2025/01/01 by Odette Best, Tracey Bunda · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Australian History and Society
paper · doi:10.5325/nursinghistory.33.0001
Abstract This article draws from the investigated histories, undertaken by the authors, of Aboriginal Queensland women who trained as nurses and midwives from the 1890s to the 1950s. Specifically, the life of one Queensland Aboriginal woman midwife is highlighted. In spotlighting this story, the authors make known new knowledge that would otherwise be rendered invisible and thus provide a corrective to the Australian nursing historical record. The authors frame the article with an understanding of the Queensland historical context for both the treatment of Aboriginal peoples and the formation of the nursing profession. Situated with this knowledge, the authors present a dialogue that outlines the critical value of centering Aboriginal approaches in research. Working in unison, the authors’ combined techniques unravel the story of the socially entrenched low White expectations that stated that Aboriginal women lacked agency, only operated in passivity, and could not be educated or self-determining. The authors counter these prevailing historical White attitudes with the story of Muriel Stanley. Born on an Aboriginal mission in Queensland during the historical time that is generally known as the Segregation and Protectionist Era, Stanley, as an Aboriginal midwife, enacted a different attitude than that ascribed to her.