Lakes Creek Primary School staff used their student-free day to participate in a CQU-hosted Australian South Sea Islander cultural heritage tour of significant local archaeological sites last week.

The tour was organised by Glenys Kirkwood and Reegan Bickey (herself an Australian South Sea Islander) from the CQU Community Program, in conjunction with the Joskeleigh ASSI Community Elders.

Australian South Sea Islander families have been in Central Queensland since around the mid to late 1800s, but up until July 2000, long after the 1967 referendum recognising Aborigines as Australians, they were unrecognised as a group and were forced to tick the other box on census and other forms.

Lakes Creek Primary School Principal Peter Black said although their continuing enrolments of Australian South Sea Islander children from the local community were high, there was little resource material available to aid staff to enable them to understand the history, traditions and culture of ASSI families, thus making assimilation into the school community more difficult.

“There is a great deal of Murri and TI material available,” he explained, “but the only real resource material we have ever had in the past, has been information we have been able to glean from parents ourselves.”.

Archaeologist Trudy White gave commentary during the tour and a booklet was produced containing her research information and stories gleaned from Down Memory Lane ASSI authors. This booklet was given to all staff members.

Aside from following the early settlement of the ASSI population around the old Sugar Mill at Yeppoon, and at Joskeleigh and Rockhampton, ASSI Elders Joe, Monica and Doris Leo and their helpers treated the group to a traditional Lap Lap luncheon of meats and vegetables wrapped in banana fronds and then cooked in the ground.

“Interest in this tour was sparked by a similar CQU Community Program tour held in conjunction with Trudy White and the Joskeleigh Community last year,” Mrs Kirkwood said.

“We are delighted with the positive outcome of being able to give to the school community information that will benefit their entire school family,” she said.

“This was a wonderfully enlightening tour,” Mr Black said. “I will certainly be recommending it to the other schools in our cluster group.”.

Photo above: Principal Peter Black, ASSI Elder Joe Leo (centre) and archaeologist Trudy White accompanied by two of the staff members from Lakes Creek Primary School.

Photo below: Lakes Creek Primary School staff get instruction from ASSI Elder Joe Leo, on cooking a Lap Lap. Pictured are Principal Peter Black left and Joe Leo third from left.