This is a story of what gets passed along to our future generations. It’s a story not written by me by by my second cousin Maiala Waters, her Mumma Rennae is my first cousin. Maiala’s matriarchial line is through her Mum Rennae, her Grandmother Janet McCabe (my Aunty), and her Great Grandmother, Alice James.
Every Aboriginal family are survivors of slavery. The
country we see now, it’s infrastructure and this economy, and the prosperity
and economic opportunity exists as a result of slavery and stolen wages. Slavery
and colonisation also causes trauma, so the legacy of that will be passed on to
future generations, also the very obvious and real financial disadvantage. So
here we are, taking steps to heal and support eachother in our community. Some
times we get lucky and we get to do it as our day job.
Below are some reflections from my cousin Maiala Waters.
Here is her voice..........
As some of you may know I have been working in
Child Safety most of the year and recently made the switch to community, still
in the same sector, but now I support families to lead the discussions about
their lives and their children. I work in this sector not to point the finger
at our mums and dads struggling with the challenges life brings or to remove
our babies. I work in this sector to create space where we can have real and
raw yarns about how we are in the position we’re in today. I wrote similar words
today that I thought I would share. Not to big note how deadly a writer I am
(cause I already know that derrrr) but to do what we have done for tens of
1000s of years, share one of my stories. One of the stories that make me who I
am today.
I leave you with a raw reality of intergenerational
trauma. The same reality shared by the families I work with every day. The
reality of my Great Grandmother, Alice James, a proud Pitta Pitta woman who was
a mother, a Nan, an Aunty and a respected Elder. Before my Grandmother became
any of these things though she was nothing but a slave. Despite being the best
Mum, Nan, Aunty and Elder she could be, those days of being a slave always
stayed with her. And it stayed with my Nan and it stays with my mum and now me
and my daughter. That is the reality of intergenerational trauma that we don’t
see. That is the reality of intergeneration trauma thousands of Aboriginal
peoples carry. This is why I do the work that I do. Because I know the worlds
our families are in. Because I too am in that world. And I can hear the pain
they don’t know how to voice. Because I too, carry that pain. I want to create
spaces for our families to share their yarns. I want to create platforms to
understand that trauma passed down from our old people and hopefully keep some
of our babies out of the system. I carry my Great Grandmother’s strength in all
I do. And I see that strength in my daughter and my son. I see that strength in
all my people and I want to empower our families to know, they too, carry that
strength. Here are some photos of my Old Nan and women who I love that share
the same beautiful strong matriarch I do 
Maiala is Mumma to her two babies Birriwa* Miyaay*,
Sister to Marcus*, Ngiyaani*, and Dylan*.
Daughter to Woolombi Waters and Rennae Hopkins* (my cousin)
Granddaughter of Janet McCabe (my Aunty), and Harry Jard (my
Uncle, my father’s brother),
Niece to Christine Jard*, Billie Larkin*, Lana Rosenblatt*,
Troy* and Shane*.
Cousin to many Caitlin Louise*, and me (Rina) many many more.
(8) All pictured.
