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Rabbit-Proof Fence
The remarkable true story of three young girls who cross the harsh Australian desert on foot to return to their home.
Following an Australian government edict in 1931, black aboriginal children and children of mixed marriages were gathered up by whites and taken to settlements to be assimilated. In Rabbit-Proof Fence, award-winning author Doris Pilkington traces the captivating story of her mother, Molly, one of three young girls uprooted from her community in Southwestern Australia and taken to the Moore River Native Settlement. At the settlement, Milly and her relatives Gracie and Daisy were forbidden to speak their native language, forced to abandon their aboriginal heritage, and taught to be culturally white. After regular stays in solitary confinement, the three girls scared and homesick planned and executed a daring escape from the grim camp, with its harsh life of padlocks, barred windows, and hard cold beds.
The girls headed for the nearby rabbit-proof fence that stretched over 1,000 miles through the desert toward their home. Their journey lasted over a month, and they survived on everything from emus to feral cats, while narrowly avoiding the police, professional trackers, and hostile white settlers. Their story is a truly moving tale of defiance and resilience.
About the author:
Doris Pilkington is also the author of Caprice: A Stockman's Daughter. Rabbit-Proof Fence, her second book, is now a major motion picture from Miramax Films, directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Kenneth Branagh.
Following an Australian government edict in 1931, black aboriginal children and children of mixed marriages were gathered up by whites and taken to settlements to be assimilated. In Rabbit-Proof Fence, award-winning author Doris Pilkington traces the captivating story of her mother, Molly, one of three young girls uprooted from her community in Southwestern Australia and taken to the Moore River Native Settlement. At the settlement, Milly and her relatives Gracie and Daisy were forbidden to speak their native language, forced to abandon their aboriginal heritage, and taught to be culturally white. After regular stays in solitary confinement, the three girls scared and homesick planned and executed a daring escape from the grim camp, with its harsh life of padlocks, barred windows, and hard cold beds.
The girls headed for the nearby rabbit-proof fence that stretched over 1,000 miles through the desert toward their home. Their journey lasted over a month, and they survived on everything from emus to feral cats, while narrowly avoiding the police, professional trackers, and hostile white settlers. Their story is a truly moving tale of defiance and resilience.
About the author:
Doris Pilkington is also the author of Caprice: A Stockman's Daughter. Rabbit-Proof Fence, her second book, is now a major motion picture from Miramax Films, directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Kenneth Branagh.
135 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Doris Pilkington
5 books39 followersJuly 1 birth date is approximate.
Doris Pilkington is also known as Nugi Garimara and Doris Pilkington Garimara.
Doris Pilkington is also known as Nugi Garimara and Doris Pilkington Garimara.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 911 reviews
September 14, 2020
I am enjoying the book a lot for it's intellectual honesty as well as it's writing, rather than manipulation of emotions. It's looking like it's going to be a 5 star book, but was only a 2 star movie.
I watched the film the other night. I felt totally manipulated the whole time. It made me wonder if the director's other job wasn't making Middle East propaganda documentaries. 10% facts, and 90% lots of tear-jerk ahhh those poor people, oooh those evil bastards moments. Plus atmospheric lighting and wonderful camera-work.
Although the cast were Aborigines, the director was a white Australian. Full of historical guilt no doubt. Still I'm sure the popularity of it helped assuage that and the money he made, well he didn't give any of it to any Aboriginal support projects. Why should he? It was only a commercial enterprise to him. The emotion was for us.
Here are two examples of the manipulation. The first is that the girls in the film are dragged away from their mother very violently and thrust into a car. The father, a white man, is said to be long gone. The book says that actually the parents were still together and when the authorities came to take the children to the school, it was with force of law not violence. The mother who was still with the father of the children, then left him because he was frightened to stand up to the authorities as he might go to prison.
But now I'm reading the book. The author is the daughter of the main character of the film. Her book is a great deal more nuanced than the film made of it. The film is all black and white, good and bad, the book is shades and colours, the good as well as the bad, but without ever forgetting the whole enterprise of the white man in Australia has been to deprive Aborigines of everything they wanted for themselves. (It seems very little different now. A bit like American Indians. One wonders why they make a fuss about some people in the world wanting to return to their ancestral lands but ignore what goes on at home?)
I watched the film the other night. I felt totally manipulated the whole time. It made me wonder if the director's other job wasn't making Middle East propaganda documentaries. 10% facts, and 90% lots of tear-jerk ahhh those poor people, oooh those evil bastards moments. Plus atmospheric lighting and wonderful camera-work.
