One of Moree’s eldest and most respected Aboriginal elders, Jack French had the honour of raising the flag at Moree Hospital’s NAIDOC Week event on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A large crowd gathered on the grounds of Moree Hospital on Tuesday, July 4 to watch as Mr French raised the new Aboriginal flag for NAIDOC Week, which he said was an honour.
“I was only too grateful to do it,” Mr French said.
Moree Hospital Aboriginal family health worker in violence prevention, Denise Haines said Mr French was chosen for the honour due to all he’s done in the Moree community.
“He’s one of our really respected elders,” she said.
“He’s just a great man and very humble.”
It was even more fitting considering Mr French was born in a tent on the grounds of what is now the hospital, in August 1943.
Following the flag raising, hospital staff, patients, community members, friends and family gathered in the Lizzy Doolan Room for morning tea, where Mr French cut the NAIDOC Week cake.
More about the life of Jack French
The below speech was written by Jack’s daughter Jaki French and read by Moree Hospital’s Denise Haines during the NAIDOC Week event at Moree Hospital, where Jack had the honour of raising the flag.
Henry French, aka Jack, was born in a tent on the grounds of what is now the Moree Hospital on the 14th August, 1943 to parents Harold and Betty French.
He is the eldest in a family of eight, has seven children and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. He has been married to wife Gloria for 51 years and belongs to a large extended family.
Jack grew up and attended school on the Moree Mission at a time when Aboriginal people were subject to management by government-appointed Aboriginal Welfare Protection boards.
Whilst at school, Jack was selected by the Education and AWP Boards to sit a state exam for contention for a bursary grant that would allow him to attend the local high school.
He was the first Aboriginal student in NSW to sin the grant based on exam results, however fate intervened with the untimely death of his father and Jack was unable to continue on to high school.
During his time, Jack has done various jobs from ringbarking trees in QLD to travelling around Australia at 16 years old in Jimmy Sharman and Roy Bell’s Boxing Troupe.
After retiring from NSW Railways after 30 years’ service he went on to do legal fieldwork with Moree Aboriginal Legal Service and youth support with Moree Aboriginal Children’s Service.
Jack is also a wonderful dancer and he and his wife Gloria used to teach the waltz to local debutantes.
Jack grew up in a segregated Moree. He remembers the picture theatre being sectioned off, the segregated cafes and pubs and the general exclusion from the community.
One story he fondly remembers is the day he and a few of his mates from the Mission tried to get into the pool.
It was a scorching hot day and they wanted to swim in the town pool, so they decided to walk from the Mission – and mind you they were all barefoot! When they arrived they were told in no uncertain terms to ‘go and swim in the river where you belong’.
Jack was nine at the time. He will be 74 this year. To this day he has still never set foot on the grounds of the Moree Pool.
Jack is a proud Gamilaroi man and is extremely privileged to have witnessed the positive changes Moree has underhone.
He feels blessed to be a part of the Moree community and hopes that all generations learn to appreciate and respect the struggle this community has endured to overcome adversities that damage the credibility of what is without a doubt, the best town in the country.
He is honoured to have been asked to raise the flag today to mark the opening of Moree’s 2017 NAIDOC Week celebrations and wishes you all a happy NAIDOC Week.