Over 25 years, Wakka Wakka woman Patricia Bond's determination to see the country she grew up on returned to her people never wavered.
This week the Federal Court formally recognised the Wakka Wakka people as native title holders over almost 1,180 square kilometres of land, from the Bunya Mountains in southern Queensland to Gayndah in the South Burnett River Catchment, encompassing the town of Cherbourg.
"We've gone through a long struggle in proving our identity and proving our cultural connections to areas which we belong," Mrs Bond said.
Justice Darryl Rangiah described the long history of atrocities committed against the Wakka Wakka people, including frontier violence, segregation and forced removal.
"It has been described as something like a concentration camp," he said.
"They were used as slave labour, children were forcibly removed from families and authorities would punish those who used traditional language or customs, usually with floggings.
Recognising what was 'always known'
Cherbourg was established in the early 1900s as a place of interment for Indigenous people forcibly removed from the land.
For Mrs Bond and others in her community, the court ruling is a bittersweet moment and a reminder of the dark colonial past.
"Back in the day, when I started school in the early '50s, I went to school in Cherbourg and then I was removed from here by the then-government that controlled the community," she said.
"I was moved to Murgon and into an all-white school.
"That was devastating for me and it was really hard for me to fathom at the time — and for my parents, not to be able to … make those choices about what they wanted for me as their daughter."
Justice Rangiah said the consent determination was a formality.
"It is important to emphasise that the court is not giving the Wakka Wakka people anything," he said.
"The court is simply recognising that which the Wakka Wakka people have always known — that this has always been and will always be your land."
'One big Wakka Wakka nation'
More than 100 people from all over Queensland with ties to the Wakka Wakka people – the third largest Indigenous group in the state – attended the special court hearing in Cherbourg.
"We've all come here today, community members and elders, to be one big Wakka Wakka nation," Mrs Bond said.
Queensland Native Title Services chief executive Kevin Smith said the process was long but had to be done properly.
"The Wakka Wakka people had to prove that they had a continuous connection with this country, before white fellows came here — from that time all the way through to today's determination," he said.
"So they actually had to prove that they had laws and customs and, under those laws and customs, they possess the right to interest in this land.
"But now that determination is forever — the title runs with that land."
Hurt, sorrow, heartache and healing
Applicant Una Appo Chapman said it was important to remember those who were no longer alive to witness the ruling.
"I'm excited, I'm elated, I'm emotional," she said.
Ms Chapman said native title would not erase the past but it would help future generations heal.
"That hurt, the sorrow, the heartache … the intergenerational trauma that we carry — that takes a lifetime," she said.
"But now we'll continue on with the ongoing practices that were taught to us by our ancestors and they will remain the same as what they were [for] thousands of years."
Shane Dynevor, 23, was the youngest applicant.
"It's our lore, our customs within our hunting and gathering rights, and proper law customs with language and dances," he said.
Mr Dynevor hopes the work of the Wakka Wakka applicants will encourage more young people to keep their legacy alive.
"Once we see each other, pushing each other to do things backed up by our elders, then we know we are going on the right path," he said.
