And so, last night we were invited to celebrate the fifty anniversary of Tranby Aboriginal College. The venue was the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton on George Street. There were more than six hundred people there and most people had dressed up appropriately. My good friend Vicki was busy placing her friends and family on the three tables she'd booked. I met her son and his girlfriend as well and he seemed a really nice bloke. Vicki's sister Gayle was there as well and I met some more people.
The food was wonderful and wine flowed royally all evening. There were a few auctions; one of Pele's football boots, B.B. King's guitar, other sports memorabilia and a signed photo of Barack Obama that I think went for five and a half thousand dollars. The Lord Mayor was there, an Indigenous Minister of the state government. The compere was a really funny guy who cracked a few rather controversial gags but overall he got the crowd going. There was dancing and music. There was a good blues band playing and also, during dinner, some wonderful music by four Aboriginal girls who call themselves 'Freshwater'.
It was a very special evening and I considered it a privilege to be invited to such a special event. Tranby College is the oldest Aboriginal college but apparently it is also the only one in the country. It was moving to hear from ex-students about their time at the college and how they had benefited from studying there.
But the most moving moment was when an Aunty (In the Aboriginal culture the term 'aunty' doesn't denote a family connection but is a title of a female elder. It's a sign of authority.) told us how at the age of seventy she decided to do a course in Aboriginal Studies at the college. She had been one of the 'stolen generations' of Aboriginal children who had been taken away by the government and placed with white families. This is a rather shameful part of history and was official policy to phase out the Aboriginal people by taking children and raising them to 'live a white life', so to speak.
So, as a result this lady had never lived with other Aboriginal people and had been deprived of her own culture most of her life. She went to Tranby to re-connect with her heritage and original culture. It was heart-rending to hear her talk about her personal experiences.
But there was also a lot of fun and dancing and eating and drinking. A wonderful, very special evening.
The food was wonderful and wine flowed royally all evening. There were a few auctions; one of Pele's football boots, B.B. King's guitar, other sports memorabilia and a signed photo of Barack Obama that I think went for five and a half thousand dollars. The Lord Mayor was there, an Indigenous Minister of the state government. The compere was a really funny guy who cracked a few rather controversial gags but overall he got the crowd going. There was dancing and music. There was a good blues band playing and also, during dinner, some wonderful music by four Aboriginal girls who call themselves 'Freshwater'.
It was a very special evening and I considered it a privilege to be invited to such a special event. Tranby College is the oldest Aboriginal college but apparently it is also the only one in the country. It was moving to hear from ex-students about their time at the college and how they had benefited from studying there.
But the most moving moment was when an Aunty (In the Aboriginal culture the term 'aunty' doesn't denote a family connection but is a title of a female elder. It's a sign of authority.) told us how at the age of seventy she decided to do a course in Aboriginal Studies at the college. She had been one of the 'stolen generations' of Aboriginal children who had been taken away by the government and placed with white families. This is a rather shameful part of history and was official policy to phase out the Aboriginal people by taking children and raising them to 'live a white life', so to speak.
So, as a result this lady had never lived with other Aboriginal people and had been deprived of her own culture most of her life. She went to Tranby to re-connect with her heritage and original culture. It was heart-rending to hear her talk about her personal experiences.
But there was also a lot of fun and dancing and eating and drinking. A wonderful, very special evening.
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