Although the cast were Aborigines, the director was a white Australian. Full of historical guilt no doubt. Still I'm sure the popularity of it helped assuage that and the money he made, well he didn't give any of it to any Aboriginal support projects. Why should he? It was only a commercial enterprise to him. The emotion was for us.
Here are two examples of the manipulation. The first is that the girls in the film are dragged away from their mother very violently and thrust into a car. The father, a white man, is said to be long gone. The book says that actually the parents were still together and when the authorities came to take the children to the school, it was with force of law not violence. The mother who was still with the father of the children, then left him because he was frightened to stand up to the authorities as he might go to prison.
But now I'm reading the book. The author is the daughter of the main character of the film. Her book is a great deal more nuanced than the film made of it. The film is all black and white, good and bad, the book is shades and colours, the good as well as the bad, but without ever forgetting the whole enterprise of the white man in Australia has been to deprive Aborigines of everything they wanted for themselves. (It seems very little different now. A bit like American Indians. One wonders why they make a fuss about some people in the world wanting to return to their ancestral lands but ignore what goes on at home?)
May 4, 2021
4.5★
Western Australia, 1930. Not 1830. . . 1930. This is recent history. 2400km, barefoot, through rivers and harsh bush, always hiding. Three “half-caste” Aboriginal girls, 8, 11, and 15, ran away from the Moore River Native Settlement, where they’d been sent in the south of the state, and trekked all the way back north on their own, following the rabbit-proof fence.
It’s an important story, simply told.
SOME BACKGROUND
For those who are interested, I’m including web links I found. I hope they continue to work. If not, I hope someone will post new ones as comments.
There is a map in the front of the book to show how far this was. Here’s a link to a page with the map, a picture of the author, and a film trailer. https://distinctivelyvisual.wordpress...
The film of this book is perhaps better known than the book itself, which was written by Molly’s daughter, Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington). http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/554776...
Nugi (the author) was herself taken and left at Moore River in 1940 when she was 4 (renamed Doris) and was reunited with her mother 21 years later at Jigalong, where she learned her mother’s story. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/0...
Nugi/Doris : the author
Molly : the author’s mother, the eldest of the 3 girls whose story this is
Maude : mother of Molly (Molly’s father was white, hence the government interest)
THE STORY
Rabbit-Proof Fence: The True Story of One of the Greatest Escapes of All Time is a fictionalised account of the girls’ adventures and ordeals. It is a straight-forward story, told in the third person without a lot of embellishment, but with descriptions of the bush, catching rabbits, and the rain and mud.
Molly’s mother, Maude, grew up at Jigalong and seems to have had an independent dispositon. She didn’t care for the fellow she was intended for (the feeling was mutual), but fell for Thomas Craig, an Englishman who was a fence inspector. Maude’s family was happy, since Maude hadn’t broken any kinship laws. And Thomas was happy and named the baby.
Molly was a pretty little baby, (noted only with an entry in the station record, not registered), and later, she had two little cousins, also “muda-mudas”, half-Aboriginal and half-white. The three girls played together and were teased and bullied by the others because they weren’t black enough.
A.J. Keeling, the Superintendent of the government depot at Jigalong noticed the attitude of the Mardu children and reported that “the girls ‘were not getting a fair chance as the blacks consider the H/Cs [half-castes] inferior to them. . .’ (Department of Native Affairs file no. 173/30.”
[POLITICAL RANT]
So the decision was made to move them, much as we consider moving children today whom we believe to be living in abusive situations. But in the cases of the Aboriginal children, moves were not into nearby family foster care but into European-style institutions where they were to be cut off from all family contact and told to speak only English. Drastic. And of course they were to live in dormitories and be trained in simple trades, not raised and educated as white children were. Shameful servitude.
BACK TO THE STORY
The families did their best to hide the girls, knowing they were at risk of being removed, but the kids were found and taken south in July 1931. Interestingly, in August 1930, a year earlier, Keeling “wrote in his report that ‘these children lean more towards the black than white and on second thoughts, think nothing would be gained in removing them.’ (Department of Native Affairs file no. 173/30.) Someone read it. No one responded.”
And there you have it. The government official who knew the families could see that the girls were better with them in spite of the teasing or bullying, much the way community services try these days to keep families together and help the family. 20-20 hindsight.
