Warning

Please be aware that this

resource may contain

references to and images of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people who may

have passed away.

If someone you didn’t know came

to your house and took you,

or one of your brothers or sisters

away......

Imagine ....

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...

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

The Stolen Generation:

Aboriginal Protection Act 1869

Half-breed i.e one parent is white and the other Aboriginal

Abducted(forcefully removed)

Sent to camps

Train them to be “white” to be civilized

Aboriginals were not fit parents

To breed them out

Went on to the early 1970’s

‘The Bungalow’ N.T. 1928

One of many places children from the Stolen

Generation were forced to live, in very poor conditions.

‘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.

FACTS

Aboriginal 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’.

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.

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“.

Rabbit-Proof Fence (film)

A 2002 Australian drama 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-race Aboriginal 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.

They are more likely to come to the attention of the police as

they grow into adolescence

They are more likely to suffer low self-esteem, depression and mental illness

They are more vulnerable to physical, emotional and sexual

abuse

They had been almost always taught to reject their

Aboriginality and Aboriginal culture

They are unable to retain links with their land

They cannot take a role in the cultural and spiritual life of their former communities

They are unlikely to be able to establish their right to native

title.

The effects of removal on The Stolen Generation today

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

On13 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”.

The Australian Government says,

“SORRY”

Reflections

Think 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.

Summary on the ‘Stolen Generation’ Where?

- Australia

When?

- Between 1909-1969

Who?

- Half white children(Aboriginal)

- Government, Church and welfare bodies

How?

- Remove children without the consent of their parents: without a court order

- Some parents were tricked into submitting their children

- Property of the state- ask consent to move and even get married

Summary on the ‘Stolen Generation’

Why?

People who were ‘not of full blood’ were

encouraged to become assimilated into the

broader society so that eventually there would be

no more Indigenous people left.

At the time Indigenous people were seen as an

inferior race.

Children were taken from Aboriginal parents so

they could be brought up ‘white’ and taught to

reject their Aboriginality.

Summary on the ‘Stolen Generation’

What happened to them?

Children were placed with institutions and from the 1950s began also being placed with white families.

Aboriginal children were expected to become labourers or servants, so in general the education they were provided was very poor.

Aboriginal girls in particular were sent to homes established by the Board to be trained in domestic service.

The generations of children who were taken from their families became known as the Stolen Generations.

References Creative Spirits. (n.d.). A guide to Australia’s stolen generations.

Retrieved from

http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-

generations.html

NSW Department of Education and Communities. (n.d.). Fact sheets: The stolen generations. Racism. No Way! project.

Retrieved from http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-

resources/factsheets/52.html

‘Princessportent’. (2007, August 7). Rabbit Proof Fence Tribute

Video. Youtube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF5y5nP8Pps