Introduction to The Stolen Generation
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This document discusses the Stolen Generation in Australia between 1909 and 1969, when Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families by the government. It provides background information, facts, images and statistics about the removal of Aboriginal children and the impact it had on their lives and culture. It also discusses the National Sorry Day and the Australian government's apology to the Stolen Generation in 2008.
Introduction to The Stolen Generation
- 1. WarningPlease be aware that this resource may contain references to and images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may have passed away.
- 2. If someone you didn’t know came to your house and took you, or one of your brothers or sisters away......Imagine ....
- 3. How would you feel if this happened to your family? None of you had done anything wrong, you didn’t know why this was happening...Imagine...
- 4. From 1909 to 1969 Governments, churches and welfare bodies were able to take Aboriginal children away from their families without consent. This practice continued into the 1970s.These children were then brought up in institutions or fostered out to white families. These children are known as...THE STOLEN GENERATION
- 5. ‘The Bungalow’ N.T. 1928One of many places children from the Stolen Generation were forced to live, in very poor conditions.
- 6. ‘The Bungalow', an institution operated by the Australian Government utilising the corrugated iron sheds seen behind the group, where approximately 50 Indigenous children and ten adults were forced to live. The people seen in the image slept on the floor of the sheds or out in the open. They were allocated one blanket each per year. Most of the 45-50 children at the Bungalow in 1928, ranging in age from infancy to 16 years, had been forcibly removed from their families.
- 7. FACTSAboriginal children were taken from their families all over Australia.The first 'native institution' at Parramatta, N.S.W. in 1814 was set up to 'civilise' Aboriginal children. The lack of understanding and respect for Aboriginal people also meant that many people who supported the child removals believed that they were doing the ‘right thing’.
- 8. FACTS cont.In the early 20th century white Australians thought Aboriginal people would die out. In three generations, they thought, Aboriginal genes would have been 'bred out' when Aboriginal people had children with white people.It is not known precisely how many Aboriginal children were taken away between 1909 and 1969, when the Aborigines Welfare Board (formerly the Aborigines Protection Board) was abolished. Poor record keeping, the loss of records and changes to departmental structures have made it almost impossible to trace many connections.
- 9. Reasons why Aboriginal girls were taken away (in %). This statistic considers why Aboriginal girls were removed from their families. "Other" reasons include "being female on an Aboriginal reserve" and simply because of being "Aboriginal“.
- 10. Rabbit Proof FenceRabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002Australiandrama film based on the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara. It is based on a true story concerning the author's mother, as well as two other mixed-raceAboriginal girls, who ran away from the Moore River Native Settlement, north of Perth, to return to their Aboriginal families, after having been placed there in 1931. The film follows the girls as they trek/walk for nine weeks along 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of the Australian rabbit-proof fence to return to their community at Jigalong, while being tracked by a white authority figure and an Aboriginal tracker.
- 11. Watch images from the movie ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ tell the story of 3 young children taken away from their family and how they tried to get home.
- 12. The effects of removal on The Stolen Generation todayThey are more likely to come to the attention of the police as they grow into adolescence
- 13. They are more likely to suffer low self-esteem, depression and mental illness
- 14. They are more vulnerable to physical, emotional and sexual abuse
- 15. They had been almost always taught to reject their Aboriginality and Aboriginal culture
- 16. They are unable to retain links with their land
- 17. They cannot take a role in the cultural and spiritual life of their former communities
- 18. They are unlikely to be able to establish their right to native title.The National Sorry Day is held on the 26th May each year since 1988, in commemoration of the Bringing Them Home report being handed to the federal government on 26 May 1997. Sorry Day 2007. Someone had planted an Aboriginal flag on the ground expressing his sorrow for what had happened to Indigenous people
- 19. The Australian Government says SORRYOn the 13th February, 2008 The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd offered a broad apology to all Aborigines and the Stolen Generations for their "profound grief, suffering and loss“.
- 20. ReflectionsThink about how you might feel if you had been one of the Stolen Generation children. In groups, write down how you think families would have been affected, at the time of separation, as they were growing up and once they were adults. Imagine you knew what you know now but could go back in time. Write a letter to the authorities and give them some reasons why they should stop separating Aboriginal children from their families. You can look on the internet or at the library for more information on the Stolen Generation to help you. Include your references at the end of your letter.