Lance Riley
Lance Riley 2000
Photo by Lyn McLeavy
Lance Riley was born in 1941 at Mona Mona, a Seventh Day Adventist Mission for Aboriginal people on the Atherton Tablelands in northern Queensland. He grew up in the boys’ dormitory and worked at the local saw mill. A respected Kuku Yalandji elder, Lance passed away in 2002, and it is due to the generosity of his wife Joy and his family that we are able to tell his story here. Lance and Joy Riley both grew up in the dormitories at Mona Mona and, after living and working in various places, settled in nearby Kuranda in the early 1980s. Lance was active in the community, working as a volunteer and also as a Regional Councillor for ATSIC.
Listen to Lance Riley talking about:
Being taken away from his parents at the age of five years
Duration: 5:00 minutes
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Streamed Audio: Real Player
What it was like to live in the dormitory from the age of 5-15 years and when he was allowed to see his family
Duration: 2:34 minutes
Streamed Audio: Windows Media Player
Streamed Audio: Real Player
The daily routine at Mona Mona Mission
Duration: 1:32 minutes
Streamed Audio: Windows Media Player
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The effects of being separated from his parents
Duration: 3:41 minutes
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Audio interview recorded 28 September 2000.
Interviewer: Lyn McLeavy
Audio excerpt provided courtesy of the National Library of Australia, Bringing Them Home Oral History Project
ORAL TRC 5000/225 [new window]
Mona Mona Mission c.1949
Negative no. 107465
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Last updated: 29th November 2011
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