u/Conscious-Flight2220

I’m non-Aboriginal from a wheatbelt farming family. When my granny was a small child in the early 50s, a Stolen Generation victim from Mogumber mission was assigned to our farm as a maid.

Since I found this out I’ve been wondering if I should reach out to her if she’s still alive, or to her children or other family.

One of my friends whose father is a survivor of Mogumber mission says it’s a good idea and her family would want that if they were in that situation, but I want to get some other opinions as well in case I overstep.

Should I find her family to apologise, learn about her story, offer support?

If anyone with experience in situations like this, if you have relatives who were sent to work from missions as children, how would you want someone in my situation to conduct themselves?

People talk about the scent of a rotting human body as a horrifying, sickening, unforgettable thing that we are instinctually hardwired to recoil at.

I’ve never smelled a human corpse, but I’ve smelled plenty of cow carcasses at probably ever stage of decomposition there is, and I can tell you although it’s gross, there are so many way worse and unbearable smells out there. Like I firmly believe cat shit smells worse than rotten cow, but maybe thats because I’ve never smelt a dead cow indoors?

Anyway my point is, are people exaggerating when they talk about the smell of human corpses, or are they really different to that of cattle?

I grew up on an Australian beef farm, and the first time I witnessed artificial insemination being performed on cattle I was probably about 6.

On our large property we AI about 1/4 of our cows, to introduce high quality genetics into our herds through sires that we can’t physically have on our property for natural insemination. The rest of our cows reproduce naturally with bulls on the farm. Without introducing the genetics we get through AI, the cattle would be more likely to exhibit health issues from poor breeding.

The process looks like this: the cows walk single file through the yards (which they are trained from weaning to be used to doing calmly and safely, for all situations where we need to have contact with them eg. vaccines, weighing), and are locked in the crush, which is a mechanism where two rubber bars close on either side of their neck - not actually ‘crushing’ them, just fitting the most narrow part of their neck ensuring they can’t more their head backward or their shoulders forwards. We need to immobilise them, because they aren’t used to being touched by people, as they spend most of their time out on pasture, with hay and grain delivered by trailer.
Then, a trained professional who visits farms in the area for AI will insert a long syringe of filled with semen into the cow’s vagina, empty it, then the cow is usually marked with spray paint, and released from the crush back to a holding pen with hay, water and other cattle. When all the cows are done, they are moved from the pen back into their paddocks to go about their life as normal.

Obviously to us, the image of a syringe being forced up the vagina feels disturbing, distressing and violating. The cows do not enjoy the process, it is true. But it needs to be understood that the cows exhibit the same amount of stress they do on ANY occasion they need to be physically handled by humans, for example when they need vaccination, tagging, or like I was doing the other day, eyedrops. Beef cattle are domesticated, but they aren’t necessarily tame, especially on such a large property where it isn’t possible to develop the relationships with herds that smaller farmers have (which I do envy on occasion).

Cattle DO NOT have the same associations either their genitals that we as humans have. They don’t have a concept of sexual assault or the instinct to view their reproductive organs as something private. To humans, having our vaginas touched in that context would be horrific, and absolutely classified as rape. But for cows, they feel the same way if it’s their feet, eyes or mouth being touched.

It’s understandable to feel confronted by animal husbandry practices like AI, but it’s important to remember to not anthropomorphise. Applying a human lens to animals does not help them.

A truckie scone is a dry piece of weetbix spread with jam like a piece of toast (or a scone?)

I thought it was a pretty common thing but none of my camping friends have heard of it.

any other west aussies know about them?

I made some Minnesotan friends when they were visiting a mutual friend over Christmas and we plan to catch up over at theirs in the next few years (no concrete plans, just coming up with ideas).

When people talk about USA tourism they’re usually talking about New York and LA and stuff, not the Midwest, and even though just hanging out with my friends is fine, I love nature and history and learning new things so I really want to know, what are the don’t-miss tourist attractions/experiences/locations in and around Minnesota?

Sorry if this isn’t what this sub is for, I’ve just been chatting travel a lot recently and brainstorming.

Hi guys,

My little cousin (nearly 1yo) is Walmajarri from her dad’s side, and her parents are teaching her Walmajarri language as she grows up (in Fitzroy), eg. she calls her grandparents Jaja and Juppi, says ‘nana’ for snacks.

Most of her non-indigenous family live on Noongar country, but we want to learn Walmajarri with her.

Could anyone direct me to some resources we could use to learn? And also anything else you would like non-indigenous family members of mixed kids to know.

Thanks!