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The NAA website
"Uncommon Lives":
"Muslim
Journeys"
"Muslim
Journeys" was developed with assistance from the staff of the
NAA.
Stories include:
- The Wonder Man
- 5 Generations
- Ali Abdul vs The King
- The Pearl Diver
Press release from the Australian Government Department
of Immigration and Citizenship.
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| The following is an excerpt from
Hanifa Deen’s
talk "Cameleers, Hawkers, Divers and Herbalists: Muslims
in
Australia
in the Early 20th Century". It is
based on selections from the research she completed for the National
Australian Archives. Her investigation resulted in a collection of
stories and vignettes based on archival documents, 1901-1975, for
the NAA’s website "Uncommon Lives." (link
on the left).
Joint
winner of the
2008 Australian Society of Archivists Mander Jones Award
| "I
never ever expected to find real life stories amongst the
dusty documents in the National Australian Archives in Canberra.
But that’s exactly what happened—I found a gold mine. I
entered the archives a stranger and walked out my head
reeling: drama, conflicts, hope, despair, aspirations and a
cavalcade of Muslim pioneers, adventurers and ordinary men…
Themes that make us want to read a book from beginning to
end—pain and its antidote. Stories mirroring the
society of the times.. a journey from exclusion to a gradual
inclusion by politicians, and policy makers
and the Australian public in the years 1901-1975.
My
search became a labour of love, a journey of the mind
and the heart as I tapped into correspondence, applications,
reports, and memos never meant to see light of day.. I had the
thrill of the chase in my nostrils and loved the forensic work
involved. The narratives I wrote reflected in some ways
my childhood in Perth. I remembered visiting the Perth mosque and seeing
these old Indian and Afghan men gently pulling on their
hookahs and inhaling the tobacco, dreaming of their youth and
giving me money to buy sweets..." |
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