Stolen Generations: Aboriginals

Throughout the 1890’s and 1970’s the event of the Stolen Generation occurred. The Stolen Generation is where Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander children were taken out of their parent’s custody, by the Australian State and Federal agencies and church commissions. These children were forced to live in so called ‘white’ methods and were to follow their teachings and understandings. This presentation of the Stolen Generation will be demonstrating; what the stolen generation was, why the white’s only took away the Aboriginal children away from their families, how did the Stolen Generation affect the children and their families, what happened to the Stolen children and what happened to the family members that weren’t stolen.

(This article provided the history of indigenous children removal in Australia. In addition, it also indicated that the development of related legislations in different states. The development of this history and the attitude of European were well expressed, therefore, it showed that why and how the indigenous children were removed from their family.)

The taking of half-caste Indigenous children was implemented into Australian law in the late 19th century, and continued as late in to the mid 1960's. Many politicians and everyday Australians agreed that it was helpful for the indigenous so that they were not 'disadvantaged'; “The greatest thing we have achieved” (Former PM William Hughes

At the turn of the twentieth century the systematic forced removal of Aboriginal children from their mothers, families and cultural heritage was commonplace. There were several reasons that the government and white society used to justify the separation but the prevailing ideology of nationalism and maintaining Australia for the ‘whites’ was the over-riding motivation and justification for their actions[1]. Progressive sciences such as anthropology espoused such theories as eugenics, miscegenation, biological absorption and assimilation which legitimated governmental policies relating to Aboriginal affairs[2]. It was

The Stolen Generation has had a great effect on Aboriginal rights and freedoms as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders didn’t even have the rights to raise and look after their children and as a result 100,000 Aboriginal Australian’s were displaced and placed into white families. The lack of understanding and respect for Aboriginal culture also meant that many people who supported the removal of these children really thought they were doing “the right thing”. The impact on Australian life today is still being felt as the Stolen Generation is seen as a recent event has it only ended in the early 1970s. Children that where taken away back then now cannot trace back their roots and therefore have no record of their family history or where

Throughout this semester my learning experiences have been very significant towards my awareness of the Indigenous population. My personal perspectives have been impacted throughout this semester drastically also. This unit has helped increase my awareness toward the Indigenous people of Australia and the immoral battles they where put through in the past. My response to this unit of study was completely different to what I thought it would have been. My emotions have been triggered considerably throughout this semester. What really touched me was hearing about the horrific measures Indigenous children were put through. Getting taken away from their families purely because of their Aboriginal background, being mistreated, and having their

The stolen generation is a term to describe aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from families by federal and state governments and by church missions. The aim of this was to bring aboriginal children up in white families and teach them to reject their original culture, therefore if they continued successfully there would eventually be no indigenous people remaining.

Although many of these children were later adopted and had experienced an extensive education, the emotional and social cost was too high. The heartache experienced was detrimental to the growth and to their very survival. The ‘Stolen Generation’ has had significant effects upon the Australian history and culture and destructive effects upon the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples affected.

The Stolen Generation refers to the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families and assimilated into European communities between 1880 and 1970. These children were made to adopt white culture in attempt to allow aboriginal people to “die out”, through forced rejection of their heritage and banning the use of their own language. Children faced physical, psychological and sexual abuse, sexual and labour exploitation, racism, grief, and suffering. Between 1 in 10 and 3 in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were taken by government, church, or welfare authorities and placed into institutional or foster care with non-Indigenous families.

Throughout the early 20th century, the Australian public was led to believe that Aboriginal children were disadvantaged in their communities, and that there was a high risk of physical and sexual abuse. Aboriginal children were being removed in order to be exposed to ‘Anglo values’ and ‘work habits’ with a view to them being employed by colonial settlers, and to stop their parents, families and communities from passing on their culture, language and identity

Governments soon felt that to banish Indigenous Australians, the children needed to be removed from their family and assimilated with non-indigenous families, believing this was the best option to breed out the aboriginal race and to fit them into mainstream society.

The stolen children were brainwashed over a duration of time. They were exposed to a different culture and customs that they had to adapt to as they were raised in a different world. This threatened the Indigenous people, due to the fact once they die no other generation will keep their culture and beliefs alive for the future. Even though, the children were separated from the families some of them did not forget their foot step and continued to follow their cultural traditions privately. Due to the separation from their families and land, many aboriginal children started getting involved in gang activity and exposure to alcohol and

the Aboriginal Australians. In 1869 the aborigine’s protection act established the Aborigines protection board in Victoria, to manage the interests of the Aboriginal peoples. This then allows the governor to order the removal of Aboriginal children from their families, culture and tribes to a reformatory or industrial school to be housed in dormitories. Legislation was passed later in other colonies; NSW in 1883, QLD in 1897, WA in 1905, SA in 1911. The stolen generation was known to officially start in 1910 this is most likely as this is when approximately the last piece of legislation passed to make the stolen generation an official movement. The official end date of the stolen generation was 1970. But the stolen generation was still occurring

From 1910 to 1970 Indigenous children were taken from their home due to the policy called assimilation by the government (Australians Together, no date).Australians Together is a social group helping to see better relationships between indigenous and nonindigenous

Early in the 19s, many of the native or indigenous children’s were forcibly taken away from their families as of government policies. The Government believed the best way to ensure that indigenous children were mixed with British society, is to keep them away from their background cultures. While the government also built, foster homes for the children who was taken away from their families. Not only this, the generations of children removed under these policies became known as the stolen Generation.