The book is about the history of three girls who run away from the Moore River Settlement in order to go back home in Jigalong. They were there because they were half-castes, children of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers, and they should be educated to learn how to be a servant or farm workers. They were able to find the way to back home by following the rabbit-proof fence.
"In the early 1900's, there was a law that said that half-castes children should be taken away from their families and sent to government or church settlements, to be trained to become servants"
When I finished reading the book "Rabbit-proof fence" I associated what happend to the girls with aboriginal people in general: whenever the settlers went to any lands, they take women and men as slaves, servants or farm workers and would educate their children the way they wanted because their perception was that they were wild.
Lots of children were taken from their families between 1800 - 1970 due to decisions taken by the government. This time of sadness fot the aboriginal people was called the Stolen Generation. In my opinion, they gave this name because of two important reasons: First, because they stole the children from their families (a generation) and, second, because they stole the identity of these children by forcing them into the customes and culture of the English people.
We only know the history that the author told us, but what really happend to all the children while they were in the settlement?
Even when the Prime Minister gave an apology for the stolen generation in 13th February 2008. Was that enough? What is your opinion?
~~Hi Fernanda!~~
ReplyDeleteI read this book too, I liked it very much. I agree with you when you said that The Stolen Generation received this name because two reasons. First, children were stolen and carried to a settlement. And second, because their identity was stolen too.
You also said that The Prime Minister gave an apology regarding what took place in Australia. But I think, nothing can fix the feelings of who were affected. Nothing could cure the scars that this period left in the history of the country.
An apology is not enough. People who lived that may tell us.~~
I agree with you. The truth is that I havent't looking more information about the history of any other native besides Molly (the main character of the history of the book) but even when I don't know the feeling of them, I think that we just have to put on their shoes for understand it.
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