Uniting Church must return land back for Stolen Generations
Rev Charissa Suli, President of the Uniting Church in Australia; Rev Ian Tozer, Moderator of the Uniting Church of Western Australia; Alison Xamon, Chair of the Presbytery of the Uniting Church in Western Australia; Rev Mark Kickett, National Chair U
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We are strong Noongar women who utilised the services at the former Beananing Kwuurt Institute (BKI) for the past three years. We are united in our fight for our land back and for our right to heal on country, on our own terms.
Sister Kate’s is on Whadjuk Noongar land and carries a very dark and racist history of genocide.
This land is where they stole us and our family members - our children, sisters, brothers, siblings, parents - and tried to assimilate them to become white and “civilised”. This included Aboriginal children from all over Western Australia, displaced from their traditional country, mostly children with fairer skin. We were raped and abused, whipped and publicly humiliated, and sent to white families as slaves.
The Bringing The Home Inquiry found that the forcible removal of Indigenous children was genocidal in nature, aimed at erasing our unique cultural identities. Sister Kate’s aim was to “breed out the Black”. Recommendation 41 of the report called on churches who ran the genocidal missions, to return the land they stole, and to do so in consultation with Indigenous people and their land councils.
For the past three years, we have had our comfort place here at BKI. Through BKI’s services we have reclaimed our culture, supported one another, and begun healing from the trauma inflicted upon us and our families. BKI’s services, such as advocacy, food relief, mental health support, and cultural connection, are essential for our well-being and for the future of our community. But in May the Church came in and shut us down, and then in December closed the services and evicted us from the land.
We are inviting the Uniting Church to right the wrongs of the past and not repeat mistakes. Sorry means you don’t do it again.
We demand that the Uniting Church return this land to the Noongar people as a form of reparations, acknowledging the pain and suffering that has been caused by their actions. The Church must engage in genuine dialogue with us women, allowing us to determine our future and the use of Noongar land.
Join us in our call for justice, healing, and empowerment. Sign this petition to support the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous hands, so we can continue our journey of healing together.
Signed on behalf of the many Noongar woman who regularly used the services at BKI over the past three years:
Dorothy Ann Winmar Riley Hansen
Margaret Taylor-Yarran
Janet Garlett
Jessica Hart
Sirah Coyne
Petition by
To:
Rev Charissa Suli, President of the Uniting Church in Australia; Rev Ian Tozer, Moderator of the Uniting Church of Western Australia; Alison Xamon, Chair of the Presbytery of the Uniting Church in Western Australia; Rev Mark Kickett, National Chair U
From:
[Your Name]
We are strong Noongar women who utilised the services at the former Beananing Kwuurt Institute (BKI) for the past three years. We are united in our fight for our land back and for our right to heal on country, on our own terms.
Sister Kate’s is on Whadjuk Noongar land and carries a very dark and racist history of genocide.
This land is where they stole us and our family members - our children, sisters, brothers, siblings, parents - and tried to assimilate them to become white and “civilised”. This included Aboriginal children from all over Western Australia, displaced from their traditional country, mostly children with fairer skin. We were raped and abused, whipped and publicly humiliated, and sent to white families as slaves.
The Bringing The Home Inquiry found that the forcible removal of Indigenous children was genocidal in nature, aimed at erasing our unique cultural identities. Sister Kate’s aim was to “breed out the Black”. Recommendation 41 of the report called on churches who ran these genocidal missions on land to return the land in consultation with Indigenous people and their land councils.
For the past three years, we have had our comfort place here at Beananing Kwuurt Institute (BKI). Through BKI’s services we have reclaimed our culture, supported one another, and begun healing from the trauma inflicted upon us and our families. BKI’s services, such as advocacy, food relief, mental health support, and cultural connection, are essential for our well-being and for the future of our community. But in May the Church came in and shut us down, and then in December closed the services and evicted us from the land.
We are inviting the Uniting Church to right the wrongs of the past and not repeat mistakes. Sorry means you don’t do it again.
We demand that the Uniting Church return this land to the Noongar people as a form of reparations, acknowledging the pain and suffering that has been caused by their actions. The Church must engage in genuine dialogue with us women, allowing us to determine our future and the use of Noongar land.
Join us in our call for justice, healing, and empowerment. Sign this petition to support the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous hands, so we can continue our journey of healing together.
Signed on behalf of the many Noongar woman who regularly used the services at the former Beananing Kwuurt Institute over the past three years:
Dorothy Ann Winmar Riley Hansen
Margaret Taylor-Yarran
Janet Garlett
Jessica Hart
Sirah Coyne