Anne Mitchell papers
Collection
This collection contains photographic slides taken at Aurukun; magnetic tapes with Aurukun sound recordings; a tape player; drawings by Aurukun children, genealogical tables and information, and Aurukun newsletters. These records were created and collected by Annette Pollitt (nee Mitchell) while she was a primary school teacher at Aurukun, 1969-72.
Annette (Anne) Mitchell did her teacher training in New South Wales and applied to the Missionary Board of the Uniting Church in Sydney. She went to Aurukun as a young woman to teach in 1969, initially signing on for 1 or 2 years and staying for a total of four teaching years. She taught the younger grades (no children older than year three) and was part of a large community which included nurses, a carpenter and church ministers. During her time at Aurukun, visitors working for the Wycliffe Bible translations were seeking to develop material for the local children to read in their own Wik language. Annette Mitchell became involved taping the children outside of the classroom and transcribing what they said so that a vocabulary of their language could be compiled. She made tape recordings at traditional house-openings and village dances. After leaving Aurukun, Annette Mitchell continued her teaching career in Brisbane. She married and became known as Annette Pollitt.
Multiple copyright statuses.