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Evelyn Grove (Graylands Hospital nurse), Frank Byrne and Justin Howard (Stolen Generations senior case worker) walk the corridors of Claremont Hospital. Evelyn talks about Maudie Yooringun, Frank’s mother, and how she loved going to the children’s ward to help look after the kids. Evelyn recalls when one day she asked Maudie if she had any family, Maudie became visibly upset. Evelyn says getting out of Claremont was an unlikely prospect for the inmates. Black-and-white reconstruction depicts a young Maudie, with Frank’s voice-over saying that once Maudie was taken to Claremont, she would never ever get out again. Maudie remained incarcerated in Claremont Hospital for the insane for 18 years. Pam Mikus, Community Liaison for Graylands, shows Frank and Evelyn hospital archives, some of the contents depicting Maudie.
Curator’s notes
A powerful sequence that depicts a son’s heartfelt emotion for his mother. The pain of being separated from his mother is written on Frank Byrne’s face. This is the human face of what some may refer to as an inhumane policy. The Bringing Them Home Report holds the testimonies of the many aboriginal children – some 60,000 – that were forcibly removed from their parents.
