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My Side of the Bridge: The Life Story of Veronica Brodie as Told to Mary-Anne Gale
Veronica Brodie is an Aboriginal woman of Ngarrindjeri-Kaurna descent. She grew up at Raukkan near Victor Harbor and until the mid-sixties lived under the Aborigines Protection Board. Later, after training as a nurse, marrying, having five children and recovering from alcoholism, Veronica Brodie was involved in the Hindmarsh Island Bridge affair, on the side of the Ngarrindjeri women who knew of the secret women's business and sought to stop the construction of the bridge. Veronica Brodie is now a respected Aboriginal elder who works to help her people remember and value their culture and traditions. This is her story.
208 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 7, 2017
‘I first heard Auntie Veronica Brodie tell her story one evening in 1995, and from that moment I knew it had to be published.’
This is the life story of Auntie Veronica Brodie (1941 – 2007), as told to Mary-Anne Gale. This book was published in 2002. Veronica Brodie was born at the Raukkan Community (then the Point McLeay mission) in 1941, and was later sent to Adelaide by the Aborigines Protection Board to continue her education.
Veronica Brodie was an Aboriginal woman of Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna descent, and was a widely respected elder. In this book, through Mary-Anne Gale, she told of her life, of the challenges she faced, of the campaigns she was involved in for Indigenous rights. Parts of her story horrified me:
‘I mean, we had government people in the Northern Territory who wanted full-bloods to be tattooed! Do you realise that Hitler’s system of tattooing the Jews came from what they wanted to set up in the Northern Territory?’
No, I didn’t. And I’m disturbed by it.
I was more aware of the grading:
‘They graded my kids when they were born as if they were grading fowl eggs. My first two girls were graded differently – Colleen was declared one-eighth Aboriginal, while Margaret, the oldest one, was declared one-sixteenth Aboriginal. You see, Margaret was quite fair, but Colleen was a little bit darker-skinned. They both had the same parents, so it just goes to show how silly the system was.’
To read this book is to be reminded (albeit painfully) of elements of Australian history which are painful. I was particularly interested in Veronica Brodie’s account of the fight against the bridge to Hindmarsh Island (Kumarangk). How little we accept or know or choose to learn about other cultures. The campaign against the bridge was ultimately unsuccessful, but it did unite activists with local communities.
‘I want you to imagine your way back to the year of 1840 on the Port Adelaide River. Just think what it would have looked like then.’
Auntie Veronica Brady fought and won her own battle with alcohol, which she addresses in the book. She also suffered from a number of significant health issues. What an inspirational woman!
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This is the life story of Auntie Veronica Brodie (1941 – 2007), as told to Mary-Anne Gale. This book was published in 2002. Veronica Brodie was born at the Raukkan Community (then the Point McLeay mission) in 1941, and was later sent to Adelaide by the Aborigines Protection Board to continue her education.
Veronica Brodie was an Aboriginal woman of Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna descent, and was a widely respected elder. In this book, through Mary-Anne Gale, she told of her life, of the challenges she faced, of the campaigns she was involved in for Indigenous rights. Parts of her story horrified me:
‘I mean, we had government people in the Northern Territory who wanted full-bloods to be tattooed! Do you realise that Hitler’s system of tattooing the Jews came from what they wanted to set up in the Northern Territory?’
No, I didn’t. And I’m disturbed by it.
I was more aware of the grading:
‘They graded my kids when they were born as if they were grading fowl eggs. My first two girls were graded differently – Colleen was declared one-eighth Aboriginal, while Margaret, the oldest one, was declared one-sixteenth Aboriginal. You see, Margaret was quite fair, but Colleen was a little bit darker-skinned. They both had the same parents, so it just goes to show how silly the system was.’
To read this book is to be reminded (albeit painfully) of elements of Australian history which are painful. I was particularly interested in Veronica Brodie’s account of the fight against the bridge to Hindmarsh Island (Kumarangk). How little we accept or know or choose to learn about other cultures. The campaign against the bridge was ultimately unsuccessful, but it did unite activists with local communities.
‘I want you to imagine your way back to the year of 1840 on the Port Adelaide River. Just think what it would have looked like then.’
Auntie Veronica Brady fought and won her own battle with alcohol, which she addresses in the book. She also suffered from a number of significant health issues. What an inspirational woman!
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
November 5, 2021
I read and then taught this book with my Year 10 English class. Then we visited Warriparinga: students were taken on a food trail and later one of the Aunties spoke with individual students. My class had to of course write a response after our excursion and I think it was a great opportunity for them. This was a wonderful read, and I treasured my good fortune to find this book and then share it.
Thank you to Veronica Brodie for recounting her childhood, adolescence and adult life; particularly the Raukkan years - childhood fun - and her experience under the Protectorate (government instrument of patronising control). Even the adult view of indigenous community and disunity with its dark elements is shared with dignity.
More than a decade later I still commend this book; it resonates in my heart.
Thank you to Veronica Brodie for recounting her childhood, adolescence and adult life; particularly the Raukkan years - childhood fun - and her experience under the Protectorate (government instrument of patronising control). Even the adult view of indigenous community and disunity with its dark elements is shared with dignity.
More than a decade later I still commend this book; it resonates in my heart.
May 13, 2024
I highly recommend this book of Veronica's as it is not only a well told story of activism, strength, and personal history but is is unique for its stories about Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri heritage in South Australia.
June 7, 2019
Lovely to read Veronica's story, sad, passionate and a truly remarkable woman.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews