In this final part of Chapter 2, Francis brings us into the present with moving reflections on loss, resilience, and survival. He shares the rare fortune of his father — a stolen child who, unlike many, was allowed to know his birth parents. While this helped preserve some cultural knowledge, much was lost. And for many others, like Francis’ friend and fellow storyteller Pauline McLeod, the pain of separation lasted a lifetime.

Yet Francis also offers hope. He tells of becoming a cultural ambassador, crossing oceans to share Aboriginal stories, and standing before nearly 300,000 people during the Walk for Reconciliation in 2000. From being hidden in a sulky as a baby to becoming a voice of remembrance and healing, Francis’ journey is living testimony to both the grief and strength of his people.

This episode reminds us that history is not just what’s written in textbooks — it lives in people. It hurts. It heals. It carries forward. And, as Francis makes clear, it must never be forgotten.

Francis reveals the machinery behind Australia's cultural disintegration of Aboriginal life: the missions, the forced removals, and the Assimilation Policy that created the Stolen Generations. We hear how children were taken from their families — often under the guise of help — and raised in white-run institutions, forbidden to speak their language or connect to their ancestry.

With quiet power, Francis recounts the deeply personal and cultural impact of this era. He explains how mixed-race children were targeted most, separated from their mothers by force, while stories of desperate families hiding children or disguising them in tar bring the reality into sharp focus. Francis shares how his own family escaped that fate — thanks to his mother’s whiteness and his father’s bush skills — but the trauma remained all around him.

Through memory and testimony, this episode offers a window into a silenced war of assimilation, challenging listeners to see beyond the myth of peaceful settlement and confront the painful truth of how Aboriginal cultures were dismantled from the inside out.

In this opening section of Chapter 2, Francis Firebrace recounts the moment paradise was shattered. With warmth and clarity, he describes the arrival of the First Fleet from the perspective of the Guringai people, who initially believed the pale-skinned British might be ancestral spirits. What began with generosity and trust — sharing food, water, and medicine — quickly turned into betrayal, violence, and systemic destruction.

Francis lays out how the British misunderstood and disrespected Aboriginal culture, wrongly assuming Indigenous people were less than human. The settlers shot Aboriginals for accessing their own water, fenced off sacred land, and used poison, disease, and violence to wipe out entire communities. This episode challenges listeners to understand the true nature of early contact — not as discovery, but invasion. The Dreamtime was interrupted not by progress, but by brutal displacement.

It’s a sobering start to a vital reckoning — told by someone born into the aftermath, yet whose memory carries the voices of those who came before.

EPISODE NOTES: Chapter 1 – Part 3: The Wilderness Was Our World

In this final segment of Chapter 1, Francis Firebrace shares vivid memories of growing up almost entirely detached from society — a childhood shaped by movement, self-reliance, and the deep, silent company of the Australian bush.

Following the fallout of his parents' forbidden relationship, Francis’ family continued their journey along the Murray River, living off the land in complete independence. We hear how survival was made possible through his father's traditional Aboriginal bushcraft — setting snares for kangaroos, fishing by hand, tracking water sources, and harvesting what the land provided. Francis recalls days spent on earthen floors, his mother washing clothes in river water, and his family navigating vast stretches of uninhabited wilderness.

Despite the challenges, these early years were filled with peace, purpose, and powerful connections to country. In this part, Francis also reflects on the vast cultural divide between settlers and Indigenous people — a divide that made his very existence controversial, yet ultimately formed the foundation for a life lived between worlds.

With humility and warmth, Francis invites us into a way of living that most modern people will never know — one in harmony with the land, rich in ancestral wisdom, and free from the judgments of a world left behind.

EPISODE NOTES: Chapter 1 – Part 2: The River Was Our Life

In this evocative second part of Dreamtime Cowboy, Francis reflects on his earliest memories — a childhood spent entirely on the move, deep in the Australian bush. Without a destination, his family journeyed along the winding arteries of the Darling and Murray River systems. For six formative years, nature was home, camp was wherever the fire was lit, and survival depended on ancient knowledge passed from father to son.

Francis shares vivid recollections of his father's bush skills — hunting, fishing, tracking — and the quiet dignity of a man living off the land while keeping his distance from the racism of white towns. We hear how rivers once revered by Aboriginal people for their spiritual and physical nourishment became exploited by colonisers for industry and profit.

The episode also unfolds the backstory of Francis’ mother, Maggie — a white woman scarred by poverty, abuse, and institutional trauma — and the unlikely, powerful love story between her and Norman, Francis’ Aboriginal father. Their union, at the time deeply forbidden, shaped the course of Francis’ life and cast him as both witness and bridge between two worlds. This chapter is not just about movement through space, but through history — revealing how memory, myth, and the land are interwoven in a life born into exile and sustained by resilience.

EPISODE NOTES: Chapter 1 – Part 1: My Walkabout Begins

In this powerful opening to Dreamtime Cowboy, Francis Firebrace shares the very first story of his life — one he does not remember himself, but one passed to him by his parents. It’s the story of a family on the run: a white mother, an Aboriginal father, and a baby in her arms, fleeing into the bush under cover of night in a horse-drawn sulky.

Set in 1936 in the town of Chiltern, northeast of Melbourne, this episode introduces listeners to the stark racial divisions of early 20th-century Australia. We learn how Francis' parents’ love defied the unspoken laws of the time — and how that love would make them outcasts. Through vivid description and historical reflection, Francis lays the groundwork for the journey ahead: one shaped by racism, survival, family, and ultimately, the search for belonging.

This is not only the beginning of Francis’ story, but the start of a lifelong walkabout — one that continues to speak to the heart of Australia today.

Welcome to Dreamtime Cowboy!

This first episode introduces you to the overall theme and focus of the Dreamtime Cowboy story, whetting your appetite with a glimpse of what is to come in this authorised biography of 89-year-old Indigenous Australian elder Francis Firebrace.

The narrator is your host, Adrian Beckingham, and in this episode, we provide a sweeping overview of Francis’ remarkable life — from surviving in the Australian bush as a young child to becoming a recognised international ambassador for the cultural heritage of Aboriginal Australians.

Francis Firebrace’s life began at a time when his very existence was considered illegal. Born during the era of the Stolen Generations, Francis’ mixed-race heritage meant that his family lived in fear, often forced to hide and flee from society. In this episode, we set the stage for the profound journey that Francis would walk — from living in isolation in the wilderness to navigating the deep, complex challenges of racism, identity, and survival. We touch on the highlights of his story: his life as a cowboy, his groundbreaking achievements in film, and his eventual emergence as a powerful cultural ambassador.

But this is just the beginning. As the series unfolds, each chapter will dive much deeper into these pivotal moments in Francis' life, exploring the intricate details and personal challenges that shaped him. From his battles with racial prejudice, his journey into filmmaking, to his spiritual awakening and eventual embrace of his Aboriginal heritage — these stories will be revealed in their full richness and depth.