about 2 minutes, then flip on the other side to continue frying for another 2 minutes. Prick one dimpling with a toothpick to test for complete frying.
7. Remove from pan and set aside on cooling rack to crisp.
Sunday breakfast
Sofia Nona | Year 12
When I was growing up, my dad was a FIFO worker with Ergon, so my siblings and I lived with my mum. He would fly out to other islands in the Torres Straits for work and come back. I hated when he was gone, but I loved when he came back, because at that time he was really there. One thing that I especially loved was Sunday breakfast at my dad’s house.
On the weekends my dad was on the island, my siblings and I would sleepover at his house on Saturday night. He had a small house, but in some way that was my favourite part about it. It always seemed so cosy. Dad would cook us dinner, which could range from Mi-Goreng noodles to rump-steak stew. We would sit around the white foldable table and have dinner together as a family, and although I was little, I cherished these little things a lot. After dinner, we would all put mattresses down in the lounge area and watch TV until we fell asleep.
On Sunday morning, my dad used to wake up really early, while my siblings and I slept in. Very quietly, he would get ready and walk to the shops to buy eggs, bacon, juice and whatever else he needed to make breakfast. Most of the time, everyone else was still asleep by the time he got back, so he would start cooking breakfast while we slept. I always remember waking up to the smell of scrambled eggs cooking and knew Dad was in the kitchen. Sometimes I even went and asked him if he needed help, but each time he would tell me to relax and wait for breakfast, although sometimes if I was lucky, he would let me crack the eggs into the bowl.
Once breakfast was ready, we would once again gather around the table to eat breakfast together. It was my favourite part of the day, and to this day, I always love Sunday breakfast. After bible study, I cook myself a big breakfast – it has become something of a tradition for me.
Now, whenever my siblings and I are in the same city, we take time away from our jobs and study and gather around the breakfast table. Someone’s on the eggs, while someone runs to the store to get juice. The youngest makes coffee for everyone before we set the table and start off our day together. One day, when I’m all grown up, I can’t wait to make these memories with a family of my own.
You must be willing to go to war with yourself to figure out who you can be
Charli Jones | Year 12
My name is Charli Jones. I am a fair-skinned Murri. My Mob is from North Stradbroke Island. I am a Quandamooka woman. I come from the Nughie and Noonuccal tribes. But despite being Aboriginal, I’ve lived in the Torres Strait all my life. I’ve learned their traditions, their customs, and their language.
When I go home, it’s an easy way to feel grounded. You learn to realise what truly matters. Home to me has a sense of security. It’s where I feel the most connected and centred with myself and sure of my identity (though that hasn’t always been the case).
In my opinion, there are two definitions of home:
1. A physical place.
2. A metaphorical feeling found in someone else.
Home is not necessarily where you are from. I grew up in the Torres Strait, lived on Moa Island for four years, and then on Thursday Island for the rest of my life. It is beautiful. I am passionate about the ways of living, the rich culture, and the exquisite history. It’s a place of comfort and peace. Home is where you feel you belong. Some of us travel the world to find it; others find it in a person. My family is the people I confide in, the ones who have seen me at my highest and lowest points and loved me regardless. They strengthen, encourage, and support me to always strive for more. Home is two things, but it falls under one category: love.
Growing up as a fair-skinned Aboriginal person, I have faced a unique set of challenges that have shaped my identity and my perspective on the world around me. I have often felt like in a state of limbo, not fully belonging to either my Indigenous community or the non-Indigenous world. This has led to feelings of isolation and confusion as I navigate the complexities of my heritage and the societal expectations placed upon me.
One of the biggest challenges I faced growing up was the scepticism and disbelief from both Indigenous and nonIndigenous people about my identity. In my community, I have been met with scepticism and even accusations of not being truly Aboriginal because of my fair skin. I have had to constantly prove my heritage and defend my right to be a part of my culture.
On the other hand, in non-Indigenous spaces, I have faced insensitive comments and ignorance about my background, often being told that I don’t ‘look Aboriginal’ and that I must be mistaken.
Fair-skinned individuals in Indigenous communities are often subject to stereotypes and prejudice from both Indigenous and
non-Indigenous people. I do not fit the apparent stereotype of what an Indigenous person should look like. This has made it difficult to assert my identity and be taken seriously within my community and society.
This constant questioning and doubting of my identity have been incredibly difficult to navigate. It has left me feeling like I don’t truly belong anywhere and has caused me to doubt my sense of self. I have had to work hard to reconcile my appearance with my cultural background and to find a way to confidently embrace both aspects of my identity.
Despite these challenges, I have also been fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from and be supported by strong, resilient Indigenous role models, such as my mother, my aunties, and my uncles. Their guidance has helped me find pride in my heritage and has empowered me to embrace my identity with confidence. I have learned the importance of self-acceptance and have come to understand that my connection to my culture is not defined by the colour of my skin.
Through this struggle, I have learned that true strength comes from within. I have had to fight for my identity, reconcile my appearance with my cultural heritage, and find pride in who I am. This internal battle has been difficult, but it has also been empowering. It has taught me that my identity is not defined by my skin colour, but by my experiences, values, and deep connection to my community. My identity is rooted in the traditions, customs, and languages of my people, in the stories passed down through generations, and in the land that has shaped and nurtured us.
I have emerged from this war with a stronger sense of self and a clearer understanding of who I can be. I have learned to celebrate the diversity within Indigenous communities and to advocate for greater recognition and acceptance of all Indigenous people. Walking between both worlds is both a blessing and a curse, but it has given me a unique perspective and the strength to embrace my identity with confidence.
My journey is far from over, and the internal battles may continue, but I am no longer afraid to face them. I know who I am, I know where I come from, and I am proud. To anyone facing similar conflicts, remember that you must be willing to go to war with yourself to find out who you can be. Only through this process can you truly discover and embrace the person you are meant to be.
Acknowledgements
The year-long process of gathering submissions for Yumi Kaikai, Yumi Stories wouldn’t have been possible without the generous help and support from a number of individuals and organisations. We have been fortunate to hear the stories of Elders and authors both in Brisbane and Cherbourg. We are immensely grateful to the students and their families for their interest and commitment to the creation of this magazine.
We would like to thank the following organisations for working with us on this project:
The Brisbane Writers Festival
The Ration Shed Museum at Cherbourg
The State Library of Queensland
Kuril dhagun –A welcome place for First Nations people within the State Library
St Margaret’s Marketing and Communications team
St Margaret’s Reconciliation Action Plan Committee.
We would also like to thank the following individuals for their time and for sharing their work:
Lystra Rose
Uncle Eric Law
Sandy Boyd
The families of all our students involved in the project
St Margaret’s First Nations students.
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St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School
11 Petrie Street Ascot QLD 4007 Australia
Telephone: +61 7 3862 0777
Facsimile: +61 7 3862 0701
mail@stmargarets.qld.edu.au www.stmargarets.qld.edu.au
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A School of the Society of the Sacred Advent