Marching Girls of Cherbourg
Marching Girls of Cherbourg.
First Picture was taken in 1958 and the next three in 1962. To read the full story please click the link below.
Photograph and story courtesy - https://tinyurl.com/y2halgbo
'Just an adventure'
Aunty Lesley Williams said it "was very significant".
"But we didn't realise it at the time, for us it was just an adventure," she said.
Aunty Lesley was one of the thousands of teenage girls across the country who had been swept up in the sporting phenomenon of marching and her team was off to perform in Melbourne at a national competition.
Significantly, they were the only Indigenous group in the country in an era when their lives were controlled under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897.
Still largely unknown about the Marching girls of Cherbourg "This was hugely significant, it literally opened up a new world for them — they were out there taking it to Australia and doing themselves proud,"
Aunty Lesley Williams said it "was very significant".
"But we didn't realise it at the time, for us it was just an adventure," she said.
Aunty Lesley was one of the thousands of teenage girls across the country who had been swept up in the sporting phenomenon of marching and her team was off to perform in Melbourne at a national competition.
Significantly, they were the only Indigenous group in the country in an era when their lives were controlled under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897.
Still largely unknown about the Marching girls of Cherbourg "This was hugely significant, it literally opened up a new world for them — they were out there taking it to Australia and doing themselves proud,"
The girls, all aged under 14, were brave beyond their years.
They trained meticulously every afternoon with dust rising up around them and staining their white and red uniforms.
They travelled across Queensland, competing to crowds of white onlookers, judged on their precision and appearance.
They became the best in Queensland and then went even further, to place second at the National Championships.
It is 1962 in Brisbane and a group of teenage girls sit on an airport fence, brimming with excitement.
Their mouths are wide with joy and their polished white shoes gleam in the sun, as they wait for their first plane ride.
Many had never before been allowed outside their government-controlled mission at Cherbourg in southern Queensland.
Special permission needed to travel
About 50 girls involved in the marching troupe appealed for special permission to leave and travel outside the mission for competitions and performances — and they got it.
But the outside world was confronting and gaining acceptance was tough, even in a town less than 10 kilometres from Cherbourg.
"There were a lot of animal noises made as we drove past — like 'moo' and 'oink' and that type of stuff," Aunty Lesley said.
"But we tried not to care because we were just so happy to be travelling, to be out."
About 50 girls involved in the marching troupe appealed for special permission to leave and travel outside the mission for competitions and performances — and they got it.
But the outside world was confronting and gaining acceptance was tough, even in a town less than 10 kilometres from Cherbourg.
"There were a lot of animal noises made as we drove past — like 'moo' and 'oink' and that type of stuff," Aunty Lesley said.
"But we tried not to care because we were just so happy to be travelling, to be out."
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