Graham Mooney, who was a participant in the workshop, says “I hale from Mackay in far north Queensland, which is home to our largest ASSI / Solomon Island descent community. I have both Aboriginal and South Sea Islander ancestry from my father and mother’s lines.

My father was brought up strictly in Solomon Islander culture and still speaks pijin today. I was given the role as our biological family historian both on my father’s (Percival Mooney (senior) ancestry and lineage into the Solomon Islands and my mother’s (Jessie Darr) ancestry and lineage into my Vanuatu heritage.

This will be my first time to visit the Solomons in my over 60 years. Our great grandfather, Kwailiu, and great grandmother, Orrani, were brought to Queensland as indentured workers to grow sugarcane in Innisfail in far North Queensland.

They came from Fataleka, Malaita, Solomon Islands in 1888. My father’s lineage as a Solomon Islander comes through his mother Cecily Fatnowna, the youngest daughter of Kwailiu and Orrani.”