Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence
About the Author
Doris (Garimara) Pilkington was born on the Balfour Downs Station, Western Australia, in 1932. At a very young age, Pilkington, along with her mother and baby sister, were removed from their home and shipped to the Moore River Native Settlement. Their forced removal was part of a governmental program that was aimed at assimilating aboriginal peoples into white culture. In 1990, Pilkington won the David Unaipon Award for her book Caprice: A Stockman’s Daughter. Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, her second book was published in 1996 and it was turned into a film in 2002. Also in 2002, her third book Under the Wintamarra Tree was published. (UQ Press)
Plot Summary
Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence is based on the real life experiences of three aboriginal girls in Western Australia who were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to the Moore River Native Settlement. At Moore River the girls were prohibited from speaking their native language, taught that their culture was inferior, and that forced to act “white.” The girls lived in what amounts to a prison camp. There were bars on the windows, locks on the doors, and the food was infested with maggots. The girls escaped from Moore River and following the rabbit-proof fence, a fence that stretches from southern Australia, through the desert, to almost the ocean in northern Australia, they arrived home, on foot, a month later.
Social Significance
The Stolen Generation refers to the 100,000 Aboriginal children taken from their families between 1910 and 1970 by the Australian government. These children were forced to live in deplorable conditions, often victims of physical and sexual abuse, and trained to be domestics or farm hands. As adults, members of the Stolen Generation suffer from a loss of cultural identity, a lack of self-worth, and high levels of depression, suicide, and alcohol abuse. Prior to the early 1990s, the majority of the white Australian population believed that the government’s forcible removal of aboriginal children was both warranted and good for the children. Some white Australians denied that the forcible removal ever happened. In the mid 90s a push was made by members of the stolen generation and the Aboriginal community to have the truth told. Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence was an important part of that push because it brought the experiences of the stolen generation into the homes of white Australia. In 1997, the Australian government issued a report that found the removal of Aboriginal children was “a gross violation of human rights” and “an act of Genocide.” The report made 54 recommendations, but the Australian national government has refused to offer the Stolen Generation financial compensation or an apology. Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the book and subsequent movie, have been an important part of the Stolen Generation’s struggle.
