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

Submitted with permission of: Norman Terrick and Bairnsdale Secondary College. Compiled by Gary Jones and Monique McCracken, Bairnsdale Secondary College, Victoria, Australia.

Q: Where were you born?

N: I was born in Orbost in 1951.

Q: What tribe do you belong to?

N: I belong to the Wurrundjeri tribe.

Q: Where do they come from?

N: Melbourne - Merri Creek, original owners of Melbourne.

Q: Did you move around a lot?

N: Yes we did.

Q: What schools did you attend?

N: Numerella, Nowa Nowa, Lake Bunga, Licola, Noojee, Neerim South, Rokeby and Simpson Creek Primary Schools. I also attended Warragul, Orbost and Healesville High Schools and Warragul Tech.

Q: Was school hard for you back then. Why?

N: There was a lot of racism, kids calling us names such as coons, boongs and niggers. I was unsettled as we moved around a lot which didn't help my school attendance because I helped my mum look after the family. Maybe if we settled in one place it would have helped me make more friends and then the kids back then would have got to know me better. I was also a shy child and kept to myself which didn't help.

Q: What was it like when you were young?

N: They were good times because there was no television which made my family very close. We lived mainly in bush towns and we had to make up a lot of games to keep us occupied. We didn't have many toys so we made them out of tin cans, empty jam tins and made canoes out of roofing iron which we had many fun times in. Our uncles taught us how to make artefacts. Even though we didn't have much money it pulled our family closer together.

Q: Were you poor or well off?

N: Fairly poor because my father was only a mill hand which didn't pay a lot.

Q: Did you have a big family?

N: Yes, I'm the eldest of ten.

Q: Did you play any sports. What?

N: I was very good at athletics, especially hurdles. I held a record at Warragul Tech. Running was my best event. I also played football, cricket, swimming and boxing.

Q: What is your life story?

My story begins in East Gippsland in the state of Victoria where I was born and raised during my early childhood. Dad worked in timbermills in bush towns and isolated places with only a mill or two, with houses for the workers and families. We were really unsettled as the timber business seemed seasonal.My schooling suffered as a result of this because I was the eldest. Mum kept me home to help with the washing and housework whenever she got sick. Water had to be carried from rivers, swamps and creeks and boiled in old copper tanks. Heaps of wood was needed for that, for cooking and keeping warm in the winter months. East Gippsland is a beautiful area which can be very wet and cold during the year as well as some frost and snow, mainly in winter.

My brother next to me and older sister walked through all this dreadful weather barefooted, as money was short. On three or four occasions us, the older kids, went to live with white people because our parents couldn't afford to feed and clothe us. When dad's work ran out, we moved to the river banks, lived in mia mia's and humpies. We survived by picking beans and potatoes. These were hard times but they were terrific too.

The family was together, and even though there was no toys, we made things to amuse ourselves. We made boats with suitcases our parents no longer needed and galvanised iron that had been taken off old buildings. We blocked the holes with damp clay from beside the dams and creeks. We also made rollers from empty golden syrup and treacle tins. We filled these with dirt, put holes in the lids and bottoms of the tins, put wire through them, then dragged them behind us. We had tracks all through the bush to play on. Soon as we got tired of doing particular things we ran off and did something else.

As a young boy I had a lot of freedom to do as I wished. I spent lots of time fishing, hunting and walking the rivers, lakes and bush. I didn't listen to my parents and the elders much when I was young, so I didn't learn the important lesson of life. When I finished school in year ten I began a boiler making apprenticeship. I started drinking alcohol which caused me to get into a lot of trouble fighting in pubs, dances and against friends and at relatives homes which I boarded with. I ran out of places to stay so I left the apprenticeship after 18 months. That was in Melbourne. I came back to Gippsland to my family. Some time later I went back to the city to do many varied jobs short term. I was a welder for thirteen years. I really enjoyed this. I was good at it and worked on some really big projects. At thirty five years of age I became a Christian in 1986 and went to bible colleges in NSW and QLD.

In 1990 I went to Mt. Isa in QLD as a pastor to do outreach for aboriginal and islander people at a Baptist church. That work was very hard but really rewarding. After four years I came back to Victoria and got a job looking for sites with an archaeologist along the Merri Creek in Melbourne for my tribe, the Wurrundjeri. That was exciting because there, for the first time in my life, I came to understand my heritage as an Aborigine, something I never knew or understood in my younger years.

Presently I am employed as a Koori educator at the Bairnsdale Secondary College, working with 32 Koori students which is most definitely challenging and fulfilling.

There are many lows, but the highs always outweigh the lows. As I look back over my life I wish that I would have taken more notice of my parents, the elders and many others that sought to give me lessons on life. Added to that wish, I wished I had never touched alcohol. I see that now because I never took much notice of those who sought to give me instruction in life skills. I didn't know how to control my drinking habits. Rather, alcohol became my boss and controlled my life. This caused much trouble and heartaches for me - not to mention people I hurt. The best thing that ever happened in my life is that I came to know Jesus Christ as my personal friend and helper. This experience is the most fulfilling because it makes me a better person, also to be balanced in my opinions and judgements.

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