Stolen Generations
Blind Eye: Documentary of Stolen Generation
Watch this documentary first...
Watch this documentary first...
...and this one...
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2219619.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2219619.htm
What are the 'Stolen Generations'?
The term ‘Stolen Generations’ refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were removed from their families and communities as children due to past government policies. Removals were conducted in a variety of ways including adoption, fostering, orphanage placement, apprenticeships and farm labour. The main targets of child removal policies were ‘half-caste’ children – those with a combination of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal heritage. It was
hoped that if these children were incorporated into ‘mainstream’ society they would cease to identify as Aboriginal and would reap the benefits of a ‘white’ upbringing; meanwhile, ‘pure blood’ Aboriginal people would die out from lack of numbers. This approach became known as assimilation from the 1930s onwards. State and territory governments had their own removal policies and these were often enacted on the ground by police, church and charity groups. It is estimated that between one in three and one in ten Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities in the period 1910–70.2 In some regions at certain times the figure was much higher than one in ten.
With the passing in 1869 of the Act for the Protection and Management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria (or Aborigines Protection Act), the Victorian Government and its agencies were empowered to remove ‘any Aboriginal child neglected by its parents or left unprotected’ and to decide where people would live and work, and who they could marry and spend time with. From the passing of the Act until the 1960s, many Aboriginal children were taken to institutions, placed in foster homes or adopted out to non-Aboriginal families.
Read and watch the following sources to gather information about the Stolen Generations:
Source 1: Extinction of ‘Pure Blacks ’
Mr Neville [the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia] holds the view that within
one hundred years the pure black will be extinct. But the half-caste problem was increasing every
year. Therefore their idea was to keep the pure blacks segregated and absorb the half-castes into
the white population. Sixty years ago, he said, there were over 60 000 full-blooded natives in
Western Australia. Today there are only 20 000. In time there would be none. Perhaps it would
take one hundred years, perhaps longer, but the race was dying. The pure blooded Aboriginal was
not a quick breeder. On the other hand the half-caste was. In Western Australia there were halfcaste
families of twenty and upwards. That showed the magnitude of the problem.
Brisbane’s Telegraph newspaper, May 1937.
Source 2: Improve Their Lot
Nobody who knows anything about these groups [of Aboriginal people with mixed parentage]
can deny that their members are socially and culturally deprived. What has to be recognised is
that the integration of these groups differs in no way from that of the highly integrated groups
of economically depressed Europeans found in the slums of any city and in certain rural areas of
New South Wales. In other words, these groups are just like groups of poor whites. The policy for
them must be one of welfare. Improve their lot so that they can take their place economically and
socially in the general community and not merely around the periphery [edge]. Once this is done,
the break-up of such groups will be rapid.
James H. Bell, ‘Assimilation in NSW,’ in Marie Reay, ed., Aborigines Now: New Perspectives in the Study of Aboriginal
Communities (Angus & Robertson, London, 1964), 68.
Source 3: Preventing Family Contact
Unlike white children who came into the state’s control, far greater care was taken to ensure that
[Aboriginal children of mixed parentage] never saw their parents or families again. They were
often given new names, and the greater distances involved in rural areas made it easier to prevent
parents and children on separate missions from tracing each other.
Robert van Krieken, Children and the State: Social Control and the Formation of Australian Child Welfare
(Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1991), 108.
Source 4:Ultimate Absorption
This conference believes that the destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full
blood, lies in their ultimate absorption by the people of the Commonwealth, and it therefore
recommends that all efforts be directed to that end. … Efforts of all State authorities should be
directed towards the education of children of mixed aboriginal blood at white standards, and
their subsequent employment under the same conditions as whites with a view to their taking
their place in the white community on an equal footing with the whites.
Commonwealth–State Native Welfare Conference, 1937.
The term ‘Stolen Generations’ refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were removed from their families and communities as children due to past government policies. Removals were conducted in a variety of ways including adoption, fostering, orphanage placement, apprenticeships and farm labour. The main targets of child removal policies were ‘half-caste’ children – those with a combination of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal heritage. It was
hoped that if these children were incorporated into ‘mainstream’ society they would cease to identify as Aboriginal and would reap the benefits of a ‘white’ upbringing; meanwhile, ‘pure blood’ Aboriginal people would die out from lack of numbers. This approach became known as assimilation from the 1930s onwards. State and territory governments had their own removal policies and these were often enacted on the ground by police, church and charity groups. It is estimated that between one in three and one in ten Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities in the period 1910–70.2 In some regions at certain times the figure was much higher than one in ten.
With the passing in 1869 of the Act for the Protection and Management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria (or Aborigines Protection Act), the Victorian Government and its agencies were empowered to remove ‘any Aboriginal child neglected by its parents or left unprotected’ and to decide where people would live and work, and who they could marry and spend time with. From the passing of the Act until the 1960s, many Aboriginal children were taken to institutions, placed in foster homes or adopted out to non-Aboriginal families.
