Deanne Fitzgerald - NAIDOC 2018Article | Updated 4 months ago Caption: Deanne Fitzgerald. Credit: WA Museum Deanne Fitzgerald Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisor Why are these gloves special to me? They remind me of my mum when she was a young woman. Mum was a young woman in the late 40’s early 50s and it was during the time of assimilation of Aboriginal people into western ways of living. One of the things mum always made sure she did was dress nice and not to give the authorities, including the police, an excuse to harass her, something she instilled in all of us kids. One of the items mum always made sure she had on was a pair of white gloves. During this time, young women wore white gloves where ever they went. I remember mum telling me a story of her visiting her mum, (Nan), who was living in Cue, a small town in the Midwest. Nan asked mum to go to the shops to get some bread and milk. So before mum went off on her shopping journey, she was looking for her gloves, wasting time, nan asked what she was doing, “I’m looking for my gloves” she said, “why in Gods name do you need gloves, you just going to the shop” was nans response and told mum to hurry up to the shops. So off mum went, down town Cue, without her gloves on. She said it was the first time she went without them and she felt ‘naked’ without them. She couldn’t believe at the time the effort she went through to make sure she was always dress nicely, but at the time, Aboriginal people were expected to give up their Aboriginality, their identity in order to fit into white society. It’s because of these actions that women like my mum had to go through, being forced to give up her culture, her identity, that I didn’t have to be subject to these ‘rules’ or restrictions that I was able to do the things I have achieved in my life. It is because of her, my mum, that I’m the person and woman I am today. View their stories Deanne - Now viewing Debra Marlia Marani Michelle