Auntie Rita

Most people call me Auntie Rita, whites as well as Aboriginal people. Auntie is a term of respect of our older womanfolk. You don’t have to be blood related or anything. Everyone is kin. That’s a beautiful thing because in this way no one is every truly alone, they always have someone they can turn to. – Rita Huggins was stolen from her country as a child in the 1920s and taken to what is now Cherbourg Aboriginal Reserve. The Cherbourg years were ones of imprisonment under the Aborigines Protection Act. We had to stay in one place now, while the white men could roam free! There was happiness, though, in those years. From that time onward, Rita had the desire to make something better for herself, her family, and the Aboriginal people. The 1960s ushered in important days in Aboriginal politics and the years of Aboriginal activism are seen here through Rita’s eyes. In Auntie Rita, now back in print, Rita shares her memories with her daughter Jackie, and we witness their intimacy… pp. x, 160 illusts #1217 Prev ownership name