8 Interviewee story summaries This includes the aim of helping members of the Stolen Generations who believe they are Bunuba by descent but who were prevented from growing up on Country with culture and kin. Each Camp involved Bunuba families meeting on Country. It turned out that the first Camp involved predominantly Bunuba attendees who knew each other and our connections. We were able to learn how we are connected in more detail and clarity, with time to ask questions. We were able to get sufficient historical information to help resolve some issues around land occupation and who has the rights to which areas. Participants felt satisfied with the information that clarified our connections to each other and to different parts of our country. That first Camp had a positive impact on settling some uncertainties and helping settle some simmering disputes. The second Camp once again involved people from a particular area coming together on Country to learn about their connections, but this one ended up with more members of the Stolen Generations who were looking to find their place and connect as Bunuba. This second Camp was quite different from the first Camp because of the different participants who happened to attend. It was more complicated and highlighted the problems with the anthropological conceptualisation of connection via descent. But it was a powerful experience for those who attended and had their connections affirmed in a ‘public’ setting, on their traditional Country, which some of the families had not accessed before. The interviews for this Report took place at the second Cultural Mapping Camp. (a) Patsy Bedford Patsy Bedford is a Nyanjili woman of the Bunuba tribe. Patsy was attending the second Cultural Mapping Camp and talked in her interview about the Camp and the healing processes that Bunuba women were leading, as well as her experience with the native title process leading up to this point. Patsy remembered how excited the Elders were when they were claiming native title and how proud they were of demonstrating their connection to Country. However, Patsy also described how people were confused. At no point did anyone answer the questions of the Elders and others regarding exactly what the Bunuba would get from native title, given they already knew the land was Bunuba land. Patsy remembered thinking that perhaps the stations that were owned by non-Aboriginal people were going to be given back through native title. Patsy spoke about how the native title process required a shift in the way Bunuba defined connection to Country and each other – separated according to boundaries instead of defining us all as connected. Patsy emphasised that the native title process did not understand our culture and particularly lamented the lack of appreciation of the importance of language in connection to Country: … they did not bring the cultural understanding in there. The language was gone out – it’s out. The language is part of the land together, anyway. So, we sort of lost that when language didn’t play a big part in the native title. All they wanted to do was go to government, win this native title back. Forgetting about what the land really meant and what it held and what it holds to this day for us as Bunuba people. Australian Human Rights Commission 71