Bringing Uncle Home (ATOM Study Guide)

In a surprising twist to the legacy of the Stolen Generation, an Aboriginal Elder re-buries his long-deceased uncle in 'Country'. This is the story of one Indigenous family's search for reconnection – a generation after it was torn apart by an Australian government policy of forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their parents. We follow the journey of ailing Norm Brown who is embarking on a quest to right a wrong and return his Uncle Kitchener to 'Country' and the place from where he was stolen.

We first encounter Norm Brown walking through a field of stone crosses in Kingaroy Cemetery. He is an elderly and ailing man who needs the help of a walking frame. Norm inches towards Kitchener Brown's grave: a patch of dirt marked by a plain white stick. This is the spot where a 'Reserve Funeral' took place five decades ago. 'We gonna take you home, Uncle Kitchener, so you won't be lonely anymore,' says Norm, addressing the only unadorned grave in the cemetery.

Through archive photos, intimate interviews with Norm and his family, and set against the backdrop of Queensland rural landscapes, the story unfolds: in 1908, as children, Norm's Uncle Kitchener, Norm's father and two other siblings were stolen by policemen while playing at Nebo Creek. The children were taken 600 kilometres south to the Aboriginal reserve of Cherbourg, then called Barambah. At the reserve, the children's surname was changed from Barker to Brown because, they were told, 'they looked like nice little brown kids'. The children never saw their parents or homeland again.

None of Norm's family members were buried in 'Country', but most have been buried side-by-side in Cherbourg cemetery. When Norm's Uncle Kitchener died in 1959, not one family member was given the opportunity to be at his funeral. Now, despite his deteriorating health, Norm is determined to change all that and have his uncle re-interred in the family's homeland.

Bringing Uncle Home follows the journey of the exhumation and reburial of Uncle Kitchener, while also painting a touching personal portrait of Norm, an Aboriginal battler who now faces his own mortality. Norm is greatly supported by his wife Judy, daughter Lynette and his extended family on this journey of reconnection. This is an intimate and profound time when past wrongs are righted, family knowledge is passed down and decisions about one's last resting place are made.

Curriculum Relevance:

Bringing Uncle Home would be relevant to secondary students of:

• Indigenous Studies
• Australian Studies and Australian History
• Civics and Citizenship
• Culture and Society
• Religion and Society and related subjects
• Film Studies

It tells a powerful story about family and belonging, about the importance of being buried in your own country. This coming home to 'Country' is as important for many descendants of the Stolen Generations as it is for those Aboriginal Australians who were forcibly removed from family throughout much of the twentieth century. In telling the story of one family and their determination to have an uncle and father re-buried in 2008 in the place from where he was taken 100 years earlier as a child, the film references the stories of others who may not yet be re-united with their own country. The practice of burying family in country and being able to visit the graves of loved ones is important in many cultures; bringing people home to rest is a comfort to the living, shows respect for the dead and brings a life full circle.