The McGowan
Government today announced a Lotterywest grant of $310,000 to Bringing Them
Home Western Australia Inc and the WA Stolen Generations Alliance to support
commemorative events and healing initiatives.
The funding
will be used on a range of innovative projects led by Yokai, the flagship
Aboriginal healing project developed by Bringing Them Home and WA Stolen
Generations Aboriginal Corporation, created as a result of the appalling period
of our nation’s history between 1910 and 1970 when tens of thousands of
Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families and taken to
church and government run institutions.
Yokai has been
operating for three years and has developed constructive and creative
relationships with universities, government agencies and community-based
organisations.
Their
innovative and collaborative work ensures the experiences of the stolen
generations and the descendants of the people who survived the trauma of that
era are appropriately recognised as a basis of building resilience and healing.
That Yokai
works from the Murray Street office that AO Neville, the most infamous
architect of the stolen generations policies, was stationed is a poignant irony
and highlights the triumph of resilience and the human spirit.
Comments
attributed to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt:
“It is a great
honour to be able to be a part of the great work both Lotterywest and the Yokai
project do. The wonderful people who have led the WA Stolen Generations and
Bringing Them Home organisations in the healing and recovery process that the
shocking legacy of the stolen generations has left us deserve our support.
“I know from my
own family experiences that this period of history had devastating and cruel
impacts. I also know that the power of resilience within Aboriginal families
and communities has the capacity to heal the scars of the past.”
