Memories of Tasmanian Aboriginal elder Ida West; stories of early life; marriage; family; daily life; Flinders, and other Bass Strait Islands; Flinders Island families; work; family history, including genealogy; Aboriginal servicemen; cremation of Truganini; Fanny Cochrane Smith; 'half-caste' label; Aboriginal people selling land and moving away from Flinders Island; race relations; racism; Cape Barren Reserve; argues training preferable to unemployment benefits which lead to loss of pride and dignity; Lucy Beeton; community work; verse by Aunty Sarah Mansell; comments on history of Tasmanian Aborigines; extracts from 'The Last of the Tasmanians' by James Bonwick and references to William Lanne'