Day 28 of our Big Trip of the Simpson and now the Flinders Ranges

Wednesday, Jul 22, 2015 at 17:19

Member - Matwil

Today we are in Tibooburra. Up early again as it rained during the night but is was not much. After breakfast Louise wanted to visit the Local Aboriginal Land Council as they had a museum and a walk through some of their traditional land. We had decided to stay an extra night so we could explore the immediate area, as there is some interesting history here. The museum was full of artifacts, small but very interesting and they had a walk nearby that allowed you to explore the land as it once was. We went out to do the walk and discovered that there was a camp ground as well with flush toilets and hot gas showers. Why6 were we staying in the caravan park, we asked ourselves. So after the walk, which included an original aboriginal burial site, we went back to town, packed up the gear and moved and we are now staying here two more nights. We are the only people in the caravan park, and it is beer o’clock so we are enjoying the peace and quiet. I have a hot fire going and we are about to make our first damper in the bush oven we bought. Gee life is hard. There is no power here but we don't need it as I have the batteries charging with solar.

The walk we did today was magical as it gave you a real feel of what life must have been like all those years ago. These are gibber plains and the plants grow between the rocks. A dry creek runs though the area and has red gums all along it. It is beautiful.
The history of the aborigines in Tibooburra is not a good one. Around the late 1936 the men came back to camp to find that all the women and children had been forcibly loaded onto three or four lorries and taken to Wilcannia. The women were never told they were not coming back, just loaded up like cattle and taken away. There are conflicting stories why but it was done. When hey arrived at Wilcannia they were locked up and treated like criminals, even the local aborigines shunned them. Many when they were finally released made there way to Wanaaring but were stopped in the journey at the Paroo River which was in flood, so stopped there and went back to Wanaaring.. The men had to follow. One wonders whether many of the problems in Wilcannia stems from actions like this so long ago. Being moved from their lands by deception is not something I agree with, whoever you are. I might add here that forcibly moving people from their lands was part of the policy at that time. I am starting to realise why the Apology was so important to these people, and the need to recognize them in our constitution.

Well the damper is almost cooked so I will report tomorrow how it went. Tomorrow we are going to explore the lower section of the Sturt National Park. But we will camping here again tomorrow. Drats another camper has just pulled up so we have to share., but the ground is big enough for the two of us so we will just have to put up with it.
Wanting to explore our vast wide land
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