The True Story of the Australian Government's Kidnapping of Aboriginal Children

"In spite of himself, the native must be helped", was the belief of A.O. Neville, who in 1915 was appointed Chief Protector under the Australian Aborigines Act. The position of Chief Protector made him the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and part Aboriginal child in the state. He held that position for 21 years, during which time thousands of part Aboriginal children were ripped away from their homes and put in government institutions to be "made white" by being forced to conform to European ways. This was not just Neville's doing however, this was standard practice in Australia from the early 1900's until the early 1970's. Thousands of children, possibly as many as 100,000, known as the "Stolen Generation", experienced ill treatment and imprisonment at the hands of the government. Abused and abandoned, these half Aboriginal children were taken as part of a government effort to "breed out" Aboriginal ancestry. Only the half Aboriginal children were taken, full Aboriginal children of the same parents were left with the parents, even within the same family.

The movie, Rabbit Proof Fence, is based on the book "Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence" which chronicles the experiences of three girls; Molly, Gracie and Daisy, who were taken from their families and managed to escape imprisonment and travel alone across 1500 miles to return to their families. "Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence" was written by Doris Pilkington Garimara, Molly's daughter. In 1931 the three girls were ordered to be removed from their homes and transported to the Moore River Settlement, the primary institution where Aboriginal children were taken to learn European ways. They were trained to domestic and farm helpers to the Europeans. A journalist in 1938 wrote of the Moore River Settlement ,

" It is a creche, orphanage, relief depot, old men's home, home for discharged prisoners, home for expatriated savages, home for unmarried mothers, home for incurables, lost dog's home and school for boys and girls."

The children , once there, were told they had no families. They were forbidden to speak their native language and were forced to participate in activities to "civilize and Christianize" them. Molly, Gracie and Daisy managed to escape, and made their way back to their homes across 1500 miles of rough wilderness with nothing, and with authorities after them, by following the Rabbit Proof Fence, the largest fence in the world at that time. The fence had been built across Australia because of the rabbits who were routinely destroying farmland. I won't ruin the movie by saying more about the end, but everyone should see this movie.

The Forgotten History Foundation found that," After two years spent reviewing claims and sifting evidence, the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families concluded that, over the course of a century, Australia's federal government had knowingly pursued a policy of genocide with respect to the Aboriginal peoples." This type of genocide is not something that only happens in Australia. It happens all over the world, it happened even in the United States to the Native American people. While we can't change the past, we have a responsibility to those who lived and died during these atrocities to make sure that their stories are heard, and learned from. "Rabbit Proof Fence" and the book that inspired it ;" Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence", are a tribute to the thousands of children who suffered during that time.