Mrs Evelyn Bates (née O’Donnell) is a spritely 71 year old whose mother came from the Bourke-Louth district and Toorale station. Evelyn is a proud Barkandji woman (Barkandji means Darling River people).
Evelyn’s grandmother was Annie Knight who married a Joseph Clarke Evelyn was born on the old Menindee Mission station.
As with so many Aboriginal people of the era of the 1930s and 1940s Evelyn wasn’t allowed to learn her own culture and language; in fact this was one of the reasons why children could be forcibly removed from their families, a policy and practice that became known as the “stolen generations”.
Her formative years were spent in Wilcannia where she attended the local Catholic school. Evelyn said that the nuns were strict but fair and her Catholic schooling has helped her throughout her life and is a major reason why she is still an active church-goer today.
Married to Harold for 52 years, they are the parents of 4 children, 16 grandchildren and 21 great-grand children. During her life Evelyn has strived to live a good, honest and decent life, a life dedicated to the teachings of the nuns for whom she holds an obvious affection.
Growing up Evelyn witnessed the injustices that were being experienced by Aboriginal people and she was determined to help her people in any way that she could. One example of this determination was through her association with the work of the Western Aboriginal Legal Service (WALS).
She was determined to play a part in making sure that her people “got a fair go” and over the years she has worked with government agencies including the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS), the CMA and others, to have them better understand and respect Aboriginal culture and history. Evelyn has served as Director on a number of non-govemment organisations including Nyampa Housing in the 1970s. In 1983 Evelyn helped to set up the Menindee Local Aboriginal Land Council and today she serves on its Board.’
Evelyn smiles as she remembers the train trips to Sydney to attend various meetings, and the friends that she shared the journey with. Through her membership of the local Aboriginal Land Council Evelyn has been able to travel to various meetings the most recent being to Cessnock to attend the 2009 state conference of NSWALC. Sydney was a nice place to visit but she never wanted to live there, preferring the slower pace of a small town and the smell and sounds of the bush.
Evelyn mentions names such as Ada Johnson, Mary Manfred, Joe O’Donnell and Mary Johnson and others who she reflects on as she revisits in her mind the experiences from years gone by but never faded.
Even though Evelyn discovered through her birth certificate that she was born on the Old Menindee Mission she has only vague memories of this time in her life. She does however remember the meetings that were held there when people were trying to reclaim the country where the Mission was once located. She is saddened by what she witnesses in today’s world where young people, she believes, have lost touch with their culture and no longer respect others and, tragically, themselves.
Asked what she saw as the biggest problem in today’s society Evelyn quickly responds “money and people’s greed” but she believes that things will one day get better; at least she certainly hopes so.
