Big plans on track for Littlewell mob
Posted: September 22nd, 2017
The Littlewell mob in Western Australia’s mid-west are on the trail of realising a dream. Seven years after setting out to preserve the old Littlewell reserve where they and family members grew up, it is set to open as a heritage precinct and walking trail by the end of the year.
The Littlewell reserve sits on the outskirts of Mingenew, a town nearly 400km north of Perth and about 100km south-east of the coastal city of Geraldton. A 500m walking trail that incorporates the reserve’s history and the stories of those who lived there could open before Christmas.
Wattandee elder Thomas Cameron, who grew up at Littlewell, says the four hectare reserve — which operated from 1898 until 1972 — was originally named the Mingenew Aboriginal Reserve, but residents called it by another name.
“We called it Littlewell because prior to having two-bedroom houses built by Native Welfare at the time, we lived in humpies and the well supplied people who lived on the reserve at the time,” Mr Cameron, 63, said.
A great grandfather, Mr Cameron said the site was important to hundreds of people who had lived there and their descendants. He hoped tourists and other visitors would be interested in the reserve’s history. Guided tours may be held. “I’m a great grandfather now and I’ve taken my grandson back there to country and told him this is the little well, this is where we grew up and where we learned to work and we learned to corroboree and all that,” Mr Cameron said. “It’s important to our children and their children to give them a better understanding and concept of how we lived and how life was back in the reserve days.”
To read the full article, please follow the link: Littlewell reserve heritage precinct
Thomas Cameron and the people featured in this article and in the photo members of the Southern Yamatji claim group.
