Anna Haebich

Exemption and Nyungar Letters in the West Australian Archives

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 03-2023

DOI: 10.1111/AJPH.12883

Abstract: Rather than rewarding applicants seeking relief from the draconian 1905 Aborigines Act , Exemption Certificates in Western Australia became a bureaucratic weapon to enforce their rigid control through enforced prohibitions on alcohol for Nyungar people. Applications were routinely rejected, regardless of the applicant's way of life, which quickly deteriorated under the “care” of the Aborigines Department. At the same time, new laws further enforcing prohibitions through increased fines and imprisonment, meant few had any hope of release. This combination derailed the exemption process. The injustices were recently revealed by the Ancestors' Words: Nyungar Letter Writing in the Archives Project , which located activist application letters written by Ancestors of today's Nyungar families, letters which were held for many decades in archive files of the Aborigines Department. The files also contained devastating letters of rejection written by the Minister, his officers and local police. The Ancestors' letters of courage and their distressing rejections in reply are examined here in a powerful case study developed in conversations between two Nyungar Elders, the writer's granddaughter, and the project researcher. The study also reveals how the project's respectful return of letters to the Elders can restore these important stories from the past to the flow of living family memories, down the generations.

Curtin University

Location: Australia

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Murdoch University

Location: Australia

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Griffith University

Location: Australia

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State Library Of Queensland

Location: Australia

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Museum Of Western Australia

Location: Australia

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Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0208911

Start Date: 07-2002

End Date: 12-2007

Amount: $501,591.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP100200304

Start Date: 03-2011

End Date: 12-2014

Amount: $244,147.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP160103084

Start Date: 04-2016

End Date: 12-2023

Amount: $263,603.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Indigenous - Grant ID: IN200100039

Start Date: 04-2020

End Date: 03-2025

Amount: $994,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Ancestors’ Words: Nooongar Letter Writing In WA Government Archives (1860-1960s)

Start Date: 2016

End Date: 2020

Funder: Australian Research Council

Imagining Assimilation, The Australian Experience

Start Date: 2002

End Date: 2006

Funder: Griffith University

Celebrating Cultures Aboriginal Performing Arts In Western Australia

Start Date: 2011

End Date: 2016

Funder: Curtin University of Technology

Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354463

Start Date: 2003

End Date: 12-2003

Amount: $10,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council