Secret Kalkadoon frontier war stories unearthed in Mount Isa exhibit

Memories of frontier wars and secret ‘survival stories’ about battles in the bush passed down through an outback family have been made public for the first time.

Colleen Sam

Memories of Mount Isa’s frontier conflicts and secret ‘survival stories’ have been made public for the first time at a State Library exhibition in Brisbane.

At the centre of the exhibit is artist and Kalkadoon woman Colleen Sam, who believes sharing her family’s personal story is a key part of the ‘truth telling’ process.

“We were a very blessed people, we didn’t have a stolen generation or anything like that, somehow we kept connection to our country and that is a big responsibility,” Ms Sam said of her bloodline.

“We are free people, that was our upbringing, we think like free people because our ancestors died free.”

The Kalkadoons were one of the last tribes in Queensland to encounter Europeans, and the guerrilla warfare they engaged in from the 1870s was coined the ‘Kalkadoon Wars’.

Colleen Sam with her mother Aunty Ena, who taught her most of the lore she knows today.

The State Library exhibition covers the history of the Kalkadoon people and the Sam family,, starting at the Dreamtime, continuing to first contact in the 1850s and 1900s, and broadening the historic record around the frontier battles.

Some of these stories are being shared publicly for the very first time.

Ms Sam said she was inspired to share her family stories after nearly losing her mother.

A painting by Colleen Sam about a 'dog dreaming' passed down by the Kalkadoons of Mount Isa.

“In 2017 I almost lost my mum. She knew a lot about our history and our oral history is really, really, strong and to almost lose that made me realise what a responsibility it was,” she said.

“I’m happy to get this story out, because it has always been there and it’s never died out.”

Since the frontier violence in the Kalkadoon/Mount Isa region of Queensland, four generations of the Sam family have passed down their stories of survival in secret.

These stories shed new light on key North-West Queensland frontier figures such as Kalkadoon senior law keepers King Jimmy and Queen Nellie, along with the warrior Wild Harry, a survivor of the conflict at Battle Mountain.

A painting by Colleen Sam depicting 'Wild Harry'

The family accounts include details of massacres, Kalkadoon resistance, and frontier battles.

The stories are told through a mix of paintings, digital stories, and archival materials at the exhibition.

Ms Sam said it was important for Aboriginal people to engage with their own stories.

“It’s about carrying on the knowledge our old people give you, and not changing it. It’s lore - it’s sacred knowledge and you cannot modernise it,” she said.

“I grew up (learning) it. It was ‘keep it, or you lose it and lose yourself’.”

Ms Sam said it was important for the next generation to “keep it straight and keep it correct” when lore was passed down to them.

“Get your own lineage correct and keep your rightful bloodline and be responsible for that, don’t go taking other people’s,” she said.

“We’re in a mess today because people don’t follow their responsibilities.”

Ms Sam said it was important that Australians realise Aboriginal culture was not “dead” or “forgotten”.

“It is still very, very strong,” she said.

“If it’s not meant to die, it won’t.”

The free exhibit ‘The Unbroken Spirit of the Kalkadoons’ will be on display until August 24 at the State Library in Brisbane.

Originally published as Secret Kalkadoon frontier war stories unearthed in Mount Isa exhibit