Cont..

You had replied to me;

“Thanks for your request: " .... what if it could be illustrated to your satisfaction that the three girls did escape together from Moore River, head north-east in the direction of the rabbit-proof fence and home rather than west toward the 'bright lights of Fremantle' as you implied, were not recorded as being captured within the first week, shown to be avoiding human habitations and to have caught and eaten game meat; would that then allow you to turn aside from ever again labeling this as a 'myth'?"”

“Yes, of course, if you could find evidence of it.”

I did but you didn't.

Now according to you the burden of proof moves out another step;

“So what were their names ? That might clinch the Story, one way or the other.”

The Western Australian article spoke of three girls who had “recently arrived” at Moore River in 1931, from the district near where Molly and her cousins were taken in 1931, who then escaped and head north-east toward the rabbit-proof fence.

So essentially it comes down to you asking us to believe the extremely high likelihood of these being the same girls is rather so remote that you get to maintain this a myth.

You don't.

Hi Steele,

No, you didn't. Some documentation would be handy. Yes, if letters could be found between Neville and the Moore River Superintendent which named the three girls, and any other correspondence which provided details of whatever followed, that might move the discussion forward.

I know it might be difficult to get access to letters written in 1931 or 1932, if the SA Records' 100-year rule is any guide. This is why newspaper accounts, or mentions in Hansard might be useful, they may be the only written records currently available.

Cheers,

Joe

Dear Loudmouth,

This is what I mean by a dishonest broker. Your language goes from “clinch it” to “move the discussion forward” in consecutive posts. You have little intention of giving up your position because it would mean going around all the various forums in which you have propogated unequivocally that this event did not occur and declaring you may be wrong.

I have absolutely no doubt that the author did her homework including accessing those documents and you have very little reason to think otherwise. For instance the admission cards for all the Moore River 'inmates are available once you gain permission from the relevant agencies. Windschuttle accepted her work. The fact that you don't after all this elevates your attitude from churlish to borderline pathological.

Now I am starting to wonder how much you may have tampered with the documentation you profess to have transcribed. What got left out because it didn't fit your narrative?

For instance where is this letter in your collection?

“A letter from Noongar girls at Moore River in 1934 to Moseley Royal Commission states:

Every morning our people would crush charcoal and mix that with animal fat and smother that all over us, so that when the police came they could only see black children in the distance.”
https://www.noongarculture.org.au/stolen-generations/

Come on mate, don't you see what you are doing here is polluting the work you have done. You have had evidence placed before you that would have made anyone else at least consider their position. The fact that you can not bring your self to do the same is just sad.

Hi Steele,

Yes, of course, I may be wrong: this amazing feat may have happened. And it would have been truly amazing and worthy of much more than a film.

On the other hand, I'm not so confident about your statement: "I have absolutely no doubt that the author did her homework including accessing those documents and you have very little reason to think otherwise."

You may have no doubts but nobody else has to have the same level of faith. You've seen those documents ? I suspect they are very comprehensive in dealing with the period rom the beginning of the girls' journey in the Pilbara right up to their reception at Moore River, then they tend to dry up.

I'm interested in documentation, all of it, if it exists, concerning their escape from Moore River, their flight up along the fence and arrival back in the Pilbara. In fact, I would be happy with just one single document, say, a letter from Neville to the Police Commissioner or the Minister responsible for the Rabbit Department, asking for help at some point well along the Fence, or some story from a local newspaper up the Fence. Or something as mundane as a bill from some hotel for a sudden influx of Keystone Kops up along the Fence.

I'm troubled why there was nothing after Neville's letter which you printed above: why didn't the West Australian follow up the story ? Why Paul Hasluck, later Minister and Governor-General but at the time a reporter for the West Australian and heavily involved in Aboriginal issues, said nothing in his memoirs, nothing about this story anyway - he says a lot about other aspects of Aboriginal affairs, including the Moseley Commission which he accompanied from one end of the State to the other.

In other words, to cite Sherlock Holmes, why didn't the dog bark ?

Joe

Dear Loudmouth,

You wrote;

“I'm interested in documentation, all of it, if it exists, concerning their escape from Moore River, their flight up along the fence and arrival back in the Pilbara. In fact, I would be happy with just one single document”

No you wouldn't because I provided you with a document 'concerning their escape from Moore River', the Western Australian Newspaper report, but you have dismissed it as inadequate, a fate I am sure would befall any other documents that were produced.

You also wrote;

“Or something as mundane as a bill from some hotel for a sudden influx of Keystone Kops up along the Fence.”

You are confusing the book with the movie. Where in the book does it detail “a sudden influx” of policemen? Are you really sure you have read it?

Are you at least satisfied that the girls who escaped were Molly and her cousins?

Jigalong was a town created by the fencers of which Molly's father was one. The fence had water tanks or wells along its entire length. The journey was of course difficult but even a little bit of bush knowledge goes a long way. Why is this so hard for you to accept they managed to do it?

You say;

“You may have no doubts but nobody else has to have the same level of faith. You've seen those documents?”

Pilkington quotes Native Affairs file numbers and dates through her book. Why are you so determined to insinuate she and her mother are liars?

Hi Steele,

Presumably, if Neville the Devil, the Police, the Rabbit Department and Uncle Tom Cobbley were all chasing those three little girls up the fence, they would have needed hotels to stay at, given that, for the sake of the story - in book and in film - none of them had the wits to get up in front and wait ? ?

But I think I may have found a way out of our rather fruitless discussion.

Given the high level of surveillance of and reporting on everybody at Moore River, especially the children, the teachers at the school would have kept a roll. All children, up to sixteen or even seventeen, would have been on the Roll. Their daily attendance would have been recorded.

I'm presuming that the Moore River records are being held in the WA Archives or State Records:

[ https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/aborigines-department-2-au-wa-a63 ]

Although the Education Department at the time refused to take any responsibility for the education of Aboriginal children, it's possible that the Moore River School still tried to follow Ed. Dept. curriculum and practices, including the administration of records, particularly the Roll.

At least, that's the way they did it in South Australia, the leader in Indigenous policy.

So those three little girls would have been on the School Roll at Moore River. Their attendance of absence would have been recorded every day. If they moved to another school, or left school and went out to work, that would have been recorded on the Roll, in the last column.

This throws up a number of possibilities:

[TBC]