Australian National Archives : Bringing Them Home name index (for indigenous Australians)

The National Archives has created the Bringing Them Home (BTH) name index which aims to help Indigenous people find information about themselves, their families and their country from National Archive records relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their history. This index was created in response to the recommendations of Bringing Them Home, the report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, released in 1997. The BTH name index index contains: names of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; names of non-Indigenous people related to or associated with Indigenous people; names of missions and institutions where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were placed; and places where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have lived or visited. The index does not contain information about the people named. To see this information you will need to view the original records (files, papers and photographs) or photocopies of them. If the reason for seeking access is to obtain information for the purpose of re-establishing family and community links, under the Memoranda of Understanding between the Archives and Northern Territory, Victorian and South Australian Indigenous communities you may look at information normally restricted from public access. For further information see Fact Sheet 114  Memorandum of Understanding with Northern Territory Aboriginal people, Fact Sheet 205  Memorandum of Understanding with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency or Fact Sheet 209  Memorandum of Understanding with SA Indigenous people. You can ask for the BTH name index to be searched by contacting the Archives National Reference Service at ( ph:1300 886 881; fax: 1300 886 882; email : ref@naa.gov.au ). To assist reference officers undertake a thorough search, it helps if you provide as many details as possible, including: name of the person you are researching  this includes any variations in the spelling of given names, nicknames, forgotten names, or Indigenous names; family connections  the names of any siblings, children or other relatives; language group, country or homeland  which were sometimes used to identify people; place  where the person was born, lived, worked, or was sent to; date of birth, age at events, or date of death of the person; date ranges  year or period the person was in a certain place or area, such as the period they worked on a particular cattle station; and significant events that may have occurred in the persons life, such as being evacuated because of natural disaster or war. You can find out more about the BTH index in the National Archives at Fact Sheet 175  Bringing Them Home Name Index The BTH name index is not the only information resource available to researchers of Indigenous family history. While most government records relating to Aboriginal affairs before 1970 were created and maintained by state governments, the National Archives holds large quantities of records relevant to Northern Territory and Victorian Indigenous people. The National Archives holds many Northern Territory records because from 1911 until self-government in 1978, the Commonwealth administered the Territory. Northern Territory records are held in the Darwin and Canberra offices. National Archive holdings on Victoria are large because the Victorian government handed the responsibility for Aboriginal affairs and associated records to the Commonwealth in 1975. Victorian records dating from 1860 are held in the Melbourne office. Finally, the National Archives holds more recent records for all states because in 1967 the Constitution was amended to allow the Australian Government to legislate for all Aboriginal people. There are a number of other online National Archive fact sheets concerning records on Indigenous people, including : Fact Sheet 113  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; Fact sheet 150  The 1967 Referendum; Fact sheet 108  The pastoral industry in the Northern Territory; and Fact sheet 112  Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Go to Fact sheets on Indigenous Australia.