The removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families remains a dark chapter in Australia’s history.
Pattie Lees was just ten-years-old when she and her four siblings were separated from their mother on the grounds of neglect and placed into State care.
Believing she was being shipped and exiled to Africa, Pattie was ultimately fated to spend the rest of her childhood on the island once dubbed ‘Australia’s Alcatraz’ – Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement, off the coast of Queensland.
A Question of Colour; my journey to belonging provides a first-hand account of Pattie’s experiences as a ‘fair-skinned Aboriginal’ during Australia’s assimilationist policy era and recounts her survival following a decade of sexual, physical and emotional abuse as a Ward of the State.
A Question of Colour is a deeply moving and powerful testimony to the resilience of a young girl, her identity and her journey to belong.
Author Pattie Lees with Adam C Lees
Pattie Lees was born in Cairns, North Queensland, and was removed from her family at an early age and sent to Palm Island as a Ward of the State. At the age of nineteen she joined the Women’s Royal Australian Navy. She represented Australia as a delegate at several United Nations development forums. She is currently CEO of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Children and Youth Services. Married to husband Terry for 51 years, Pattie is the mother of four children, grandmother to twelve and a great-grandmother.
Adam C Lees, Pattie Lee’s eldest son, has worked in the mining, energy and resources sector as a community relations and sustainability professional since 2000. He is currently a Senior Corporate Affairs Manager for Woodside Energy based in Perth. Raised in Mount Isa, his wanderlust and passion for photography have taken him off the beaten track to more than 65 countries. Adam is member of Mer Gedkem Le (Torres Strait Islanders Corporation) Registered Native Title Body Corporate and the Cape York Land Council (CYLC).
