| Record Number |
15870 |
| Item Number |
BR15730228 |
| Location |
DVD CRO |
| Title |
Croker Island exodus [DVD]. |
| Published |
Sydney : ABC Program Sales [dist.], 2012. |
| Collation |
1 videodisc (58 mins.) : sd., col. ; 2012. |
| General Note |
The film makers wish to advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that this film contains images of deceased persons. |
| The children were evacuated to Otford, NSW. Betty Bezant was a child living in Otford at the time and remembers the Aboriginal children attending Otford Public School. See her book: Our river days: a reflection of childhood memories 1942-1946. |
| DVD. |
| A study guide produced by the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) may be downloaded from Metromagazine website at URL below. |
| Creation/Production Credits Note |
Director : Steven McGregor ; Producers : Anna Grieve and Danielle MacLean. |
| Participant Note |
Alice Briston, Netta Cahill, Jessie Lyons, Margaret Somerville, Eden Thomsen. |
| Summary Note |
1941, all white women and children are evacuated from Darwin. Japanese invasion is imminent. On a tiny Methodist mission on Croker Island in the Arafura Sea, the Superintendent and three Cottage mothers are responsible for 95 stolen generation Aboriginal children allocated to their care by the government. The missionaries are given the option of evacuating but how could they leave these children? However food supplies are running dangerously low and no help comes through the long Wet. February 1942, a message by pedal radio, Darwin has been bombed, the missionaries will now have to move the children off the island themselves. So they begin their perilous journey. Their first destination requires a trek over many miles of open savannah and the harsh beautiful stone country of Arnhem Land. When the old truck becomes bogged, the children help push it to harder ground. They gather armfuls of water lily stalks and climb for berries in the bush plum trees. At night they make camp, using their dwindling supply of flour and yeast to make damper. It will still be many miles walking. At Oenpelli they expect to stay 3 days but it is weeks before word that they will have to walk another 60 miles to meet government trucks. With help from the traditional Aboriginal men they cross the flooded East Alligator River by dug out canoe. The river is home to saltwater crocodiles but despite falling into the river they make it across safely. After many days, they meet up with the trucks. But arriving in Pine Creek they find an American army base, no beds just the Butcher<?char 146 ?>s Paddock on the outskirts of town. They finally board a cattle train en route to Alice Springs and their destination a Methodist Farm on the outskirts of Sydney (Otford). In 44 days these brave women and their young charges travel from Arnhem Land across the continent, a truly heroic and untold journey. But this is also an epic story of human endurance and resilience. In 1946 Margaret Somerville returned to Croker with the children including Alice, Netta and Jessie who are now in their 80s. They have endured so much in their lives but their friendships forged on Croker remain strong and feisty. These Aboriginal women still call Margaret, now 100 years, sister. It is their shared stories of love, humour and compassion that are central to this film. |
| Target Audience |
Classification: G |
| "Croker Island Exodus is suitable for primary students in Year 6 and secondary students in Years 7–12." -- Study guide. |
| Subject |
World War, 1939-1945 -- Evacuation of civilians -- Northern Territory -- Croker Island |
| Methodist Church -- Missions -- Northern Territory -- Croker Island |
| Aboriginal Australians -- Children -- Northern Territory -- Croker Island |
| Aboriginal Australians -- Missions -- Northern Territory -- Croker Island |
| Stolen generations (Australia) - Biography |
| Geographic Name |
Croker Island (N.T.) -- History |
| Internet Site |
Metromagazine study guides |
