Message Stick – Child Artists of Carrolup
Clip 1: Sins of the father
2 min 8 sec
Taken from the TV program Message Stick – Child Artists of Carrolup (2003)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be G
Availability of the complete title
Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
Curator’s clip description
Archival photographs show the children of Carrolup during the mission days. Dr John Stanton, Director of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology, gives a background to the Carrolup mission. Mervyn Hill, former Carrolup inmate, offers a personal recount of his days on the Carrolup mission.
Curator’s notes
Solemn church organ notes preface a moving introduction to the Carrolup mission that gives a social-political explanation for the removal of what were termed ‘half-caste’ children in the eyes of white society, in the hopes of concealing the sins of their white male kin. The archival photographs of the children allow us to imagine their confusion in being removed from their families and placed in institutional care without any explanation. Local artist Mervyn Hill’s story of being taken is particularly poignant.
Romaine Moreton, curator
have teachers’ notes.
