The Ration Shed Museum celebrated its 15th Birthday earlier this month on the 4th of October.

Located in the heart of Cherbourg, the cultural and historical precinct epitomises the Aboriginal community motto, “many tribes, one community.”

The Cherbourg town sign.

The Cherbourg town sign.

Bronwyn Tipman, the Administration Officer at the Ration Shed Museum describes the hidden gem as “a living museum.”

“It’s a living space that represents aspects of history, but also look[s] forward into the future,” she says.

Established in 2004, the Ration Shed building was brought up to the allotment where it stands proud today. “It was the centenary year for both Murgon and Cherbourg and there was a lot of celebrations. There was also some money that came with the Queensland 150 years Celebration, so there was a grant from that which bought this building and assisted with the initial formation of the Museum,” says Bronwyn.

Bronwyn says, “that’s sort of been the story of how this place has evolved. 15 years ago... a couple of Aunties said, ‘I wonder what happened to the ration shed and how would we get it’ and then it just snowballed from there.”

As for how it all started, the Aunties of Cherbourg played a fundamental role in its establishment. “It was basically a group of sisters and some of their friends... Cherbourg has a really strong matriarchal sense of community. Many of the leaders and the shapers and the movers are women. The poor blokes just have to follow and do as they are told,” laughs Bronwyn.

Aunty Sandra Morgan and her sister Leslie Williams were the main drivers in the preservation and restoration of the old ration shed. They felt it was necessary “to create a space where they could tell their stories, share their painful past and celebrate their survival.”

Elder, Uncle Eric Law (left) and Bronwyn Tipman (right) on the step's of the old Superintendent's office.

Visitors to the Ration Shed are welcomed by a replica of the original Barambah/Cherbourg Settlement sign. The original sign was located on the main road from Murgon to Cherbourg at the entrance of the community.

The women of the Ration Shed: Lesley Williams, Sandra Morgan (President of the Ration Shed), Jeanette Brown, Joan Alberts, Natalie Alberts and Grace Bond (left to right).

The cultural and historical hub located in Cherbourg began as Barambah Settlement in 1904 as an Aboriginal Reserve. The community was made up of over 50 indigenous tribes who were forcibly removed from all over Queensland. The Barambah Settlement was considered one of the most notoriously controlled reserves established under the QLD Aboriginal Protection Act.

Each colour on the Queensland mural represents a different language group.

Flour distribution at Barambah Aboriginal Settlement in 1911. _{Source: The Ration Shed}

The Ration Shed Museum in 2019. The building stands in place of the old Government store.

Flour distribution at Barambah Aboriginal Settlement in 1911. _{Source: The Ration Shed}

The Ration Shed Museum in 2019. The building stands in place of the old Government store.

The ration shed, as the name of the precinct suggests, was the site on the Aboriginal reserve where indigenous people would collect small amounts of food (rations) consisting of; tea, rice, sugar, salt, sago, split peas, tapioca, meat, flour and porridge. The Ration Shed Museum is a standing memorial to those days.

The Cherbourg Historical Cultural and Community Precinct consists of the Ration Shed, the old Superintendent’s Office, the Boys’ Dormitory, the former Domestic Science Building, the Yidding Art Studio and its newest addition, “our wonderful Pottery House... which is looking brilliant... so it’s growing enormously,” says Uncle Eric.

The multi-faceted complex engages the past, present and future in an effort to share the community’s history with the youth of Cherbourg and the rest of Australia. The initiative has further created necessary local employment opportunities and continues to provide economic benefits to the rest of the community.

Bronwyn says, “we’re not quite not-for-profit yet, but we are trying to reach charitable status. We are autonomous and quite unique in this community that we generate our own funds from tours or venue hire. We obviously apply for millions of grants, like lots of other NGO’s,” but the organisation relies on funding from profits generated by visitors, donations and one-off institutional grants.

1911: Boy receiving flour rations at Barambah Settlement

The old Superintendent's office stands behind the Cherbourg Settlement sign and is now used as the Administration Office for the Ration Shed

The Boy's Dormitory is the last remaining dormitory in Queensland.

The Yidding Art Studio

The newest addition to the Ration Shed, the Pottery House

_{As for local reception of the historical precinct, the Ration Shed is respected, however, community members are weary of what it stands for.

Bronwyn says, “there’s still a wariness and fear about what this place represents. This space was controlled by government and is associated with punishment... so there’s a stigma attached. “}

_{“They respect it.} _{In a community like Cherbourg it’s very, very rare and it’s cyclic in a way. It doesn’t happen a lot but we are not targeted with graffiti (touch wood), we don’t really have break and enters. There is a respect for it, but there’s wariness about what happens here and there’s also a bit of resentment,” says Bronwyn.}

Uncle Eric adds, “our challenge here is for young people who don't know the history of this place.”

“The only stories you read about Cherbourg are the sensationalism stories. This place, like most other communities [has] its little challenges. But the more positive stuff we get out there, the much better perception people have of not only this community but also Aboriginal people generally. But we've got a long way to go in this place. And this little precinct is one of the tools,” says Uncle Eric, the first Aboriginal superintendent and the last superintendent of the Barambah Settlement.

