Recording Lifetimes For Indigenous People

THE Manning’s indigenous people have learned more about researching and recording their family history at a three-day community event in Purfleet.

A team from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) was in town for the community access days to promote its huge store of archived information, photographs and footage and to show residents how they can access information relevant to their own families.

AIATSIS has the world’s largest collection of information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the team brought with them a large collection of items relevant to the people of Purfleet and the Manning Valley.

This included photographs taken locally in the past, including shots that formed part of the collection ‘After 200 Years – photographic essays of Aboriginal and Islander Australia Today.’

Some of these photos were displayed over the three days and in some cases copies were returned to the relevant families.

Also popular were recordings of Biripi language while films from the collection were also played.

Those who attended also learned about preserving their own photos and archival material while in some cases were able to assist in identifying people or places in photographs that were part of the collection.

As well as looking at the past, the access days also served as an opportunity to add to the archives.

Photographs were taken of people in the community while the event was also filmed, the results to be added to the collection.

The stories and experiences of some members of the community were also recorded to add to the historic records.