Cherbourg sits about 250 kilometres or a three-hour bus ride north-west of Brisbane.
It is now home to the historical Cherbourg Ration Shed Museum and holds a grim past as a settlement for ‘relocated’ First Nations peoples who were taken from their communities and families as part of the government’s assimilation program. The rules at Cherbourg were strict and the punishments harsh. Children were housed in dormitories or camps, basic foods were rationed and any connection to culture, language or country were gradually stripped from a community forced to adopt a colonial way of life.
As part of its Cultural Immersion program, Knowmore Legal Service arranged for all Brisbane-based staff to visit the museum and hear stories first-hand from members of the Cherbourg community.
More than 38% of Knowmore’s clients are First Nations people so, as CEO Jackie Mead explains, it’s important to ensure that Knowmore staff can provide an environment that’s culturally safe.
“From our perspective, Cultural Safety is more than just understanding the stories of the past and hearing details of the experiences of people,” she says. “It requires a more immersive approach.”
The staff at Knowmore includes legal advisors, counsellors, financial counsellors and Aboriginal engagement advisors. Gary Oliver is a Kuku Yalangi man and Executive Director of Strategy and First Nations Engagement. He’s driving the program and says the key to cultural safety is listening and learning directly from community.
“We have the coalition of peaks, at a national level and state levels that work for our communities – but it misses one thing. It misses the voice of the community direct. And that’s why we are there to listen. To open up to real understanding of working with our communities across the country.”
“There’s more work that we can do with Aboriginal communities. Learning more from lived experience. Learning more about the empathy that we should have for our communities when we’re moving forward.”
Both Gary and Jackie are helping weave a culture of understanding into the fabric of the nation-wide community legal service. As legal advisors to clients who have had deeply traumatic life experiences as children, it’s critical that Knowmore staff are equipped to provide an empowering experience and an environment to support a journey of healing.
“Truth-telling takes courage,” Jackie explains. “It takes the courage to sit with the pain of somebody else’s experience… Healing is a journey and it’s a long journey. Knowmore hopes to be part of that journey with every community that have had those types of experiences.”
Aunty Bronwyn is a proud Waka Waka woman with deep connections to the Cherbourg community. She says life as a child growing up in the settlement was traumatising and that visitors to the museum have to confront that history.
“The facts are the facts,” she says. “The truth will always be the truth. This is deep dive. This is about being raw and being real. I would like this experience to raise some questions for them to challenge themselves, their friends, their families. Because that’s where the real learning begins.
“When I tell you that there is pain – very raw pain – now, in this learning process, don’t deny me because you don’t feel comfortable in it. You don’t get to do that… I can’t hide from my truth. I’m not going to anymore.”