Resumo de The Hesian Bag House - Catherine Donovan/Bula

The Hessian Bag House - of a Gumbaynggirr family:
Written by Cathy Bula

The house had a tin roof (I was glad as I loved to hear the rain on the roof) the floor was made of boards, the windows were made of boards (pushed out through the day to allow the sunlight in), and the walls were made of Hessian bags opened and nailed very neatly to poles.

The house was built by my father and my older brother. The tin and the boards were donated by a very kind European man who owned the property.

Inside the house was immaculate, the floors were scrubbed every day, the beds were neatly made with all corners tucked in, and the kitchen was one any women would die for, in that day and age. The stove was also donated and kept the house warm in winter, the fridge was powered by kerosene, and the rest of the furniture was bought to accommodate the family.

The house was built in an L shape with my brother?s room at the north end of the house, the kitchen in the middle, my sister and I in the next room and dad and mum on the far south of the house.

The Hessian bag house was filled with much love and laughter and stories that my dad and mum would relate to us. Our grandparents, uncles and aunties were also a part of our home education. This was when we were taught to live in society and survive should anything happen and we became separated. Survival was a big thing in those days?s as blacks were not accepted by the white communities. Black children were targeted by the Welfare department and taken away from their families.

After building the bowling club in town our house was filled with stray kids whose parents had other things to do. The blacks were not allowed in the club, so all the white kids enjoyed my mothers cooking and my father?s stories. This created friendships that still exist today.

I often wondered why the Welfare authorities were always after us black kids. I thought that it should have been the white kids as they were the ones being neglected.

My father worked in various jobs on the NSW Railways, on the local banana plantations, on sheep farms and selling worms for bait. He was a hard working man and was greatly respected.

My mother and father kept us immaculate, our noses were clean, and our clothes were starched along with the sheets we slept on. There were no holes in our socks, as we had no socks. We had no shoes that we wore on a daily basis. The one pair of shoes we each owned was to wear to church and to town. We wore no shoes to school.

The extended family situation we lived in was a wonderful environement for children to grow up in. Our teachers(parents, granparents, uncles, and aunties) taught us respect, to share, and to watch out for our family members. This instilled a sense of belonging and created an ongoing relationship forged to last forever.

The hessian bag house was more than a house it was a warm, and happy place that created a lifetime of memories for all who lived in it.

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