Rabbit Proof Fence Sociology

The Australian Indigenous community hold extremely significant corrections to the land of Australia, of which they refer to as ‘Country.’ Indigenous people acquire deep meaning from the land, sea and the countless resources derived from them. This special relationship has formed for many centuries. To them ‘Country’ is paramount for overall wellbeing; the strong, significant, spiritual bonds embody their entire existence. Knowledge is continually passed down to create an unbroken connection of past,

After many years of European settlement in Australia, many Aboriginal people had been removed from their families and placed into schools with white Australians. This was due to the ‘protection policy’ laws that encouraged the removal of Indigenous children. Because fewer indigenous children were able to learn about their own culture, there was a slow decline in the culture of the indigenous people. As a result of this, there were continued tensions between the free settlers and Indigenous people as they had no roles in the government and couldn’t vote. This made them feel as if they were excluded from greater society and had long term negative impacts upon their sense of belonging to the new

There is a famous Australian film called “The Rabbit Proof Fence” released in 2002 and is based on the book “Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence” written by Doris Pilkington Garimara to tell the story of the Stolen Generations from the Aboriginal point of view. It is based on the true story of the events of the author’s mother’s life and raises awareness of the plight of the Stolen Generations. The film follows three young “half-caste” girls. Molly Craig, 14, her sister Daisy, 8 and their cousin, Gracie, 10, were living peacefully in Jigalong, Western Australia.

There is recurrent tension between the maintenance of Indigenous culture and essentially assimilating to the rules and regulations of the predominantly white society in Australia (Dockrey, 2010). Australia’s Aboriginal culture represented the oldest surviving culture in the world (Aboriginal culture, 2017). The traditions include having at least 270 different language groups and 500 dialects in the indigenous community (Shareourpride.org.au, n.d). The vast amount of languages and dialects were present to represent the intellect of Indigenous Australians. Language is a strong aspect of Indigenous culture as it connects and influences many Indigenous tribes as it is their form of communication. The environment also connects aboriginal people spiritually to their land and provides them with a sense of identity (Jackson 1999). Although there were many different groups and clans in the past, the tribes fighting over the land was a rare occurrence (Treatyrepublic.net 1996). This showcases the connection and respect they exhibited for the land and maintaining structure was their main priority. Additionally common law was a way that Indigenous Australians could preserve the ecosystem and cultural integrity, through their spiritual and emotional connection with the land (Langton 1996, p.10). However due to the colonization, there was less formal acknowledgement for Indigenous

A comparison of the text, ‘Us Mob, Walawurru’ written by David Spillman and Lisa Wilyuka and the film “Rabbit Proof Fence” directed by Phillip Noyce reveals that social attitudes in Australia between the 1930’s and the 1990’s have changed enormously. In the film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ set in 1931, Aboriginal children, more specifically half-castes –who are children with an Indigenous and Caucasian descent- are taken away from their families and to ‘Moore Rive Settlement’, where they are trained to fit into mainstream Australian society and be domestic servants. Later, the novel “Us Mob Walawurru” which takes place over the time period between the 1960’s to the 1990’s, demonstrates the changes that have taken place over the last fifty years. European Australians are more accepting and respectful of indigenous culture and the government has changed the laws regarding Terra Nullius to give the Aboriginal

To begin with, a clarification must be made. Although for the purposes of this assessment I will be using the term Indigenous Australians, it is not the most appropriate term to be using, as the technical definition of indigenous is ‘originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native’ (‘Indigenous’, 1987). The more correct term would be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

When European colonists settled in Australia they treated the Aboriginal people extremely different to that of their fellow white men. The Aboriginals were not seen as first class citizens through the European eye and as a result were victims of extreme oppressions and had nearly no rights or freedoms. Since then Aboriginal people have fought to be treated equally to the white men through various different ways. I will discuss the previous struggles faced by the Aboriginals, the Australian strife for equality and finally the level of success and degree of rights and freedoms given to Aboriginals in modern Australia.

Aboriginal societies were admired for their sense of belonging; everybody in their language group was their family. Everybody helped in the raising, care and discipline of children in the group (Bourke and Edwards, 1994. p.97).

