“Never Look Back, Always Look Forward”: The Early Life of Nancy Power

Abstract

This article examines of the life of Nancy Verna Power, an Aboriginal woman born in north-west Queensland in 1910. Nancy Power was given an exemption certificate in 1933. The certificate released her from control by the Department of Native Affairs in 1933 and led her to remain silent about her identity in the later years of her life. This article examines Nancy's early life as a domestic servant, when she was under the control of the Chief Protector, the superintendent of Purga Mission and other government administrators. Using Phillips and Bunda's principles of “storying” each author describes a period of Nancy's life with an eye to their own connection to, and ability to tell, the story. Judi Wickes, Nancy's niece, tells her story from 1910 to 1924 and from 1934 to 1950 using family records and her own memories. Katherine Ellinghaus, a non-Indigenous historian, uses the official written records created by the Queensland government to describe Nancy's life between 1930 and 1934.