Molly was 15, Gracie was 11, and Daisy was 9. They arrived, by boat sailing down the coast (no tracks to follow home) on 27 July 1931. By 11 August 1931, the West Australian announced: “MISSING NATIVE GIRLS. . .” and went on to describe their disappearance.
Molly had good bush sense, but the bush itself and the bush tucker was different from that at home. She was counting on finding the fence to the east of them and then following it north.
“From when she was young, Molly had learned that the fence was an important landmark for the Mardudjara people of the Western Desert who migrated south from the remote regions. They knew that once they reached Bil-lanooka Station, it was simply a matter of following the rabbit-proof fence to their final destination, the Jigalong government depot; the desert outpost of the white man.
The fence cut through the country from south to north. It was a typical response to a problem of their own making. Building a fence to keep the rabbits out proved to be a futile attempt by the government of the day.
For the three runaways, the fence was a symbol of love, home and security.”
They had help along the way--people gave them food and clothing, sent them on their way, and sometimes contacted the authorities. Molly cleverly made sure they arrived at stations from one direction and left by another, so the owners would never really know where they came from or where they were going.
They were by turns cold and hot, wet, bone-weary, and had festering sores on their legs from the bush scratches. This was no picnic.
CONCLUSION
This is as close to a first-hand account of this phenomenal tale that we’ll ever get, I think. It is worth reading for that alone. Nugi/Doris has done a remarkable job putting this together and all Australian schools should teach it.
[END POLITICAL RANT]
Western Australia, 1930. Not 1830. . . 1930. This is recent history. 2400km, barefoot, through rivers and harsh bush, always hiding. Three “half-caste” Aboriginal girls, 8, 11, and 15, ran away from the Moore River Native Settlement, where they’d been sent in the south of the state, and trekked all the way back north on their own, following the rabbit-proof fence.
It’s an important story, simply told.
SOME BACKGROUND
For those who are interested, I’m including web links I found. I hope they continue to work. If not, I hope someone will post new ones as comments.
There is a map in the front of the book to show how far this was. Here’s a link to a page with the map, a picture of the author, and a film trailer. https://distinctivelyvisual.wordpress...
The film of this book is perhaps better known than the book itself, which was written by Molly’s daughter, Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington). http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/554776...
Nugi (the author) was herself taken and left at Moore River in 1940 when she was 4 (renamed Doris) and was reunited with her mother 21 years later at Jigalong, where she learned her mother’s story. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/0...
Nugi/Doris : the author
Molly : the author’s mother, the eldest of the 3 girls whose story this is
Maude : mother of Molly (Molly’s father was white, hence the government interest)
THE STORY
Rabbit-Proof Fence: The True Story of One of the Greatest Escapes of All Time is a fictionalised account of the girls’ adventures and ordeals. It is a straight-forward story, told in the third person without a lot of embellishment, but with descriptions of the bush, catching rabbits, and the rain and mud.
Molly’s mother, Maude, grew up at Jigalong and seems to have had an independent dispositon. She didn’t care for the fellow she was intended for (the feeling was mutual), but fell for Thomas Craig, an Englishman who was a fence inspector. Maude’s family was happy, since Maude hadn’t broken any kinship laws. And Thomas was happy and named the baby.
Molly was a pretty little baby, (noted only with an entry in the station record, not registered), and later, she had two little cousins, also “muda-mudas”, half-Aboriginal and half-white. The three girls played together and were teased and bullied by the others because they weren’t black enough.
A.J. Keeling, the Superintendent of the government depot at Jigalong noticed the attitude of the Mardu children and reported that “the girls ‘were not getting a fair chance as the blacks consider the H/Cs [half-castes] inferior to them. . .’ (Department of Native Affairs file no. 173/30.”
[POLITICAL RANT]
So the decision was made to move them, much as we consider moving children today whom we believe to be living in abusive situations. But in the cases of the Aboriginal children, moves were not into nearby family foster care but into European-style institutions where they were to be cut off from all family contact and told to speak only English. Drastic. And of course they were to live in dormitories and be trained in simple trades, not raised and educated as white children were. Shameful servitude.
BACK TO THE STORY
The families did their best to hide the girls, knowing they were at risk of being removed, but the kids were found and taken south in July 1931. Interestingly, in August 1930, a year earlier, Keeling “wrote in his report that ‘these children lean more towards the black than white and on second thoughts, think nothing would be gained in removing them.’ (Department of Native Affairs file no. 173/30.) Someone read it. No one responded.”
