Bruce Baxter

All of the stories presented on this site remain expressly the property of those interviewed.

Submitted with permission by: Bruce Baxter and
Swan Hill Primary School

My parents were itinerant fruit and vegetable workers and we moved around a lot through NSW and Victoria following the seasons. I was in the middle of 4 brothers 1 sister.

In my early teens I started knocking around on my own and worked in sawmills in Gippsland, rabbit trapping on the southern NSW plains, working on the railways in Victoria and SA and tent boxing with Jimmy Sharman and Billy Leach's boxing troupes travelling around SA, Victoria and NSW following the country and city shows.

My nephew was already working with the troupe and made enquires for me to join up too.

In the troupe worked as the geeman which involved mixing with the crowd and abusing the fighters on the stage. We would go in and box the other members of the troupe having a good workout without hurting each other. Your fellow opponent would throw a left hook and it would be taken on the glove but still falling to the mat.

At other times a fighter from the crowd really made us earn our money. If you were fighting one of the local lads you had to be weary of one of his mates or his girlfriend tackling you with her handbag if you were giving him a bit of a thrashing. A couple of hours after the completion of one show we'd be into it again putting on yet another.

On arrival in a town the troupe would raise the tent and prepare for the show. Life on the road was rough. After working with Billy I did some professional boxing on TV ringside in Melbourne and also fought in Sydney and Perth. I fought the three rounder before the Lionel Rose/Rocky Gatalari fight in the Horden Pavilion in Sydney.

I married at 18 in 1960 in Swan Hill and had 3 children, 2 boys and a girl. At about that time I became an aboriginal cultural officer. I worked as an officer at Camp Junggai in the Rubican Valley. Junggai was a race relations camp with white and koori kids. 60% of the kids attending were Koori and 40% were white Australians. This concept seemed to work very well with the children mixing well.

We tried to give all the children an understanding of Aboriginal culture.

Later I lived at Healesville near Melbourne and Robinvale on the Murray River.

While living on the riverbanks near Robinvale the big floods of '56 dad said we'll shift in the morning ...not tonight. At 5.00am in the morning we awoke with 6 inches of water through the camp. The floods were good because we would go hunting through the waters for rabbits, possums and duck eggs being careful that when we walked onto high dry land we kept an eye open for bull ants.

While on the river banks my grandmother smoked me. I was sweeping the hut and whistling just on sundown. She said I was sweeping out the good spirits and whistling in the bad spirits. It was one lesson I will never forget.

A smoking is when a fire is lit and arm fulls of green gum leaves are thrown on to make it smokey. I was put in a chaff bag and held over the smoke.

After the riverbanks we were put on the Manatunga which was a reserve on the outskirts of Robinvale. We lived in concrete houses with only one door, at the front and no verandahs. Manatanga had about 12 houses with 12 extended families living in them. The living there was good and there was a sawmill close by where the men worked.

The electricity worked on 2 bob in the slot and our hot water was through the wood stove or a chip heater. Christmas times were really good as all the families got together down on the river.

After Matatanga closed we were placed in housing commission homes in the Robinvale township.

My grandmother died at 78 years of age and she was the storyteller of traditional Aboriginal stories of the Wiradjuri tribe which was located around Leeton, Narandera and Darlington point.

I came to Swan Hill and have been a Koori Education officer for 10 years at the primary school.