Noosa District State High School Year 9 Humanities students were treated to a fascinating presentation by Australian South Sea Islander Clacy Fatnowna on Friday.
The Humanities students completed a unit of work this term on the movement of people, which included a study of ‘black-birding’ in Queensland.
Mr Fatnowna spoke to the students about his great-grandparents who were ‘blackbirded’ from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu in the late 1800s to clear land in Queensland for the start of the sugar industry.
Important traditions and customs were explained in depth, and students had the opportunity to see in-person the Olympic torch Mr Fatnowa carried through Mackay in the lead up to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
The students found the presentation to be most useful in bringing to life much of their learnings this term.