Students learning about the local Wakka Wakka dances

Professional development day for teachers

For the last 13 years, the precinct has opened its doors and welcomed school students from across the nation. Uncle Eric says, “we have schools come up from Melbourne, from Sydney, from Canberra, from all over the state... we do it every year.”

As the Ration Shed develops exhibits, they work in conjunction with local schools in order to encourage strong links to the Australian curriculum. Bronwyn says, “It’s only quite recently that Education Queensland has embedded Aboriginal studies and recent history into the curriculum. There’s no textbooks, that’s why we are so popular, because it’s been a real hard thing for teachers and early childhood educators. There are no textbooks out there because of that forced removal and hidden government agendas, and we’re in a great position in South-east QLD for people to come out.”

Students can learn how to throw a boomerang, interpret Aboriginal symbols, explore the lives of the Boys from Barambah, engage with strong women from the past and present through the Strong Women Shadow Boxes and learn the hidden stories of Cherbourg by talking to the knowledgeable Elders.

A large proportion of school visitors are Year 9, 10 and 11 students. Bronwyn says, “you’ve really got to be on your toes because those kids already know lots of stuff and ask really good questions, which is really awesome for us because we need to learn, and we need to be able to give them the right answers. I think it's really powerful.”

“It might be their first experience meeting Aboriginal people so it really opens people's eyes up to what an indigenous person is. It’s nice for them to see good things because in the media there’s only ever negative things about Aboriginal communities so it makes a big impact and we know they go home and have conversations at the dinner table so that starts breaking down and starting conversations,” says Bronwyn.

Schools are also beginning to introduce professional development days for their staff, which is a growing business for the Ration Shed. Agencies and organisations that work in the child protection or family support area involving indigenous families are also significantly benefiting from the historical and cultural hub.

Uncle Eric sharing his story with a QLD school group

Uncle Eric sharing his story with a QLD school group

Over the last three to four years, volunteers and community members have been working hard to make a range of engaging films and exclusive interactive technology to share the history of Cherbourg. ‘The Dilly Bag’ app is the Ration Shed’s newest innovation that complements the Boys from Barambah exhibition. The app allows students and visitors to listen to Cherbourg Elder, Uncle Eric Law, as he guides you through the stories of Barambah/Cherbourg’s World War I soldiers. Uncle Eric’s passion in sharing his community’s stories and culture is clear.

He says, “we must keep the language alive!”

The Dilly Bag app incorporates ‘augmented reality’ technology for an interactive cultural and historical experience. Through the app, smart devices are able to pick up trigger points on the exhibition walls that feature photographs of the Barambah soldiers and a range of artifacts that cleverly work together to create a wonderful educational tour through the Aboriginal community in South-East Queensland.

Bronwyn says, “it’s a challenge for us because at the moment we are a living museum in terms of our people who tell the stories and so we’re trying to work out how to get that consistency of story and how do we keep this place going... when Uncle Eric or Aunty Sandra [are no longer here] to tell their story. We want to think about longevity.”

The Cultural Hub of Cherbourg:

Cherbourg has been referred to as a ‘dumping ground,’ but initiatives like the Ration Shed are working to break down these stereotypes and encourage a sense of community.

The Ration Shed is also paving the way for the Arts in the South Burnett Region. Kane Brunjes, a local Murgon artist says, "the Ration Shed do a lot of work with the Arts... it has [had] a big influence on my art, working out of the Ration Shed.”

"You can go in there and express what you want to express. That's what really helped me. I would go in there and paint. The Aunties and Uncles are really supportive... and it's just a nice place to go and hang out. There's a lot to learn there too," says Brunjes.

Kane was one of 11 local artists involved in the ReFire Project, an exciting new venture that sought to reignite pottery and painting in the region 30 years after Barambah Pottery was closed down. Brunjes says, “I worked on the ReFire Project... [and went] every Wednesday last year to paint with the Uncles and Aunties out there. All of the young fellas were always welcome to go out and paint.”

“That's actually where I've gained a lot of confidence with my art,” says Kane.

Kane's talent can be found across the community of Murgon.

Kane's talent can be found across the community of Murgon.

Local indigenous artist, Kane Brunjes, attributes the Ration Shed as a key influence on his art

The Ration Shed is very much a light at the end of the tunnel for Cherbourg through its telling of hidden stories.

“I believe it's a real reconciliation story because it’s obviously elders from the community, but it’s people from all walks of life that come together – I just think that's brilliant... it’s something that we are very proud of here,” says Bronwyn.

“This place was never established as a place of guilt, or pain, or bitterness, it was just to share a hidden history.”

_{Photos of the Barambah Settlement have kindly been provided by the Ration Shed.}

The Ration Shed:

The Ration Shed Museum celebrated its 15th Birthday earlier this month on the 4th of October.

Image captions

Image captions

The Cultural Hub of Cherbourg:

The Ration Shed is very much a light at the end of the tunnel for Cherbourg through its telling of hidden stories.

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