The Long Path to School
“It was about thirty years before I found my ancestors tribe, Kooma. Before that, we thought we were from Weilmoringle, and that out story began with Nan and Pop.”
“My Nan and Pop were taken from their land, and were being transported to Cherbourg Mission, when they escaped at Bollon and made his way down to the Nebine River. On his way down to Weilmoringle, he worked on various stations all along the river. My Uncle Ross was named after Rossmore station. On this journey my uncles took jobs and made their homes on these stations, raising their families there.”
“My father, Dudley, came down to Weilmoringle with Nan and Pop, and that’s where he made his home, and his life, that’s where we were born. Weilmoringle is 180 kilometres to Bourke, and over 100 kilometres to Brewarrina which is where the nearest schools were. With seven children in the community, we needed a school of our own, but the department wouldn’t provide one unless we had thirteen kids to educate.”
“So my father went back along the route taken by his father, and re-connected with his brothers and sisters, who all had children as well. He was able to bring the nieces and nephews back to Weilmoringle on horseback, for the school to be viable, and the community to have its own school, which is when Weilmoringle became a town and not a camp.”
George Orcher
Kooma
Burnished Bronze
Designed by Andrew Hull
Fabricated by Wangstone Studio