Book review: Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington.

Summary

This is an extraordinary story of courage and faith. It is based on the actual experiences of three girls who fled from the repressive life of Moore River Native Settlement, following along the rabbit-proof fence back to their homelands. Assimilationist policy deemed these girls were taken from their kin and their land in order to be made white. Never having seen the ocean before, the three girls' experience of transportation by boat to the settlement was tormenting. But their torment was just beginning. Settlement life was unbearable with its chains and padlocks, barred windows, hard cold beds and horrible food. Solitary confinement was doled out as regular punishment. They were not even allowed to speak their language. Of all the journeys made since white people set foot on Australian soil, the 1931 journey made by these girls born of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers speaks something to us all.

My review

This testimony is a must read if you want to learn more about the Stolen Generations. It is a very sensitive and heart-wrenching account of the horrors lived by a family. It is also the story of the adventure three strong-willed and courageous sisters went through in order to escape the throes of the native settlements. This is also an epic, a fight for freedom and one’s traditions, also reminding us of a long line of similar shameful schemes throughout history. A must-read!

Excerpts

The Nyungar people, and indeed the entire Aboriginal population, grew to realise that the arrival of the European settlers meant for them: it was the destruction of their traditional society and the dispossession of their lands. Bidgup and Meedo complained to Yellagonga after several attempts at unsuccessful hunting trips. 

“We can’t go down along our hunting trails,” Bidgup told him. “They are blocked by fences.”

“And when we climbed over the fence, one of those men pointed one of those things -- guns -- at us and threatened to shoot us if we went on there again,” said an irritated Meedo.

“There are huts and farms all over the place. Soon they will drive us all from our lands.”

 

“Come with me,” said Miss Evans. “I’ll take you to your dormitory. This way.”

They followed her through the slushy compound to a wooden building. as they approached they noticed that the door was locked with chains and padlocks. Molly saw that the uninviting weatherboard and latticed dormitory had bars on the windows as well. Just like a goal, she thought, and she didn’t like one bit of it. The four girls stood around in the cold, their arms folded across their chests trying desperately to control the shivering. They were glad when Miss Evans undid the padlocks, opened the door and invited them to follow her into the already overcrowded dormitory. There were beds everywhere.