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Name
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St Dominic's Mission
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Type of carceral site
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Reserve, Station, or Mission
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Dates of use
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1950 – 1959
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Quote
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She was not eligible for a Mission hut - corrugated iron, one-room huts that looked like slight enlargements of outdoor dunnies. They were lined up in rows, with a single tap at the end of every second row. One tap for every two hundred people. They housed what Mission authorities referred to as 'nuclear families.' That is, husband and wife with children, no matter how many. If the children had been forcibly removed to the segregated dormitories the couples made room for grandparents, or other extra relatives [...]
Novel, Fiction.
Wright, Alexis. Plains of Promise. UQP, 2022 [1998], p. 11.
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Absenteeism [at church] was punishable with twenty-four hours in the lock-up - a small room, 180 by 300 centimetres, with one small window up near the ceiling. An essential facility provided without compassion in mind. More than one inmate meant overcrowding. Still, there was always room for one more to complete the punishment list for the day. The door slammed shut on space and light. 'Clean up your own mess when you leave!' Providing toilet facilities for a gaol was not part of the whiteman's burden in protecting its black population.
Novel, Fiction.
Wright, Alexis. Plains of Promise. UQP, 2022 [1998], p. 39-40.
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The vicinity of the old reserve became obvious ... Corrugated iron pinned across other car bodies with thick gauge wire and held down by rocks helped to created the much needed shelter for 'drunken people'. Those who wanted a chance to see things differently but were not tolerated inside the biggest social experiment in the world. Beer bottles: broken, intact, splattered, all brands, lay everywhere amongst paper cartons and assorted plastic containers. The socially engineered Aboriginal community - the result of decades of government interference.
Novel, Fiction.
Wright, Alexis. Plains of Promise. UQP, 2022 [1998], p. 263-264.
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Too many of them were mixed up by years of displacement themselves. The authorities had brought too many people to the Mission in wire cages decades ago, and forced them to become assimilated into the local language group. Not that it really worked. People just became more engrossed with their inner spirit and closed all doors behind them.
Novel, Fiction.
Wright, Alexis. Plains of Promise. UQP, 2022 [1998], p. 284.
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Authority
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Queensland Aboriginals Preservation and Protection Act 1939–1946
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Contact
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Niamh
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identifier
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SITE-STD