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    Reunion Story: Andrew Beitzel

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Andrew Beitzel always knew his family was Aboriginal but he never knew who they actually were until he came to Link-Up (Qld) for help finding them.

My name is Andrew Beitzel and I am a proud 28-year-old Noongar man from Meanjin/Brisbane. I have worked at the University of Queensland and have a history of engaging in community organising and progressive political rallies since 2015. I have always known my family were Aboriginal – our Uncle Barry and Aunty Phyllis used to visit us, and we knew our family came from, and still lived at the Mogumber Mission in Western Australia. My Mum, my sisters and my Grandma all went back to Mogumber to visit the mission prior to me. However, we never knew who our mob was, and who our Nana and Papa were.

I came into contact with Link-Up (Qld) through knowing Uncle Sam Watson at rallies, and also through relatives in Western Australia, who accessed Yorgum in Perth and found our Papa Toms and his family in Derby, in the north of Western Australia. I wanted to know who my Nana was for my family, and especially for my Grandma and Aunty Phyllis before they pass on. I have wanted to know my mob, my community and my family for the longest time, and I’ve only ever wanted to be proud of who I am and to belong to something.

My Nana was Nellie Cuttibut and my Papa was Peter Toms – they were both stolen from their families as children and taken to Moore River Native Settlement in Mogumber, Western Australia.

My feelings leaving for the reunion were excitement – having supported and fought for the Yuggera and Turbul people in Meanjin, including fighting for the Deebing Creek Mission in 2019, I was ecstatic to be going back to my Country and to see where my Nana and all our Ancestors were from. While I was nervous, looking over my Country on the plane flight over was an incredible feeling, but also one of hurt seeing how much had been cleared on the Wheat Belt in WA. I took my sister, Tamara, for support as she had a connection with my Nana when she was still alive and was also proud of her Aboriginality. I wanted to share our Country with all my family, and as my sister has two children, I wanted her to go and be able to eventually take her children back to Country as well. More than anything, I hoped to meet our family during the reunion – I knew from the research Link-Up (Qld) had done that our Nana’s sister Ellen Smith/nee Cuttibut had 14 children. I was sure there had to be people still alive through Ellen Smith’s descendants.

We planned a Return to Country based on our common ancestor – Paddy Cuttibut – my Nana’s father – who was born in Cranbrook and died in Borden, all just north of Albany in Western Australia. Based on the death certificates Link-Up (Qld) found for us, many of our family had lived in died in this wide area between Cranbrook and Albany, and up to Kojunup north of Cranbrook. I knew our family had to still be there.

On the day of arrival, we went up to Borden and saw where our Nana’s father died. I video-called my Grandma, Nellie’s daughter, and my mum Dawn, and showed them both all their Country and the town where Paddy once lived in. We also visited Gnowangerup, just north of Borden, and visited the cemetery, Aboriginal centre and springs in the area. I wondered if our family had been there, but I felt upset on the way back that we had nobody to show us. However Link-Up (Qld) had contacted Yorgum, a service in WA for reconnecting Stolen Generation survivors, who knew the grandchildren of Ellen Smith. That afternoon, Yorgum organised us to meet Philip Eades, who was Ellen Smith’s grandson by her daughter Leah. After we shared our family trees and saw how we were all related, Uncle Philip called his sister Aunty Annette Eades and her daughter Donna.

As the wind howled on the coast, for the first time in 100 years, our lines of the family finally reunited, hugged, and smiled together once again. The next night, we met up again for dinner and got to know one another and shared in our histories and memories of our Nana and families. I video-called my Grandma and my Mum and got them to meet one another – so she got to meet her cousins for the first time in her life! Our Aunty Annette said that she’ll take us up to Kojunup where she was born and show us what she can up there – I’m so honoured and thankful of the love and acceptance our family showed us after having been apart for so long.

I’ve never felt happier, more secure in myself, and purposeful in my life. I feel like a big piece missing in our family has finally been put back together. I’ve been looking for work, been learning to drive and been trying my hardest to get back to my Country again, because I want to be part of my community and to be proudly Noongar on my Country for my Ancestors.

I plan to go back this year and have been sending all our research to the Smiths and Eades, as Link-Up (Qld) also uncovered documents on their Granny Ellen that I want to share.

I want to thank Link-Up (Qld) for their incredible work, and the history and assistance they’ve given us.

I want to thank Yorgum for helping us reconnect with our family in Western Australia, and for being so generous.

I want to thank our Smith and Eades family for being so beautiful and welcoming – I keep the picture of us all together again in my room and it always makes me happy when I look at it.

I want to thank my family, my sister for coming along and my Mum and Grandma for being so open to meet our mob.

Finally, I want to thank our Nana Nellie for everything she passed down and taught us – I hope I’ve made you proud watching over us.

 

Published 23 July 2024.

For more reunion stories, click here to view our collection of editions of the Link-Up (Qld) magazine.

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