08/06/2026
What happens when key information is missing from archival records?
This International Archives Week, we’re reflecting on how archives shape justice and memory, and how records can be strengthened over time.
Take this photograph from Brewarrina in the late 1950s. It was originally described as Sister Godfrey of the Far West Children’s Health Scheme with an unidentified Aboriginal woman and her baby.
This record has now been updated.
With support from the Brewarrina Historical Society, Memories of Brewarrina 2839, and family and community members, the woman has been identified as Ellen May Warraweena, holding her baby, Derek. The location has also been confirmed as the ‘Big House’.
This is reparative description in action.
It involves revisiting records that are incomplete, inaccurate or missing context, and strengthening them with community knowledge.
The result is a more accurate, complete and respectful historical record.
Image: Sister Godfrey with baby Derek John Warraweena and his mother, Ellen May ‘May’ Warraweena, at the ‘Big House’ at Brewarrina Aboriginal Station, NSW.
NAA: A1200, L24983
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Image description: Black-and-white photograph taken outdoors at the ‘Big House’ at Brewarrina Aboriginal Station. Sister Godfrey stands with Ellen May ‘May’ Warraweena, who is holding baby Derek John Warraweena. They are standing beside a white fence, with trees in the background.
