Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services

Our libraries offer resources and services designed to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers, viewers and listeners should be aware that this web page may contain names, images and voices of deceased people.

Our stories

Our words our stories

Our words our stories were created for the 2019 United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages. The stories are by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who live, work or perform in Logan City. They offer a unique local insight into their language, heritage and knowledge.

There is something for everyone in these short stories. They appeal to children of all ages and teachers as well.

Logan City Council, the State Library of Queensland and Telstra provided Deadly Digital Communities funding. The Queensland Narrating Service provided the digital recording equipment and sound production services.

Our Aunties and Uncles, digital stories project

The Our Aunties and Uncles Digital Stories Project was supported through funding from the Australian Government's Your Community Heritage Program.

The project aimed to record the stories of four significant Elders in Logan in their own voices. The Elders were selected through consultation with the Nyeumba-Meta Advisory Group. The stories of Uncle Reg Knox, Aunty Eileen Williams, Aunty Robyn Williams and Aunty Flora Cook were filmed and recorded during 2013.

Black Diggers of Logan project

The Black Diggers of Logan project commemorates the Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Australian South Sea Islanders who fought alongside their comrades despite not being officially counted as people of their own nation during the First World War.

Explore the stories of Valentine Hare, Jack Pollard and the Watego brothers George and Murray, four Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen as told by their descendants living in Logan.

This project is proudly supported by Logan City Council and the Queensland Government.

Deadly Stories South East Queensland

The Queensland Government's deadly stories campaign celebrates the many achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and their communities across Queensland. The stories provide an opportunity to share challenges and triumphs, and salute the everyday success stories of Indigenous Queenslanders. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Logan City are represented in Deadly Stories South East Queensland.

Nyeumba-Meta: Learning House

The space Nyeumba-Meta is a place to foster respect for Australian Indigenous cultures. It’s located at our Logan Central Library.

The name Nyeumba-Meta was chosen by our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents to reflect their language. Nyeumba in Yugembah language means ‘teaching or learning’ while Meta in Torres Strait language means ‘house’.

The space

The Nyeumba-Meta space includes a collection, yarning circle and artwork. The space has regular events throughout the year.

The collection

The Nyeumba-Meta collection was donated in 1998 when the Education Unit at Woodridge State School closed.

Aunty Eileen Williams of the Yugambeh people wanted to make sure the collection remained available to the community.

In 2012, The Salvation Army Communities for Children Logan donated more items to the collection.

The collection is available at Logan Central Library and includes books, DVDs, jigsaw puzzles and artefacts. Educational institutions can use the collection to teach students about Indigenous customs and history.

For more information, please call the regional librarian on 07 3412 4100 or email us at logancentral.library@logan.qld.gov.au.

Family history resources

  • Our local studies collection contains resources useful for anyone researching their family history. For more information see Local and family history
  • The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies can help you to research your Indigenous family history. Their collections have information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families, communities and places. Our family history unit can help you to find information in other collections across Australia.
  • Many records that are useful for Indigenous family history are not held by the National Archives of Australia. The National Archives website describes some of the records that exist and the organisations you might approach in your research.
  • The Centre for Indigenous Family History Studies holds resources like:
    • Births, deaths and marriages
    • Auditor General reports
    • Aboriginal trackers
    • Colonial Secretary
    • Education and school
    • Employment
    • Exemptions
    • Goals and prisoners
    • General, health and medical
    • Police and courts
    • Protector of Aborigines letter books
    • Queensland Parliamentary Papers
    • Removals, settlements and missions
    • Torres Strait Islanders.
  • Queensland State Archive can help you research family and community links and help you understand the historical background to contemporary Indigenous issues. They also offer information for native title determination and other legal matters. You can search by using people and place names. Each entry includes the Queensland State Archives references.
  • State Library of Queensland – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queensland State library collections may help with family histories and genealogies, photographs and digital stories. The State library website features information on Indigenous art and music, languages, protocols, Queensland legislation, missions and reserves.

Other collections

The Yugambeh Museum, Language and Heritage Research Centre has thousands of items and artefacts for research. The museum is open by appointment only. To make an appointment, please call the Yugambeh Museum on 07 3807 6155 or email admin@yugambeh.com.