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Government Well Aboriginal Reserve
A settlement in southwestern Australia where the Millimurra-Munday family is relocated midway through the play. The Moore River Settlement was a kind of internment camp for Aboriginal Australians. It was not merely a place for the family to live—they were forced to stay there, and they were not allowed to freely come and go.
Moore River Native Settlement Quotes in No Sugar
The No Sugar quotes below are all either spoken by Moore River Native Settlement or refer to Moore River Native Settlement. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Scene 2
Quotes
NEVILLE: Can you take down a note for the Minister, please? […] Item one: the native weekly ration currently costs this Department two shillings and fourpence per week. Perhaps this bears comparison with the sustenance paid to white unemployed which I believe is seven shillings per week. […] Item two: off the cuff, the proposed budget cut of three thousand one hundred and thirty-four pounds could be met by discontinuing the supply of meat in native rations. Soap was discontinued this financial year. Item Three: of eighty girls from the Moore River Native Settlement who went out into domestic service last year, thirty returned—
[…]
NEVILLE: Where was I?
MISS DUNN: Of eighty who went out in the domestic service last year…
NEVILLE: Thirty returned to the settlement in pregnant condition, yours etcetera… If you could type that straight away I’ll run it up to the Office myself.
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Act 1, Scene 10
Quotes
CONSTABLE: You’re being transferred to the Moore River Native Settlement.
GRAN: I ain’t goin’.
CONSTABLE: You’re all goin’. You’re under arrest.
GRAN: What for? We done nothin’ wrong.
SERGEANT: It’s for health reasons. Epidemic of skin disease.
JIMMY: Bullshit, I’ll tell you why we’re goin’.
CONSTABLE: You wouldn’t know.
JIMMY: You reckon blackfellas are bloody mugs. Whole town knows why we’re goin’. ‘Coz wetjalas in this town don’t want us ’ere, don’t want our kids at the school, with their kids, and old Jimmy Mitchell’s tight ’coz they reckon Bert ’Awke’s gonna give him a hidin’ in the election.
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Moore River Native Settlement Term Timeline in No Sugar
The timeline below shows where the term Moore River Native Settlement appears in No Sugar. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...Reserve, where the Millimurra-Munday family lives. On the other side is the Moore River Native Settlement, where the family is eventually forcibly relocated. Facades, signage, or furniture represent other locations, such...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 2
...a thank you note to Mr. Neal for hosting him at the Moore River Native Settlement. While Neville compliments Neal’s hospitality, he criticizes the “dirty little noses” of the Aboriginal children....
(full context)
...his letter, Neville announces he will be sending limited supplies of toilet paper to the Settlement, and that it is Neal’s job to teach the Aboriginal people under his care how...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 9
...with scabies.” Because of this, they will all be transferred to the Moore River Native Settlement.
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 10
...done nothing wrong. The Sergeant explains that they’re being transferred to the Moore River Native Settlement.
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 1
The Millimurra-Munday family arrives at the Moore River Native Settlement. Jimmy is working on creating shade for the family’s tent when Billy approaches. The family...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 3
Back at the Long Pool Camp in the Moore River Settlement, the Millimurra-Mundays play, work, and rest. Billy arrives with Matron Neal, Topsy, and Mary. Matron...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 4
One evening, Joe and Mary meet in a clearing on the Moore River Settlement. Mary has brought Joe a present: damper she made with emu fat and raisins. They...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 5
One morning at the Moore River Settlement, Jimmy wanders around outside Mr. Neal’s office as Neal, hungover, arrives for work. Neal chastises...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 6
It is evening on the Moore River Native Settlement. Jimmy and Sam, who have painted themselves for a corroboree ceremony, sit by a fire....
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 10
Billy limps back to the Superintendent’s Office in Moore River . David, Cissie, and Topsy follow him and call him names.
(full context)
Act 3, Scene 4
...Mary is staying, and the Sergeant walks off to find her and return her to Moore River .
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 1
Sister Eileen leads an outdoor Sunday School at Moore River . Cissie and Topsy sit with other Aboriginal children as Sister Eileen tells the story...
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 3
...there are other Nyoongahs around and the food is better than at the Moore River Settlement. Cissie finishes the letter and Milly gets Mary to lie down and rest.
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 4
Neal then criticizes Sister Eileen for lending books to the Aboriginal families at the Settlement. He says there is an “unofficial directive,” and the Aborigines Department discourages teaching Aboriginal Australians...
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 5
...are the Lord’s servants, and Jesus Christ himself has sent Neville to speak to the Settlement today. The white people in the crowd applaud, but the Aboriginals do not.
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 9
...will not return to Northam, and if he does, he will be brought back to Moore River . Joe clarifies that “if I put me name on this, me and Mary can...
(full context)
...asks what the document said. Joe explains that it will let him and Mary leave Moore River , with the condition that they do not return to Northam. Billy thinks they should...
(full context)