And there you have it. The government official who knew the families could see that the girls were better with them in spite of the teasing or bullying, much the way community services try these days to keep families together and help the family. 20-20 hindsight.
Molly was 15, Gracie was 11, and Daisy was 9. They arrived, by boat sailing down the coast (no tracks to follow home) on 27 July 1931. By 11 August 1931, the West Australian announced: “MISSING NATIVE GIRLS. . .” and went on to describe their disappearance.
Molly had good bush sense, but the bush itself and the bush tucker was different from that at home. She was counting on finding the fence to the east of them and then following it north.
“From when she was young, Molly had learned that the fence was an important landmark for the Mardudjara people of the Western Desert who migrated south from the remote regions. They knew that once they reached Bil-lanooka Station, it was simply a matter of following the rabbit-proof fence to their final destination, the Jigalong government depot; the desert outpost of the white man.
The fence cut through the country from south to north. It was a typical response to a problem of their own making. Building a fence to keep the rabbits out proved to be a futile attempt by the government of the day.
For the three runaways, the fence was a symbol of love, home and security.”
They had help along the way--people gave them food and clothing, sent them on their way, and sometimes contacted the authorities. Molly cleverly made sure they arrived at stations from one direction and left by another, so the owners would never really know where they came from or where they were going.
They were by turns cold and hot, wet, bone-weary, and had festering sores on their legs from the bush scratches. This was no picnic.
CONCLUSION
This is as close to a first-hand account of this phenomenal tale that we’ll ever get, I think. It is worth reading for that alone. Nugi/Doris has done a remarkable job putting this together and all Australian schools should teach it.
[END POLITICAL RANT]
March 10, 2022
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: This extraordinary story of courage and faith 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 dictated that these girls be taken from their kin and their homes in order to be made white. 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. The girls were not even allowed to speak their language. Of all the journeys made since white people set foot on Australian soil, the journey made by these girls born of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers speaks something to everyone.
My Review: Doris Pilkington's father was a cowardly white man who failed to protect his three half-Aboriginal daughters from the colonial mentality espousing their forced removal from their parents. Their mother left the cad, good on her, and was still powerless to act against the white government to get her daughters out of their "residential school" where they were maltreated. The aim of their removal from Aboriginal society was to prevent them from passing on the values of their society, instead becoming darker-skinned white people. Oh, and not just that, but inferior servant-class white people.
Can't imagine where the Aussies got such a horrible idea. Nope. Just can't. Nor where the South Africans got the idea for apartheid. Nuh-uh. Imponderable. No relation to the American policies on Native peoples or former slaves. Dear me, no.
That sarcasm out of the way, I will remark that the story is presented as a novel despite the fact that Pilkington aka Garimara (1937-2014) was writing about her very own mother's story. It freed her to write about the details of the girls' experiences, ones she must have heard from her mother's own lips, without the burden of fact-checking or documenting things that were never written down or part of any official record in the first event.
The prose isn't stellar. In fact it's pretty clunky. I enjoyed the Aboriginal words used without explanation, since there was a handy-dandy glossary in the back of the book; I didn't want the author to lead me by my lily-white hand to the Promised Land of Otherness. I expect that my rating would've been a lot lower had she done that. I was simply dropped into the otherness, as Molly and her sisters were. It's a good technique, effectively putting the reader into the shoes of scared children.
In the end, the experience of reading the book was better than the book itself. What a weird sentence that is; I know I must sound like a raving loonie. But what I mean by that is that this is a truly important and continually relevant (depressingly) tale of oppression and victimization based on ethnic difference. It just isn't a particularly well-written one. And still it makes a strong impression on the reader, one that means something inside shifts a bit, hopefully in a positive direction. I'd suggest reading it to anyone who thinks the segregation of an ethnic minority is in any way a good idea.
The 2002 film, Rabbit-Proof Fence, is only $2.99 to rent at Amazon. It's got some areas where it's a bit better than the book, and some lovely cinematography. The book and the film are best enjoyed together. How unusual is that!
The Publisher Says: This extraordinary story of courage and faith 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 dictated that these girls be taken from their kin and their homes in order to be made white. 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. The girls were not even allowed to speak their language. Of all the journeys made since white people set foot on Australian soil, the journey made by these girls born of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers speaks something to everyone.
