MonoMonday – Spirit

Colebrook Home began with the 'United Aborigines' Mission in 1924 in Dunjiba (Oodnadatta), South Australia. Then in 1926 it was transferred to Quorn in the Flinders Ranges, with 12 children in the care of Sisters Ruby Hyde and Delia Rutter. In 1942 they moved to Eden Hills, near Blackwood, and stayed until 1952.

The succession of superintendents who followed at Colebrook enforced a strict discipline. Many children were to suffer from this harsh regime. Having been removed from their families and land ties, because of the government's policy on assimilation, some were never to see their parents again. In 1972 the Department of Community Welfare took on the responsibility of caring for the children until Colebrook Home was closed. In 1973 it was finally demolished.

Colebrook Reconciliation Park is now a memorial to these children and their families. Through the untiring efforts of the Colebrook Tjitji Tjuta, the Blackwood Reconciliation Group, the Aboriginal Lands Trust, and other groups and agencies, to remember the Aboriginal children of the Stolen Generation, the 'Fountain of Tears' and the 'Grieving Mother' statues, sculpted by Silvio Apponyi, have been created.

FOUNTAIN OF TEARS as pictured.

As the water flows down from  the Coolamon spilling down the faces to the pool below, it reminds us of those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children taken away as a result of the policy of enforced removal of children.  Isolated form their families and the beloved land of their Ancestors, children suffered the anguish of grief and the trauma of separation into their adult lives.  The Fountain of Tears was created in 1998 by Silvio Apponyi.