The people of Blacktown Road: Shane Smithers and Julie Janson

Second cousins, Shane Smithers and Julie Janson, discuss their families and reflect on the difficulties of identifying as Aboriginal several generations ago: “There was such endemic racism that people…would hide it if they could.” They visit Blacktown Rd, near Freemans Reach, where their forebears lived in the late nineteenth century. This is one of several important living areas revealed during research for this website.

Keywords: Identity; racism; values; heritage; early settlement; change, city

PLEASE NOTE

All the video recordings on this website were made at least a decade ago. Some are fifteen years old.

What the speakers say on camera was based on their own knowledge and researches at the time each video was made. Since then a great deal of information has come to hand which may make some of the information first recorded now outdated. Therefore please regard this website as a period piece presenting knowledge held and believed at the time of recording.