My Review: Doris Pilkington's father was a cowardly white man who failed to protect his three half-Aboriginal daughters from the colonial mentality espousing their forced removal from their parents. Their mother left the cad, good on her, and was still powerless to act against the white government to get her daughters out of their "residential school" where they were maltreated. The aim of their removal from Aboriginal society was to prevent them from passing on the values of their society, instead becoming darker-skinned white people. Oh, and not just that, but inferior servant-class white people.
Can't imagine where the Aussies got such a horrible idea. Nope. Just can't. Nor where the South Africans got the idea for apartheid. Nuh-uh. Imponderable. No relation to the American policies on Native peoples or former slaves. Dear me, no.
That sarcasm out of the way, I will remark that the story is presented as a novel despite the fact that Pilkington aka Garimara (1937-2014) was writing about her very own mother's story. It freed her to write about the details of the girls' experiences, ones she must have heard from her mother's own lips, without the burden of fact-checking or documenting things that were never written down or part of any official record in the first event.
The prose isn't stellar. In fact it's pretty clunky. I enjoyed the Aboriginal words used without explanation, since there was a handy-dandy glossary in the back of the book; I didn't want the author to lead me by my lily-white hand to the Promised Land of Otherness. I expect that my rating would've been a lot lower had she done that. I was simply dropped into the otherness, as Molly and her sisters were. It's a good technique, effectively putting the reader into the shoes of scared children.
In the end, the experience of reading the book was better than the book itself. What a weird sentence that is; I know I must sound like a raving loonie. But what I mean by that is that this is a truly important and continually relevant (depressingly) tale of oppression and victimization based on ethnic difference. It just isn't a particularly well-written one. And still it makes a strong impression on the reader, one that means something inside shifts a bit, hopefully in a positive direction. I'd suggest reading it to anyone who thinks the segregation of an ethnic minority is in any way a good idea.
The 2002 film, Rabbit-Proof Fence, is only $2.99 to rent at Amazon. It's got some areas where it's a bit better than the book, and some lovely cinematography. The book and the film are best enjoyed together. How unusual is that!
September 18, 2016
First things first: there are a lot of reviews on Goodreads complaining that this book isn't adventure-y enough for an adventure novel.
That's because IT'S NOT AN ADVENTURE NOVEL. This book is narrative non-fiction. It tells the story of cross-cultural contact in Western Australia from the military outpost at Albany to the settlement at Swan River to the construction of the Canning Stock Route.
All of this merely serves to set the scene for Pilkington telling her mother's story. In 1931, the author's mother and aunts, all of whom had Indigenous mothers and white fathers, were taken from their families in northern Western Australia and sent to Perth to school. But the school was less of a school and more of a prison designed to westernise Indigenous children and turn them into acceptable servants.
Pilkington's mother and aunts escaped and walked the 1,600 kilometres from Perth back to Jigalong by following the rabbit-proof fence. It's an astonishing story, not only of survival but of the astonishing bullshit that the Federal Government and the white population in general thought was acceptable and right.
Like, we're not talking about something that happened centuries ago. All four of my grandparents were alive when this happened. It was only sixteen years before my father was born. And Indigenous children are STILL BEING REMOVED FROM THEIR PARENTS ON A REGULAR BASIS.
This book is important because it's an amazing story. But it's also important because it's still a highly relevant story.
Just don't make the mistake of thinking it's an adventure novel. Because it's not.
That's because IT'S NOT AN ADVENTURE NOVEL. This book is narrative non-fiction. It tells the story of cross-cultural contact in Western Australia from the military outpost at Albany to the settlement at Swan River to the construction of the Canning Stock Route.
All of this merely serves to set the scene for Pilkington telling her mother's story. In 1931, the author's mother and aunts, all of whom had Indigenous mothers and white fathers, were taken from their families in northern Western Australia and sent to Perth to school. But the school was less of a school and more of a prison designed to westernise Indigenous children and turn them into acceptable servants.
Pilkington's mother and aunts escaped and walked the 1,600 kilometres from Perth back to Jigalong by following the rabbit-proof fence. It's an astonishing story, not only of survival but of the astonishing bullshit that the Federal Government and the white population in general thought was acceptable and right.
Like, we're not talking about something that happened centuries ago. All four of my grandparents were alive when this happened. It was only sixteen years before my father was born. And Indigenous children are STILL BEING REMOVED FROM THEIR PARENTS ON A REGULAR BASIS.
This book is important because it's an amazing story. But it's also important because it's still a highly relevant story.
Just don't make the mistake of thinking it's an adventure novel. Because it's not.
November 21, 2016
First book completed for the #AroundTheWorldAThon: Oceania Edition!