Read and watch the following sources to gather information about the Stolen Generations:
Source 1: Extinction of ‘Pure Blacks ’
Mr Neville [the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia] holds the view that within
one hundred years the pure black will be extinct. But the half-caste problem was increasing every
year. Therefore their idea was to keep the pure blacks segregated and absorb the half-castes into
the white population. Sixty years ago, he said, there were over 60 000 full-blooded natives in
Western Australia. Today there are only 20 000. In time there would be none. Perhaps it would
take one hundred years, perhaps longer, but the race was dying. The pure blooded Aboriginal was
not a quick breeder. On the other hand the half-caste was. In Western Australia there were halfcaste
families of twenty and upwards. That showed the magnitude of the problem.
Brisbane’s Telegraph newspaper, May 1937.
Source 2: Improve Their Lot
Nobody who knows anything about these groups [of Aboriginal people with mixed parentage]
can deny that their members are socially and culturally deprived. What has to be recognised is
that the integration of these groups differs in no way from that of the highly integrated groups
of economically depressed Europeans found in the slums of any city and in certain rural areas of
New South Wales. In other words, these groups are just like groups of poor whites. The policy for
them must be one of welfare. Improve their lot so that they can take their place economically and
socially in the general community and not merely around the periphery [edge]. Once this is done,
the break-up of such groups will be rapid.
James H. Bell, ‘Assimilation in NSW,’ in Marie Reay, ed., Aborigines Now: New Perspectives in the Study of Aboriginal
Communities (Angus & Robertson, London, 1964), 68.
Source 3: Preventing Family Contact
Unlike white children who came into the state’s control, far greater care was taken to ensure that
[Aboriginal children of mixed parentage] never saw their parents or families again. They were
often given new names, and the greater distances involved in rural areas made it easier to prevent
parents and children on separate missions from tracing each other.
Robert van Krieken, Children and the State: Social Control and the Formation of Australian Child Welfare
(Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1991), 108.
Source 4:Ultimate Absorption
This conference believes that the destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full
blood, lies in their ultimate absorption by the people of the Commonwealth, and it therefore
recommends that all efforts be directed to that end. … Efforts of all State authorities should be
directed towards the education of children of mixed aboriginal blood at white standards, and
their subsequent employment under the same conditions as whites with a view to their taking
their place in the white community on an equal footing with the whites.
Commonwealth–State Native Welfare Conference, 1937.
Source 5: National Apology to the Stolen Generations- Kevin Rudd
Source 6: Rabbit Proof Fence Stolen Generations scene
Source 7: Archie Road- 'Took the Children Away' with lyrics
Source 8: Poem
Belonging where?
Caught in an abyss
Belonging where?
Thousands of children
Heartache despair.
Stolen, separated
Leaving mothers behind
Lost to our Culture, Music, Dance and Art.
Lost to Ourselves – our Families - our Hearts.
As a child – wondering
What did I do wrong?
Who the hell am I?
A feeling so strong
The taunts of a childhood
All a whirl
‘Half-caste, half-caste
a little black girl.’
Italiano? Greek?
Maori or what?
Some of the questions asked a lot
Too black to be white.
Too white to be black.
Caught in the middle
Belonging no where.
Written by Lorraine McGee-Sippel (1997)
Belonging where?
Caught in an abyss
Belonging where?
Thousands of children
Heartache despair.
Stolen, separated
Leaving mothers behind
Lost to our Culture, Music, Dance and Art.
Lost to Ourselves – our Families - our Hearts.
As a child – wondering
What did I do wrong?
Who the hell am I?
A feeling so strong
The taunts of a childhood
All a whirl
‘Half-caste, half-caste
a little black girl.’
Italiano? Greek?
Maori or what?
Some of the questions asked a lot
Too black to be white.
Too white to be black.
Caught in the middle
Belonging no where.
Written by Lorraine McGee-Sippel (1997)
NOW FOR THE WRITING...
Think about and discuss the following questions. You may think of more …
Task to be completed
A song, a poster, a poem, a rap, a drawing, a cartoon.....something else that displays your feelings about what you have learned today about the stolen generations.
- Why were Aboriginal children taken from their families in the past? What was 'white Australia' trying to achieve?
- Were all Aboriginal children taken or just some? Which ones?
- Can you imagine how you would feel if you were taken from your family, not knowing when or if you would see them again?
- What have been some of the long-term effects of these children being taken from their families?
- Rabbit-Proof Fence is a recent movie that has highlighted the story of Molly and Daisy who were taken from their home in the 1930s. Do you think film is a good way to tell a story like this? Why?
- Was this practice carried out in all States? How long did this practice continue?
Task to be completed
A song, a poster, a poem, a rap, a drawing, a cartoon.....something else that displays your feelings about what you have learned today about the stolen generations.
DID YOU KNOW?
Canada has its own version of the Stolen Generations. The residential school system,
created in the 1840s, removed many First Nation (‘Indian’) children from their families and
sent them to church-run boarding schools. The aim of the removals was once described as
‘killing the Indian in the child.’ The last residential school closed in 1996.