- JOURNEY OF HEALING SITE UPDATE -
From: "John Bond" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Dear Friends,
On Monday in Sydney we farewelled an outstanding Aboriginal leader and
spokesperson for the stolen generations.
Carol Kendall was removed from her family as a baby, and fostered by a white
family. In the early 1980s she set out to find her Aboriginal family.
With the help of Link-Up, she found her mother Mary, and some of her
siblings. Later she became chair of Link-Up NSW, then its Co-ordinator for
nine years, helping hundreds of people to take the journey she had taken.
In 1998 she accepted the position of Co-chair of the National Sorry Day
Committee. The following year she and the Committee launched the Journey of
Healing with the aim of offering the whole Australian community the chance
to help overcome the wounds resulting from the separation policies.
Soon after, she was diagnosed with life-threatening cancer. She resigned
her position, but kept working to meet the needs of all who sought her help.
Last year, when her health improved a little, she accepted the position of
co-patron of the Journey of Healing, along with former Prime Minister
Malcolm Fraser.
Then in December, her husband Bruce collapsed and died of a heart attack.
Carol's cancer flared up and, only five weeks later, her long struggle
ended.
Hundreds gathered on Monday for her funeral, spilling out from the chapel in
every direction in a riot of colour. Carol had asked that everyone wear
bright clothes, and that balloons festoon the venue. Mary was there, and
many of her family. So were Carol's foster parents, Harry and Vi Laird, and
their relatives, as well as NSW Deputy Premier Andrew Refshauge, ATSIC
Commissioner Brian Butler, Human Rights Commissioner Bill Jonas and Chair of
AIATSIS Mick Dodson. Marie Bashir, Governor of NSW, sent a heartfelt
message.
Carol had put much thought into the commemoration, and asked her friend
Rhonda Ansiewicz to lead it. We heard and sang some of her special songs
including one called 'Thank you' in gratitude for all her friends and
colleagues.
Carol fought injustice with integrity and courage, Rhonda said, and was
'bewildered and in great pain' at the Prime Minister's refusal to say sorry.
'She saw saying sorry not as a guilt trip but a necessary recognition of the
suffering Aboriginal people have endured so they could begin the healing
process.' She respected William Deane and Malcolm Fraser for their
understanding of this.
She loved her family and friends with a passion, Rhonda went on, and read a
poem Carol had written for her foster parents, in which she poured out her
love and gratitude for them. Harry is now frail, but he was able to tell of
memorable incidents from her childhood. Then a sister of Carol, Jackie
Bedford, spoke. They first met each other ten years ago, and got on
immediately. Carol's foster parents have become close friends too, Jackie
said, 'and Harry has become Pop to me too.' To lose Carol was devastating,
she said. 'But I am going to make sure that her fight continues.'
Many others spoke, and the commemoration ended with a prayer which Rhonda
had written at Carol's request. Carol so appreciated this prayer that she
asked for it to be read in her last hours:
'Carol, we give you back to the Great Spirit Being to return you to the Land
where you began. We know in faith that the Great Spirit has lifted you free
of pain and suffering. We call on the Great Spirit to give us the courage
to live our lives with justice and integrity so as to give a voice to the
values and beliefs that you lived. We know that our God of love and
gentleness has joined you with Bruce who has waited for you these past
weeks.
'God, we are not surrendering a body here today, but planting a seed. Just
as the grain of wheat falls and dies, there will be a harvest under our
Australian skies. May the black angels lead you into paradise. May all the
black martyrs who have gone before you welcome and lead you into the city of
Jerusalem. May the choir of angels sing your song of celebration as you
join them in eternal life and return to the sacred care of your Worimu
people. God bless you, Carol. Go in peace with our love.'
After the commemoration, many gathered at Stone Quarry Lodge in Picton,
where we met Carol's families and reminisced. Senator Aden Ridgeway writes
in the Koori Mail of her 'never-ending energy to fight for justice for the
stolen generations'. That was her focus. But she realised too that the
wounds of the removal policies were not confined to Aboriginals. As Chair
of the Journey of Healing she sought out white Australians caught up in
these policies who would be prepared to tell their stories, and asked the
media to feature them as well as those of the stolen generations.
She reached out too beyond our shores. Last month Lorraine Peters - a
stolen generations woman known for her healing seminars - went to Rwanda, at
Carol's suggestion, to take part in a conference on healing the victims of
genocide. Now the conference organisers have asked that their committee
permanently include an Aboriginal representative.
Carol's last public statement was a strong protest at the exclusion of the
stolen generations from the commemoration of their story at Reconciliation
Place in Canberra. Last month she called a rally on the issue, and only
Bruce's sudden death prevented her from speaking at it. She knew that
proper consultation is vital to healing and, as always, she was ready to
fight for her belief.
We have much to learn from her example.
Sincerely,
John Bond
Secretary, National Sorry Day Committee
_____________________
[ATSIC]
21 January 2002
> Carol Kendall's lasting inspiration
>
> Statement by ATSIC Commissioner Brian Butler
>
> On behalf of ATSIC, I wish to express deep regret and sorrow for the
> loss we feel with Carol Kendall's passing.
>
> She was, and always will be, an inspiration to all of us who knew
> her.
>
> She was committed to bringing honesty to the issue of the Stolen
> Generation and, through that, to the Australian nation. Her determination
> to achieve recognition for the plight of separated families has provided
> an abundance of strength to people working on Link-Up programs throughout
> the country.
>
> Carol's standards, philosophy and principles will never fade - they
> will be carried forward in the work that each of us does as we strive to
> match her enormous contribution to our communities. Even when stricken
> with illness, she continued her work to benefit others.
>
> Apart from her tireless work in reuniting families, she was a
> driving force behind the National Sorry Day movement - a movement that has
> been recognised around the world and that is now being emulated in some
> countries.
>
> On a personal level, I met Carol during my time as chair of the
> Secretariat for National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care.
>
> I was honoured to work and campaign alongside her on countless
> occasions. I know that we can never replace her efforts.
>
> Agencies such as Link-Up in South Australia join ATSIC in expressing
> sadness at our loss, but gratitude for her contribution.
>
> On behalf of Indigenous families everywhere, we want her family to
> know that our hearts are with them and that she lives on within us.
>
>
> Brian Butler
> Commissioner for South Australia
> Portfolio for Children, Family and Social Policy
>
> 0419 801 085
>
>
>
>
~ The 2000 Journey of Healing ~
http://www.journeyofhealing.com
"An apology does not imply guilt. It implies a recognition that an injustice occurred.
It also implies we have a will and a determination to try to do something about the
fact that many people suffered as a result of that injustice."
- Malcolm Fraser, Co-Patron Journey of Healing.
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