In 1940, a new legislation was put in place around Australia. Afterwards, Aboriginal children were then governed by the child welfare law. Although they are governed by the child welfare law, the treatment were no different to the way the non-Aboriginal children especially the Kinchela and Cootamundra Girls Home. The abuse that they suffered was passed on from the men and women to their children, also known as intergenerational trauma. From the source Bringing Them Home, says that “Sometimes at night we’d cry with hunger. We had to scrounge in the town dump, eating old bread, smashing tomato bottles, licking

Freedom: The reason why they have to go on the fare is because they want their freedom back.

The film Rabbit-Proof Fence by Philip Noyce takes place in 1931 in a small town named Jigalong in Western Australia. Along the town is a rabbit-proof fence that runs for miles through the Australian Outback. The film focuses on three aboriginal girls, 14-year-old Molly, her younger 8-year-old sister Daisy, and their 10-year-old cousin Gracie. The officers removed the girls from their family and forced them to assimilate into white society. The chief A. O. Neville legally removed the aboriginal girls from their family because they were half-castes which means they are half one white parent and one Aboriginal parent. In this case, the girls had an aboriginal mother and a white father who was a worker near their area, but the father in not take part in the girl’s life. The Chief wanted to take away all the half-castes from the Aboriginal homes so they could eventually breed the aboriginals out of existence as well as give the half-caste a better life in their modern society. These camps held lots of indigenous children and trained the children to become laborers and servants for the white families. Soon after arriving at the Moore River camp, the three girls escaped after the first night and made a 1,500-mile journey home. Molly, Gracie, and Daisy left as soon as it began to rain so their tracks could be covered. Although at the camp, the workers soon noticed the girls had escaped and sent the Aboriginal tracker to go find them and return them back to Moore River camp. The girls later found the rabbit-proof fence and followed it north to find Jigalong. On their way back to home, they met an aboriginal man who told the girls that Gracie’s mother was in Wiluna and she could take a train to meet her. Soon after Gracie parted ways, the tracker captured Gracie and they returned back to Moore River. Daisy and Molly continued to follow the fence and finally arrived home to meet their mother. Although, the family had to leave to go hide in the desert in order for the family to stay together. After the movie ends, there is a short clip of the real Molly and Daisy in 2002. The captions said that Gracie did not survive her way back to Moore River Camp and she was never seen again. Molly also stated that the government took

The movie, Rabbit Proof Fence, directed by Phillip Noyce, tells the story about three young aboriginals girls’ name, Molly, Daisy, and Gracie, who were taken away from their families and homes to be brought up in white society. The girls are related; two sisters and a cousin. The story reveals the struggles the girls encounters while trying to run away from Moore River, which is a settlement camp where half-caste native (children with both white and Native parents) children are educated on how to live with white population. The girls are taught to become servants, and they are prohibited from using any other language but English. The settlement camp where these girls are held is far away from their home, which separates them from their

These natives formed approximately 500 tribes, each associated with its own language and stretch of territory. Although the sizes of the tribes varied, they had much in common. The Aborigines were not natural cultivators of the land - fertile land was obviously scarce - and Australia (before the European colonisation) had no animals suitable for

Australian Aborigines are thought to have the longest continuous cultural history in the world. Yet, within a hundred years, the near extinction of the Aboriginal culture almost occurred. This single event, the invasion of the Australian continent by European settlers, changed the lifestyle, the culture, and the fate of Australian Aborigines. Their entire lives were essentially taken away and they were forced into a white, European world where the lifestyle change could not have been any different. Aborigines in Australia today are struggling to deal with a past in which they lost touch with their culture and now are trying to regain some of that cultural identity.

Throughout history to present day, Australian culture has become the product of a distinct blend of established traditions and new influences. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the country’s original inhabitants, created the foundation for the land’s cultural traditions over 40,000 years ago. In addition, the rest of Australia’s people are migrants or descendants of migrants from various other countries who transported their own customs, beliefs, and value systems to the land. As a result, Australia’s culture has significantly broadened its social and cultural profile over the years, and still continues to evolve today.