On this day 83-years ago, 200 Aboriginal people crossed the Murray River to settle on the banks in Barmah Victoria.
Families marched off Cummeragunja mission in protest of dire conditions and harsh treatment. This moment, a defining moment in history and in the fight for self-determination, is known as the Cummeragunja Walk-Off.
Bangerang and Wiradjuri woman Aunty Geraldine Atkinson, whose grandmother was one of the 200, reflected on the legacy.
Bangerang and Wiradjuri woman and member of the First Peoples Assembly Victoria, Aunty Geraldine Atkinson. Source: Supplied
"You think about them and just how brave they were. They were really brave to have done that, to go into the unknown then to create a better future for both them and their families,” she said.
The Walk-Off was supported by the activism of leaders including William Cooper, Sir Doug Nichols and Jack Patten.
"Those people that actually were born and lived on Cummeragunja - what they went on to do was just absolutely amazing," she said.
"There are so many others that belonged and lived on Cummeragunja that have done so much to progress Aboriginal Affairs.”
Living on Cummeragunja
Before Cummergunja, many Aboriginal families were dispossessed and relocated to Maloga Mission, which was under the management of Daniel Matthews.
In 1881, 42 men from Maloga petitioned the New South Wales Governor for land to call home. Two years later, almost 2,000 acres of Bangerang/Yorta Yorta Country along the Murray was cleared.
Cummeragunja mission was born into existence, named Cummeragunja – meaning “Our Home”.
For over a decade, those living on Cummeragunja worked without pay and lived on rations, building a self-sufficient home. They were never granted freehold title to Cummeragunja, instead living under ‘permissive occupancy’ which meant that government could again dispossess them with the stroke of a pen.
Cummeragunja school children Source: Wikimedia Commons
In 1937, A. J McQuiggan became Cummeragunja Mission Manager. Described as a harsh man, McQuiggan employed an authoritarian and aggressive approach.
"They were living under really harsh conditions under the manager. . . he had his favourites, he had people he treated badly,” said Aunty Geraldine.
“My sister-in-law, she's now 80, she tells the story of when she was hurt really bad. My father-in-law went and asked the mission manager to take her to the hospital and he refused.
"The manager would enforce penalties on people who didn't do the 'right' thing. I remember my mother telling me about my brother being whipped by the manager for stealing pennies.
"Those were the sorts of things that happened to our people.”
McQuiggan would threaten families with the removal of their young ones.
Looking across the Murray River to Cummeragunja Reserve1893 Source: Wikimedia Commons
"Our people had spirit, and I know my grandmother had spirit. Children were being removed, and she was determined that she would keep her family together,” she said
“She swam the [Murray] River with her daughters so they wouldn't be taken, with my Mum and my Aunty.”
As time went on, the government began leasing out much of Cummeragunja mission to European farmers. An act described by Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung Elder and Traditional Owner, Dr Wayne Atkinson in The Cummera Walk-Off and the return to Base Camp Politics as "an ongoing process of colonisation".
The Walk-Off
Cummeragunja was home to many great activists, including William Cooper and Jack Patten.
Cooper had lived on Maloga mission, before moving with his wife to Cummeragunja in 1886.
In 1908, Cooper and many other men protested the repossession of land and cutting of investment by the NSW Aborigines Protection Board. For his actions, Cooper was removed from Cummeragunja.
Patten returned in November 1938 to speak to residents about their living conditions, advocating the NSW Premier for an inquiry.
Patten returned again in February 1939, warning of incoming Protection Board policy changes that could see the conditions on Cummeragunja worsen. He encouraged people to leave the mission.
On February 4, 1939, Patten led 200 people off Cummeragunja across the Murray River to Victoria.
Jack Patten reads the unanimous resolution calling for First Nations rights. William Cooper can be seen to his right. Source: Wikimedia Commons
"These people took that stand and marched off Cummeragunja, they had no idea what they were going to do, they didn't know where they were going to get food and things they needed. They camped on the riverbanks in Barmah, just across the Murray,” said Aunty Geraldine.
“That is the bravery and strength of our people.”
While some returned to Cummeragunja once McQuiggan was removed, other families branched out and settled in Shepparton, Mooroopna and Moana.
Remembering Cummeragunja
The Walk-Off became a defining moment in the continued struggle for self-determination.
For Professor Atkinson and his family, Cummeragunja is remembered “bitter-sweetly, with pride and sadness”.
Yoo-rrook Commissioner, Dr Wayne Atkinson, is a Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung Elder and Traditional Owner. Source: Supplied
Born not long after the Walk Off, the Professor was told stories of “Cummera” by his family.
“I remember clearly how my parents and grandparents would always talk about Cummeragunja in very affectionate terms often saying things like 'poor old Cummera' or 'dear old Cummera'," he wrote.
"Later in life I recall how my mother would yearn to visit Cummera and relive the old days and how she would embrace those who she visited with deep affection often shedding a tear together for the place that they loved so much."
Dr Atkinson recognises Cummeragunja as a place remains "tied up in all our success stories and achievements under extremely difficult circumstances".