November 9, 2016
Not my favorite. I'd like to read more about Aboriginals, but this wasn't done very well in my opinion and since the author is the daughter of this woman, it was hard to suspend my disbelief in order to read this and all of the little details she inserted.
August 25, 2016
Years ago I saw the excellent movie Rabbit-Proof Fence, and GR friend Brendon reminded me that it was based on this remarkable book.
Doris Pilkington wrote this memoir after hearing the stories of her mother, Molly, and her aunts, Gracie and Daisy. Pilkington begins the book by sharing some history of the Aboriginal people in Australia, and over the generations we see how the British colonialists stole their land, killed them, starved them, and forced the natives to move into government-approved zones. (Similar to how the American settlers forced the Indians to march along the Trail of Tears to their relocation area in Oklahoma.)* The history was well-explained, and it gave context to the plight of the half-caste children, those who had British fathers and Aboriginal mothers.
"The common belief at the time was that part-Aboriginal children were more intelligent than their darker relations and should be isolated and trained to be domestic servants and labourers. Policies were introduced by the government in an effort to improve the welfare and educational needs of these children. Molly, Gracie and Daisy were completely unaware that they were to be included in the schemes designed for children who were fathered by white men. Their mothers were accused of being promiscuous. A few critics were honest, however, when they said many white men satisfied their lustful desires with the native women until they were able to return to white society."
In 1931, when Molly was about 14, she and her younger sisters were rounded up and taken to a Native Settlement in Western Australia, which was more than 1,000 miles away from their home in the desert. The description of when Molly was taken away was gut-wrenching. Her mother and relatives wailed and moaned, and Molly also wept. The settlement, which was basically an internment camp, was operated by the government as a way to educate the mixed race Aboriginal children. So the half-caste children were taken away from their native families and forced to assimilate to English ways, all for the privilege of someday doing menial labor.
"Instead of a residential school, the Aboriginal children were placed in an overcrowded dormitory. The inmates, not students, slept on cyclone beds with government-issue blankets. There were no sheets or pillow slips except on special occasions when there was an inspection by prominent officials. Then they were removed as soon as the visitors left the settlement and stored away until the next visit. On the windows there were no colourful curtains, just wire screens and iron bars. It looked more like a concentration camp than a residential school for Aboriginal children."
Molly, who was both smart and brave, figured out a way to escape and return home: she and her sisters would follow the rabbit-proof fence, which were coast-to-coast barriers the government built in the early 1900s to try and control the rabbit population. Molly and her sisters walked more than 1,000 miles, barefoot and with little food, and made it home to their families. Molly was a good leader and knew the land well; she was skilled at making camp, at hunting for food and at covering their tracks. The sections on the girls' escape and journey were gripping, and even though I knew the ending because I had seen the film, I was completely engrossed.
"Now the question is, how does anyone keep traveling in a northerly direction on a dismal, grey day without a map or compass? It would be difficult for an adult without the most thorough knowledge of bushcraft not to become disoriented and lost in a strange part of the country where the landscape is filled with thick undergrowth and without the sun to guide the way. Well, Molly, this 14-year-old girl, had no fear because the wilderness was her kin. It always provided shelter, food and sustenance. She had learned and developed bushcraft skills and survival techniques from an expert, her step-father, a former nomad from the desert."
During their trek, Molly and her sisters were given food by other natives they met and even by some white farmers, although several of those folks also telephoned their location to the government official who was trying to recover the girls. But the sisters managed to stay ahead of the officers and made it home safely.
Pilkington includes an epilogue that tells what happened to the sisters (they had long lives and big families) and a helpful glossary of Mardujara words, which was the language Molly and her sisters spoke. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the history of Australia, Aboriginal culture, or if you just like a good story about a prison escape and a walkabout.
*Short rant about friggin colonialists: Look, I am a reader and a sociologist and I know it's the way of the world, Might Makes Right, You Can't Stop Progress, blah blah blah, but it is SO DEPRESSING to read about all the times that indigenous people and cultures have been crushed by invaders who wanted the land and/or slaves. As a German-American, I am sensitive to how the Native Americans were massacred by the early European settlers. Just as the British are probably touchy about how their ancestors colonized every other continent. "Rabbit-Proof Fence" reminded me of the heartbreaking book "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, which was about how the villages in Nigeria were destroyed by British colonialists and Christian missionaries. And if you want to get really depressed, check out Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," about all of the injustices committed against the Native Americans. Yes, all of this history is soul-crushing. But it's also important. In the sociology class I teach, I have an in-depth lecture on racism throughout world history, and I'm often amazed at the number of college freshmen who didn't know that racism wasn't just an American problem -- it's a global problem. It's a human problem. I read these books to bear witness.
