Annie Stack facts for kids
Annie Stack was a strong and clever Noongar woman who lived near Toodyay, Western Australia. People in the area respected her because she was a hard worker and good at business. She even led her own team of workers from her camp at Culham.
Annie was also very determined, especially when it came to her children. During her lifetime, the government had policies that led to what is now called the Stolen Generations. This meant that many Aboriginal children were taken away from their families. Annie fought hard to keep her children and to get them back when they were taken to places like the Moore River Native Settlement.
Early Life and Family
Annie Stack was born in 1894 at Culham, a farming area north of Toodyay. Her family's Aboriginal camp was known as Djudjerin. Her mother, Maggie Townsend, came from the Pilbara region.
Annie married James Yerbal (also known as James Stack) in 1912. Later, she married Joseph Jackamurra. She had about five children, including Abraham, Kathleen, John, George Richard, and Lila.
In the 1930s, Annie married Wilfred Morrison. Their son, Benjamin Wilson Morrison, was born in 1932. Ben went to school at the New Norcia mission. Annie and her family often moved around, living in different camps in the Wheatbelt and Swan Valley areas. They also spent some time at the Moore River Settlement.
Challenges and Strength
Annie faced many challenges. In 1940, her son Ben was sent to the Moore River Native Settlement and stayed there until 1950. Annie was not allowed to enter the settlement or visit her son. Despite this, she was known for trying to protect children, sometimes even hiding them or giving misleading information to authorities to keep them safe.
Work and Reputation
From the 1940s, Annie Stack and her team from Culham worked on various jobs in Toodyay. They cleared land and built fences, charging for their work by the acre. They also collected wool from sheep that had died or from fleece caught on fences. They would bale the wool and sell it to a company in the city.
Annie was well-known by the local shopkeepers in Toodyay. She would help her friends who were struggling by promising to pay their bills, and she always kept her word. There's a famous story about her arguing with local butchers. She believed that kangaroo meat, being a native animal, should not have to be paid for by Aboriginal people.
Annie Stack became known as the "Queen of Toodyay." People remembered her as a tall woman with white hair and a lot of personality. A professional photographer named Alex Risco even took a lively portrait of her, which he titled "Queen of Toodyay."
