Auntie Sharyn Halls and Ann McNally recall life in the Mountains: Sharyn: “…and when Dad made my brother Lenny and I not talk to any one of our relatives in the late 50s, that’s exactly what we did. We did not talk or have contact with anyone who had Aboriginal blood. It was dangerous and he knew that we could have been taken away… you just kept your mouth shut to protect your family and you denied everything. You watch, you listen and you learn. That’s what he said.” Ann, “Keep your mouth shut and act white that was his big thing. He was so particular. Even going to their place for dinner! I’d go there for dinner and even as an adult you’d get whacked over the knuckles if you had your elbows on the table or if you left the lid off something you had to do it all the proper way. He was fanatical about it.” Sharyn, “He was so particular about the way you ate, the way you dressed, the way you sat at the table. You had to be perfectly clean, dressed, everything, straight down the line.” Ann, “White! Acting white.” Johnson, p. 145.
