AS an English teacher and former Head
of the English Department at high school
level in Switzerland I intend to lead a
research project on The Stolen Generations for my school (Bugnon High School,
Lausanne ) as part of a personal development/research program.
I have often had the opportunity to
read and study Doris Pilkington'sRabbit-Proof Fence' [1]story
with my students .Pilkington
(Nugi Garimara) relates the true story of three young mardu girls, taken away
from their families to Moore River Settlement in 1931. The author herself was
stolen with her mother from her family and community. She tells her own story
in «Rabbit Proof Fence» which was brilliantly adapted by
director R. Noyce as «Long Walk Home». A wider audience might be more familiar with another
major movie called « Australia », starring Nicole Kidman, but which in my opinion doesn’t really deal with the topic as Long Walk Home does.
I would like to be able to follow Daisy, Molly and Gracie’s (the heroes of the book) tracks and interview witnesses or people who underwent the phenomenon called The Stolen Generations. Here in Europe few people are aware of this tragic episode of Australian recent history and I think it might be insightful for my students to get to know more about it and work on this subject.
I would like to be able to interview
Doris Pilkington herself if possible
and elderly women or men who could still
relate what happened to them about 50 years ago, or their direct descendants
as some of them might not belong to our
world anymore.
The results of this
research study would be published on the school internet website if possible (
I am aware some witnesses may not want their pictures or names to appear and I
will respect this) My goal is to take some time to dive into Australian history
which has always fascinated me as well as to give my students an opportunity to discover and work
on a topic in connection with the Australian culture, which is part of the curriculum I designed for them. |
| click on the video to watch her testimony |
