
In reconstruction, in an overgrown field, an Aboriginal woman staggers through the lofty vegetation before falling to the ground. Frank, in voice-over narration, tells us that his mother’s heart and spirit were broken, and her life shattered because he was taken from her. Frank explains that Maudie was taken to Claremont (now Graylands Hospital), a hospital for the mentally ill that categorised Maudie as a ‘Female native suffering from unsound mind’. Evelyn Grove, a Graylands Hospital nurse recalls meeting Maudie, saying that she was rather withdrawn and believes she would have had a breakdown after losing her son. Black-and-white footage of the Claremont taken in the present day is followed by external shots of Claremont, colour, present day. Summary by Romaine Moreton.
In the Bringing Them Home Report about the Stolen Generations, the testimonies of the children are recorded. What is generally missing from these stories is the mother’s perspective. The emotional turmoil endured by Maudie from having her son removed, and the incarceration that resulted, gives human value to what may otherwise be only statistical evidence.
Frank Byrne was stolen from his mother Maudie Yooringun at the age of five. Decades later, Frank searches for his mother’s burial site with the intention of taking her back to her country in the Kimberley, 42 years after she passed away.
A personable and intimate portrayal of an Indigenous family whose lives are irreparably changed by the government removal policies. Case 442 is the story of Frank Byrne who was taken from Christmas Creek to Moola Bulla on the 20 November 1943, removed from his mother Maudie Yooringun. Frank pinpoints that moment of his life – when he was taken to Moola Bulla – as being when the struggle for survival began, not only for him but also for the other children removed from their parents. When Frank was taken from Moola Bulla to Beagle Bay Mission, he was told by a priest that his mother had died, but the details of where, when and how were unknown to him, and Frank would search for the answers to these questions all of his life.
Case 442 is a heart wrenching story of Frank Byrne, who as an old man finally finds his mother’s resting place at Perth’s Claremont Mental Institute, where she was incarcerated following a nervous breakdown she suffered after the forced removal of her small son. Frank Byrne’s search for his mother was one that was supported by Stolen Generations senior case workers Justin Howard and Heather Shearer, and Julie Hayden from the Department of Indigenous Affairs, who collectively located Maudie’s remains. Case 442 is a personal testimonial to the effects of Aboriginal child removal policies, and the lifelong consequences it has had upon people who have endured being separated from their families and communities. Witnessing the emotion of Frank Byrnes, now an elder, and the determination he has to find the remains of his mother and return her to her country, is a demonstration of the impact of child removal policies on an individual survivor.
A film from writer and director Mitch Torres, Case 442 is the human face of a government policy designed to assimilate Indigenous peoples into mainstream society, the intention being to indoctrinate half-caste children with western values and in the process, forget Indigenous cultural identity and connections.
This program has also screened on NITV, National Indigenous Television.
Notes by Romaine Moreton
This clip shows, through interviews and reconstructions, the consequences for Maudie Yooringun of the removal of her son in the 1940s. A re-enactment of a distraught Maudie Yooringun is shown alone in the bush, and black-and-white footage is used to show Claremont Hospital for the Insane, where she was incarcerated. A medical report states that Yooringun was 'suffering from an unsound mind’. Her son, Frank Byrne, says her heart and spirit were broken when he was removed and Evelyn Grove, a former nurse at the hospital, remembers her when she was a patient there.
Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia
This clip starts approximately 13 minutes into the documentary.
An Aboriginal woman staggers through an overgrown field. An interview with Frank begins playing over this footage.
Frank Byrne Well I know straight away, soon as – soon as we – I was taken away from her. Her spirit was broken. Her heart was broken, her life was shattered.
Disjointed voices surround the Aboriginal woman who has fallen to the ground.
Frank Byrne It wasn’t too long, you see? It wasn’t too long before she lost it.
Frank Byrne is seen sitting outside against a backdrop of trees waving in the wind.
Frank Byrne They must have thought that she was really mad and they – they took her to, uh Claremont – to the, to the um – mental hospital there. Whatever happened there, I don’t know. But ah, according to her files they got there, she – she wasn’t – she wasn’t – she couldn’t come back home.
Black-and-white footage shows the streets of Fremantle and grounds and buildings of Graylands Hospital, formerly Claremont. A nurse at the hospital is interviewed.
Evelyn Grove, Graylands Hospital nurse She wasn’t plumpish. She was – she had a little round face, but she sort of – the natural curly hair. Some people would have found she would’ve er – she was withdrawn, very quiet, and didn’t want to – she wasn’t one person that would go out and start a conversation or anything. She was very quiet, withdrawn in herself. Well she probably had a breakdown when they – when they took her son away. She must have worried about that all her life, all what – what she’d been through, remembering back on her. She would have had a sad life, when you come to think of it. Uh, I’d say that’s – that’s probably where – what – all the problem was where she went, had the breakdown, and was brought down here, to Claremont.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.