*photography: >>photo essays: stories of the stolen generations, uluru: tjintawarra's story

Tjintawarra’s daughter was taken to Alice Springs for treatment after her swollen finger became infected from a splinter. When she did not return after some time, Tjintawarra walked 350 kms to Alice Springs with only a digging stick and a billy can, determined to bring her daughter home. She found her daughter in an institution, met her later that night in the bush, and they walked 350 km home. On the way Tjintawarra hunted goanna and dug for witchetty grubs, and a desert finch guided them to a rockpool when they ran out of water. Tjintawarra’s daughter grew up with her desert family and was never taken again.

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These figurative sculptures depict childhood experiences recalled by members of the stolen generations* from Uluru, central Australia. Their stories were collected by Mutitjulu elder Bob Randall from his own personal experience and that of his peers, and interpreted by sculptor Hazel MacKinnon. Each sculpture was photographed on location where the story originally occurred, spanning 500 km from Uluru to Alice Springs.

*The term 'stolen generations' refers to Aboriginal Australian children who were forcibly removed from their families under national government policy. It is estimated that between 1910 and 1970, over 50 000 chidren were thus removed and placed in church or government institutions. They were often raised hundreds of kilometres from their tribal homelands, without further contact with their extended families and indigenous culture, including their tribal languages and lands. This project was a collaboration between Bob Randall, Hazel MacKinnon and Kia Mistilis, aimed at promoting better community understanding of our shared history.