Compass: July 5

This weekend Compass screens “Babe in the reeds: a story of massacres and resilience” to mark the start of NAIDOC Week 2015.

This year’s NAIDOC theme recognises that we all stand on sacred ground which is exactly what Aboriginal woman, Lois Cook, discovers when she starts researching the history of her great-grandfather, Bubba Jack Cook. Lois takes on the role of a history detective to find out if there’s any evidence to support her family’s stories of massacres and a baby found in the reeds.

In her mission she meets up with: a librarian who uncovers a little known letter with a chilling account, archaeologists who show us artefacts from a current dig on the North Coast and a cultural heritage officer who’s explains why South Ballina is such a significant site for local Aboriginal people.

We also meet Aboriginal Elders who explain what happened when a woman’s skull was found at Patches Beach, and a family historian from the white Cook family who has tells a story of a babe found in the reeds that is identical in every detail to the known by the Aboriginal Cook family.

6.30pm Sunday July 5 on ABC.