Carrolup

10/07/2023

Noelene Melville White, 10 November 1933 – 25 June 2023

With great sadness, on 6 July, we laid to rest Noelene White, eldest daughter of Noel and Lily White and sister of the late Janette and Ross White, whose careful custodianship of the Carrolup School papers assembled by her parents contributed so much to our knowledge of the […]
07/07/2023

Launch of Tony Davis’s book ‘White Sails & Charcoal’

I am delighted to report that the long-awaited book by Tony Davis, White Sails & Charcoal: Stories of Coincidence, Bella Kelly and Carrolup has been published by Hesperian Press. I was thrilled to attend the book launch last Saturday in Tony’s home town of Albany. It was an […]
01/08/2022

Kojonup School Students’ Art Exhibition Attracts Media Attention

Last week, Lisa Martello Hart sent me a copy of an article by Sean Van Der Wielen which appeared in the Great Southern Herald on Wednesday, 27 July. This is the same newspaper that reported on the beautiful landscape drawings of the Aboriginal children of Carrolup back in the […]
19/05/2022

Marribank Cultural Centre

I recently came across these old photos of the displays we did at the Marribank Cultural Centre, Carrolup. The Cultural Centre was, as I have already blogged, funded with a grant from the Australian Bicentennial Authority, something many First Nations peoples wouldn’t have a bar of. But the […]
10/03/2022

Some of Our Carrolup Resources

Members of the Kojonup community have been developing a project, based on an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach, to enhance the social and emotional wellbeing of the community, with an emphasis placed on empowering and connecting youth. Kojonup is the town closest to Carrolup Native Settlement, so the story […]
04/03/2022

An Inspiring Visit to Kojonup

John Stanton and I headed down to visit Lisa Martello-Hart (Australiana Artist and Children’s Book Author) in Kojonup on Thursday, 17 February. We were invited to learn more of what was going on in the town and engage in various discussions with key community members that focused on […]
19/10/2021

New Additions to Memorabilia Gallery

I have today added another 18 items to the Memorabilia Gallery, which now contains 66 items (newspaper clippings, letters, items from Noel & Lily White’s personal collection of memorabilia, examples of the children’s schoolwork, art prints and official documents). The items I have added today are: Letter from Stephen […]
07/10/2021

Revel Cooper’s Reflections on Carrolup

One of the most important resources I have found during my research of the Carrolup story is a ‘letter’ written by Revel Cooper where he reflects on his time at Carrolup Native Settlement. Back in 2015, my close friend Michael (Mike) Liu and I were researching Revel’s life, as […]
20/09/2021

Facilitating Healing at Carrolup, Part 1

Some of you will know one of the main reasons I became involved with the Carrolup story was because of my interest in the healing of trauma and its consequences (e.g. mental health problems, addiction). I was looking for a story about the healing of trauma amongst Aboriginal […]
23/03/2021

Our Journey: Cliff Ryder’s Family, Part 1

Some of you will know that John and I have developed a strong relationship with the children of the Carrolup child artist Cliff Ryder. In September 2019, we spent a lovely day with the family at the Moore River Settlement and Goomalling, finishing with an emotional gathering at […]
11/01/2021

How I Came to Write About Carrolup, Part 1

Here is what I wrote in the Preface of Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe about how I came to be involved with Carrolup. ‘When filmmaker and close friend Michael (Mike) Liu and I were first shown work of the Carrolup artists Revel Cooper, Parnell Dempster and Reynold Hart […]
09/09/2020

Arrival at Carrolup

Noelene White, daughter of teacher Noel White, still remembers today her family’s arrival at Carrolup in 1946. Here is a description based on an interview I had with her which you can find in our book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe.  “Noel, Lily and their three young […]
29/07/2020

‘The Very Lowest Standards’

In my last few blogs, I have included sections of our recently launched book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe that described various elements of the colonisation process in Western Australia. Description of the colonisation process, which impacted so badly on Aboriginal people,  provides a context to the story of […]
13/07/2020

Carrolup Native Settlement

I continue including sections of our book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe, this one focused on the setting up of Carrolup Native Settlement. ‘The economic situation of Aboriginal people living in the South West deteriorates during the first decade of the 20th Century. From 1911, many Aboriginal […]
02/07/2020

Facets of Colonisation, Part 3

In my last two blogs you can see here and here, I have included sections of our book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe that described various elements of the colonisation process in Western Australia. Description of the colonisation process, which impacted so badly on Aboriginal people,  provides a context […]
02/06/2020

Why is the Story of Carrolup Important?

‘The first step in re-establishing healthy communities is to acknowledge and understand the impact of the colonial legacy on the lives of Aboriginal people today and the various pathways necessary for healing from historical trauma, using both cultural and contemporary understandings and processes.’ Pat Dudgeon, Helen Milroy and Roz […]
21/05/2020

The Carrolup Story: 18 Months On

I can’t believe that John and I missed the 18 month anniversary of our website, The Carrolup Story. Yes, we launched The Carrolup Story as a Storytelling, Education and Healing resource on 10th November 2018, the 85th birthday of Noelene White, daughter of Carrolup teacher Noel White. Since that […]
07/05/2020

John Stanton’s 40-Year Carrolup Journey

Back at the beginning of 2019, I wrote a blog about my colleague John Stanton and his involvement in the Carrolup story. Given the approaching publication of our book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe, I thought it was time to describe John’s involvement again. He has played a […]
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