“I was born on Bentinck Island behind Nyinyilki. I remember coming across from Bentinck in 1946. We landed on the beach down from the office and were lined up to be counted and given names and needles and taken to the dormitory.

I remember on Bentinck planes used to fly across - enemy planes. My mother and father and sisters used to run and hide in the mangroves. My mother used to say ‘lay down flat in the thickest part of the mangrove’. When the noises were all gone our mothers and fathers used to take us out. We were really frightened in those times but it didn’t last for long. Then we would play at the fish traps and along the beaches and help our parents carry wood to cook fish, dugong and turtles. My father for instance had three or four wives. He used to make sure all the children had meat - we used to eat first. The next day there used to be a big whale boat.

We used to play ‘til my little sister went to Nyinyilki to baby-sit. A big wind was coming. We used to put our little brother in the coolomon. A fire started and the big wind-break caught on fire and the coolomon he was in as well. We pulled him out but he was already cooked burnt, and Netta and I, we had to stay there ‘til our parents came back from hunting. We both got a hiding from our father with a club and our mothers got a hiding too. From there we took his burnt body to Rough Point Koor Wati. That’s where we buried him there. The old people would leave fish around the fire to smoke while we were baby-sitting.

Life in the dormitory was hard for us, ‘cause we talked our language and Lardil children couldn’t understand what we said. But some children were from Bourke town - they could understand that. We used to get up very early. Katie and Roberta used to look after us in the dormitory. We were very poor. We used to have flour with weavels in it - no matter we were forced to eat it. And we didn’t have fresh water baths. We had to swim in the saltwater down at the beach. The water was very cold sometimes and we had no towel so we had to jump back into our clothes. They were made of material like the canvas we paint on today. It was very hard material. We went to school until Grade 9. We learned on slates with crayons. At dinner time our parents would bring us fish to go with our damper. The best feed was dugong, fish and turtle. They used to sell those fish for tobacco. We used to ‘til we were 15. Then we had to find a job when we were 16. I used to do gardening, growing coconut trees. It was hard. We used to rake up rubbish with our hands and a coconut broom.

After the Mornington Island kids went back to their parents, the Kaiadilt still had to stay in the dormitories. For Christmas holidays we used to go to Denim Island - six couples. The first wedding we saw was on Denim. We used to stay all Christmas holidays, sitting on the beach. Over there, there were great big coconut trees. We used to climb them. They used to say ‘get out of those trees girls. You are not monkeys!’ Our parents used to come from bush camps. We used to watch them from the other island. We could see the smoke from our parents’ fire. They used to bring nuts from lilies. Gully used to go across and bring those nuts from our mummies.

When everything changed they sent us to another dormitory. They put us there. I don’t know why. It was better there ‘cause we could walk to our parents. After that, we could go and stay with our mummies and dads. I was working for some people as a housemaid, looking after children. I was a house girl. Then we started getting jobs on the mainland. I didn’t fly out, I went on a boat. I was frightened. I went to Bourketown hospital, top work. That was first job.

I went out to three stations then came back to Mornington Island. Then I had my first child, Wendy. Then I had a relationship with a man and had two girls, but he died. I was left to grow my two girls up myself. Now they all have children of their own and nine grandchildren and another daughter in Mareeba. When I was free after my defacto died, I was free to go back to Bentinck Island. I took four of my grandchildren to Bentinck and started a new life. I was really happy to be free from Mornington Island. We’ve lived and stayed there ever since, working there doing grass-string and shell necklaces, doing gardening and decorating my house with all sorts of plants until we got the good news, that aunty Sally was coming with a message. To show us something she had done. She showed us and gave it to Ethel. So we said we should start doing the same thing that Aunty had done and we got a shock when Brett came and got me and I found all my sisters up here painting. Now I’m still painting.

I like to let my children know to follow my foot-steps too. When the wet season is over we will go home and take our canvas with us. So we can paint at home on Bentinck and do painting in our home: a free life for us.”

~ Amy Loogatha