The Cummeragunja walk-off in 1939 was a protest by Australian Aboriginal

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

 people at the Cummeragunja Mission

Cummeragunja Mission

Cummeragunja Mission, or Cummeragunja Station, was an Australian Aboriginal mission established in 1881 on the New South Wales side of the Murray River, on the Victorian border near Barmah. The people were mostly Yorta Yorta....

 in southern New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

.

Background

The Cummeragunja Mission was mostly home to Yorta Yorta people

Yorta Yorta people

The Yorta Yorta people are the Indigenous Australians who traditionally lived around the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day northeast Victoria....

 who had been relocated in the late 19th century from the Maloga Mission. Over the years, the New South Wales government had tightened its control on the operation of the mission. By late 1938 people had become unhappy with the management of the mission, living conditions and restrictions on their movement.

Protest

On 4 February 1939, when Jack Patten

Jack Patten

John Thomas Patten , known as Jack Patten was an Australian Aboriginal activist and journalist.-Biography:...

 was arrested and removed from the mission after trying to address the local people, as many as 200 residents of the Cummeragunja Mission walked out of the mission and crossed the Murray River

Murray River

The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...

 leaving the state of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. This was in contravention of rules set by the New South Wales Aboriginal Protection Board

Aboriginal Protection Board

There was an Aboriginal Protection Board in a number of Australian States with the function of "protecting" and regulating the lives of Indigenous Australians. They were also responsible for administering the various Half-caste acts where these existed and had a key role in the Stolen generations...

.

Legacy

Many of the people who left the mission in February 1939 settled in northern Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 in towns such as Barmah

Barmah, Victoria

Barmah is a town in Victoria, with the distinction of being located north of the southerly border with New South Wales. At the 2006 census, Barmah had a population of 201....

, Echuca

Echuca, Victoria

Echuca is a town located on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe river in Victoria, Australia. The Border town Moama is on the northern side of the Murray river in New South Wales. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Shire of Campaspe...

 and Shepparton

Shepparton, Victoria

Shepparton is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in the north east of Victoria, Australia approximately north-east of Melbourne. It is the fifth largest city in Victoria, Australia. The estimated population of Shepparton's statistical area is 48,926.It began as a sheep station...

.

In October 2010, the opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 Pecan Summer

Pecan Summer

Pecan Summer is an opera written and composed by the Indigenous Australian singer Deborah Cheetham, who also sang in the premiere season. It was orchestrated by Jessica Wells. It is the first opera written by an indigenous Australian and involving an indigenous cast...

, based on the walk-off, opened in Mooroopna

Mooroopna, Victoria

Mooroopna is a rural town located north of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway crosses the river between the two towns...

, near Shepparton

Shepparton, Victoria

Shepparton is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in the north east of Victoria, Australia approximately north-east of Melbourne. It is the fifth largest city in Victoria, Australia. The estimated population of Shepparton's statistical area is 48,926.It began as a sheep station...

. Deborah Cheetham

Deborah Cheetham

Deborah Joy Cheetham is an Australian Aboriginal soprano, actor, composer and playwright.Cheetham is a member of the Stolen Generations; she was taken from her mother when she was three weeks old and was raised by a white baptist family. Jimmy Little is her uncle...

 – whose uncle Jimmy Little

Jimmy Little

Jimmy Little AO , is an Australian Aboriginal musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist, whose career has spanned six decades. For many years he was the only Aboriginal star on the Australian music scene...

was born at Cummeragunja Mission – wrote, composed and performed in this production by the Short Black Opera Company.