Doris Pilkington wrote this memoir after hearing the stories of her mother, Molly, and her aunts, Gracie and Daisy. Pilkington begins the book by sharing some history of the Aboriginal people in Australia, and over the generations we see how the British colonialists stole their land, killed them, starved them, and forced the natives to move into government-approved zones. (Similar to how the American settlers forced the Indians to march along the Trail of Tears to their relocation area in Oklahoma.)* The history was well-explained, and it gave context to the plight of the half-caste children, those who had British fathers and Aboriginal mothers.
"The common belief at the time was that part-Aboriginal children were more intelligent than their darker relations and should be isolated and trained to be domestic servants and labourers. Policies were introduced by the government in an effort to improve the welfare and educational needs of these children. Molly, Gracie and Daisy were completely unaware that they were to be included in the schemes designed for children who were fathered by white men. Their mothers were accused of being promiscuous. A few critics were honest, however, when they said many white men satisfied their lustful desires with the native women until they were able to return to white society."
In 1931, when Molly was about 14, she and her younger sisters were rounded up and taken to a Native Settlement in Western Australia, which was more than 1,000 miles away from their home in the desert. The description of when Molly was taken away was gut-wrenching. Her mother and relatives wailed and moaned, and Molly also wept. The settlement, which was basically an internment camp, was operated by the government as a way to educate the mixed race Aboriginal children. So the half-caste children were taken away from their native families and forced to assimilate to English ways, all for the privilege of someday doing menial labor.
"Instead of a residential school, the Aboriginal children were placed in an overcrowded dormitory. The inmates, not students, slept on cyclone beds with government-issue blankets. There were no sheets or pillow slips except on special occasions when there was an inspection by prominent officials. Then they were removed as soon as the visitors left the settlement and stored away until the next visit. On the windows there were no colourful curtains, just wire screens and iron bars. It looked more like a concentration camp than a residential school for Aboriginal children."
Molly, who was both smart and brave, figured out a way to escape and return home: she and her sisters would follow the rabbit-proof fence, which were coast-to-coast barriers the government built in the early 1900s to try and control the rabbit population. Molly and her sisters walked more than 1,000 miles, barefoot and with little food, and made it home to their families. Molly was a good leader and knew the land well; she was skilled at making camp, at hunting for food and at covering their tracks. The sections on the girls' escape and journey were gripping, and even though I knew the ending because I had seen the film, I was completely engrossed.
"Now the question is, how does anyone keep traveling in a northerly direction on a dismal, grey day without a map or compass? It would be difficult for an adult without the most thorough knowledge of bushcraft not to become disoriented and lost in a strange part of the country where the landscape is filled with thick undergrowth and without the sun to guide the way. Well, Molly, this 14-year-old girl, had no fear because the wilderness was her kin. It always provided shelter, food and sustenance. She had learned and developed bushcraft skills and survival techniques from an expert, her step-father, a former nomad from the desert."
During their trek, Molly and her sisters were given food by other natives they met and even by some white farmers, although several of those folks also telephoned their location to the government official who was trying to recover the girls. But the sisters managed to stay ahead of the officers and made it home safely.
Pilkington includes an epilogue that tells what happened to the sisters (they had long lives and big families) and a helpful glossary of Mardujara words, which was the language Molly and her sisters spoke. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the history of Australia, Aboriginal culture, or if you just like a good story about a prison escape and a walkabout.
*Short rant about friggin colonialists: Look, I am a reader and a sociologist and I know it's the way of the world, Might Makes Right, You Can't Stop Progress, blah blah blah, but it is SO DEPRESSING to read about all the times that indigenous people and cultures have been crushed by invaders who wanted the land and/or slaves. As a German-American, I am sensitive to how the Native Americans were massacred by the early European settlers. Just as the British are probably touchy about how their ancestors colonized every other continent. "Rabbit-Proof Fence" reminded me of the heartbreaking book "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, which was about how the villages in Nigeria were destroyed by British colonialists and Christian missionaries. And if you want to get really depressed, check out Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," about all of the injustices committed against the Native Americans. Yes, all of this history is soul-crushing. But it's also important. In the sociology class I teach, I have an in-depth lecture on racism throughout world history, and I'm often amazed at the number of college freshmen who didn't know that racism wasn't just an American problem -- it's a global problem. It's a human problem. I read these books to bear witness.
