Black swan : a koorie woman's life

Resource Information

The work Black swan : a koorie woman's life represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Randwick City Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

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Label

Black swan : a koorie woman's life

Title remainder

a koorie woman's life

Statement of responsibility

Carolyn Landon & Eileen Harrison

Title variation

Black swan

Title variation remainder

a koorie womans life

Creator

• Landon, Carolyn
• trueHarrison, Eileen

Contributor

• trueLandon, Carolyn, 1945-

Subject

• trueAssimilation (Sociology)
• Children, Aboriginal Australian -- Institutional care | History
• Harrison, Eileen
• trueIndigenous Australian artists -- Biography
• trueIndigenous Australian women -- Biography
• trueIndigenous Australians -- Social conditions
• trueRacism -- Australia
• trueVictoria -- History
• Women artists, Aboriginal Australian -- Biography
• Women, Aboriginal Australian -- Biography
• Aboriginal Australians -- Removal
• Aboriginal Australians -- Social life and customs

Genre

• trueBiography

Language

eng

Summary

'It's bad luck to catch a black swan.' Eileen Harrison grew up at the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Mission Station in the 1950s as one of eleven children in a tight-knit and loving family. When the new assimilation policy comes in, they are wrenched from the Mission and sent off to Ararat in the hope that they will become part of that community. Unable to build a stable life in the face of isolation and discrimination, the family is torn apart. Eileen must become the protector and the peacemaker. As a child, Eileen set free a black swan caught in a hessian bag. Now the story of the magical black swan from her childhood provides an uncanny map for her life as she struggles to find her path. After many years she discovers her talent as a painter and builds a new life for herself. Powerfully told in Eileen's words, her experiences speak eloquently of what has happened to Aboriginal people over the last half-century. 'Both heart-wrenching and hopeful, Eileen Harrison's story demonstrates that while policies of assimilation may have taken families from country and community, they could never take the memories that kept them connected.' - Dr Anita Heiss, award-winning author and activist

Cataloging source

VFRK

Dewey number

B

Illustrations

• illustrations
• plates

Literary form

non fiction

Target audience

adult