Martha Borinelli talks about setting up an Aboriginal dart team

Audio Recording

Martha Borinelli talks about setting up an Aboriginal dart team

Audio Transcript

But if you are a strong person and you keep fighting all your life for what you want, you fight, fight and it’s very hard, you know, because sometimes people will never let you forget who you are and they wouldn’t ever let you have a go because I tried my hardest to be a good citizen in Moora but they still let me know that I was an Aboriginal and that I … my place wasn’t to be allowed to be there because I’m an Aboriginal and I just said to her well I’m just as good as you, as a matter of fact I might be a bit better than you, if you look at your own selves in the mirror. I said just because my skin’s a bit blacker doesn’t mean to say I’m any good. So yeah, I told a few people that in Moora, I had lots of arguments with them, you know, I said Aboriginal people, we’re nice people if you want to let us have a go and give us a go and … and so how it come about, they were like, they’re very, very, very racist in Moora, then I said to the ladies, I said come on, let’s do something for this town, you know, we’re not going to let them get away with it. Let’s show that we’re just as good as they are. So we went and joined the dart club, the darts competition, Aboriginal people, we got our own dart team and won every year. And … and so we were allowed to go into this club then because we were dart players, you know, before they wouldn’t let us in.

From: Martha Borinelli, nee Taylor, interview for South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, 15 May 2007

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Note: In some cases the written transcript has been edited with permission from the person interviewed and may differ slightly from the audio recording.

Permission to use this audio recording kindly granted by Carina Ward, Mark Borinelli, Sergio Borinelli and Andrew Borinelli