Rabbit-proof Fence

History

• European Arrival

• British Settlement
  • Gold Rush

• Various Massacres
  • Myall Creek Massacre
  • Battle Mountain
  • Massacre at Coniston

Terminology

• Half Castes

• Stolen Generation

• Full blood (aborigines/white)

• White Status (advancement)

• Bred out/Die out

• Concept of "Helping the Native"

• Providing "Protection"

• 'crossbreeds', 'quadroons' and 'octoroons'

Legislation

• Immigration Act of 1901
  • one of the first pieces of legislation passed under Australian Federation
  • restricted non-European immigration to Australia

• White Australia Policy
  • term used to describe eugenic legislation passed from 1901 to 1973

• Reversal of White Australia
  • Whitlam Labor government passed series of admendments in 1973
  • Migrants able to obtain citizenship
  • Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 outlawed the use of racial criteria for any offical purpose

• Aboriginal Policies in Western Australia
  • Aboriginal Act of 1905 - established 'Chief Protector' who was the legal guardian of every aboriginal or half-caste child under 16, removed children from parent's care, marriages between aboriginals and others had to be approved
  • Aborgines Protection Policy 1909 - aborigine children could be removed to a mission at any time
  • Native Administration Amendment Act 1941 - aborigines not allowed to travel from north to south across the 20th latitude line

Methods of "Breeding out"

• 1869-1969 (time period)

• Forced Sexual intercourse by White men on Aborigine Women
  • Continuity can "breed out" the Aborigine blood

• Child removal (Aboriginal Protection Act 1869)
  • "forcible removal",
  • "removal under threat or duress",
  • "official deception",
  • "uninformed voluntary release", and
  • "voluntary release".

• Half castes institutions
  • Moore River Native Settlement in Western Australia,
  • Doomadgee Aboriginal Mission in Queensland,
  • Ebenezer Mission in Victoria and
  • Wellington Valley Mission in New South Wales.

Life of the Girls

• Molly Craig
  • Taken to the Moore River Settlement again in the 1940s with her two daughters. She escaped in 1941.
  • Older daughter, Doris, was reunited with her mother, and published 'Rabbit-proof Fence'
  • Molly's other daughter, Annabelle, was taken away from her in 1943. They were never reunited.
  • Molly died in her sleep in 2004, believed to be 87.

• Daisy Burungu

• Gracie Fields

Bibliography

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/rearvision/stories/2007/1902562.htm

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/White-Australia-policy

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/education/bth/download/laws/bth_lawsWA_8r.pdf

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/14/1073877902433.html?from=storyrhs