Wiradjuri elder Aunty Isabel Reid was kidnapped when she was seven-years-old and taken away from her family.
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Decades later, she watched on as her project of a reconciliation monument was unveiled in Wagga on Friday.
The event marked National Sorry Day which is held to remember the historical mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Aunty Isabel, was so excited to see the monument unveiled after a year of working with council to have it implemented.
“We can come here any day, it doesn’t have to be for Sorry Day, it’s for everyone,” she said.
“We live in this town and it’s a beautiful town and I’d like something for it and for when the tourists come through.
“They hear about the Stolen Generation, but there was nothing there for them to see, but now there is and I was seven when I was taken, it’s been a long journey, but we got there in the end.”
Aunty Isabel was pleased so many young children were in attendance.
“We as kids didn’t get the opportunity to play like they did and our culture was taken away from us, so it was good to see the kids here learning,” she said.
Wagga City Council mayor Greg Conkey, said the community should always remember their history.
“Sorry Day is a day we need to remember and commemorate each year and this monument will be part of that process for years to come,” he said.
Cr Conkey said it was important to remember the Stolen Generations, members of which are a part of the community.
“When I was being raised in Cootamundra, when I was in Kindergarten I was five and this young Aboriginal boy was in the same class as me and one day he was there, the next he was gone,” he said.
“Then we saw the girls turn up at school when I was in primary and high school, but we really didn’t know what was happening at home and some of the hardships they were facing.
“I have been able to renew acquaintances with one of the girls, I met her at Apology Day and we worked out we went to the same school and it was amazing.
“She was certainly not bitter about Cootamundra but she suffered a lot of hardships.”