March 10, 2014
This story is set in Western Australia during the 1930's. It's the story about three young girls Molly, Daisy, and Gracie who are forcibly removed from their families in Jigalong, North West of the Moore River Settlement. Along with these girls there are many other half cast children who are also removed from their families where they are taken to state run facilities. The children are locked into schools with bars on the windows and locks on the doors.
Not long after arriving, Molly knows she must find a way to escape. The girls are distraught and desperately want to be back home with their families. It doesn't take long for Molly to find that escape route and before they know it the girls on their way and trying to find their way home. Of course they had no idea how far or how long this would take. They will trek over 1000 miles and with each day they push themselves even though they are exhausted, hungry, and in a lot of pain. Along the way they will meet other Aborigines who help them by giving them a few things such as meat and matches.
In the first few chapters we are given the history and background of the Aboriginal culture which I found quite interesting. This is an amazing story of survival, determination, and courage which I found very inspiring. I really enjoyed this book and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
Not long after arriving, Molly knows she must find a way to escape. The girls are distraught and desperately want to be back home with their families. It doesn't take long for Molly to find that escape route and before they know it the girls on their way and trying to find their way home. Of course they had no idea how far or how long this would take. They will trek over 1000 miles and with each day they push themselves even though they are exhausted, hungry, and in a lot of pain. Along the way they will meet other Aborigines who help them by giving them a few things such as meat and matches.
In the first few chapters we are given the history and background of the Aboriginal culture which I found quite interesting. This is an amazing story of survival, determination, and courage which I found very inspiring. I really enjoyed this book and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
September 22, 2011
At the risk of sounding like one of "those people," the movie was better. I saw it when it came out years ago and liked it enough to get excited when I found the book it was based on at my local library. It seemed to me that Doris Pilkington couldn't decide if she wanted to write a history of her mother's walk or if she wanted to write a fictionalized version of the true events that would allow her to, as she puts it, "call on [her] skills as writer" to fill in details probably forgotten by her mother and auntie in the decades since their trek. Manhunt by James Swanson and Devil in the White City by Erik Larson both accomplish this delicate balance between history and narrative beautifully, and that, or something like it, is what I wanted from Rabbit Proof Fence. Instead, the writing seemed choppy and awkward in places, and I was frequently jarred out of the flow of the story by Aboriginal words that I needed to flip to the back of the book to translate. Again, I have seen the use of foreign words integrated beautifully into English texts, where the author takes time to introduce words that will be used frequently, first pairing them with the English and then trusting the reader to remember those few key words or phrases. Pilkington does not take the time to do this, or in my opinion, to really take the time to tell what should be an incredible story. Instead, she takes the months-long, harrowing, and epic journey that her mother and aunties completed, and makes it feel like it took about a week and was relatively easy. The end notes that explain what happened to each of the girls is equally unsatisfying and vaguely confusing. This is one of the only books I've read where my final verdict is "just see the movie."
February 21, 2015
As a description of the persecution of Aborigines in Australia, this is an important book to have read. An interesting and clear presentation of the facts.
The book is about three half-caste aboriginal girls placed in the Moore River Native Settlement outside Perth. They were taken against both the wishes of the girls themselves and their families. This was a common practice, not at all a onetime exception. Half castes, children of aboriginal mothers and white fathers, that being most usually the case, were considered "smarter" than pure Aborigines. They were taken to so-called settlements/schools to be taught how to be less aboriginal, how to be more European. But why? So that they could be shaped into more useful servants for the British settlers. The three girls, aging from nine to fifteen, run away from the settlement where they had been imprisoned. Let’s call them prisons because that is what they were. There were bars on the windows and completely fenced in. These three girls escaped and ran home. How is this possible, walking alone, barefoot without the simplest equipment, without food, with all Australia searching for them? This walk took almost nine weeks and is the longest walk in the history of the Australian Outback. This is not fiction. It is history. And it is shocking.
A brief history of the foreign settlement of Australia is given. Information is given also about the "Rabbit-Proof Fence", originally constructed in 1907 to stop the invasion of rabbits into Western Australia from the East. Molly, the oldest of the three girls lives in a station in charge of the supervision of said fence in the northwestern desert area of Western Australia. Her step-father’s employment is care of this fence. So the idea was to follow that fence homeward.
Documented police files are quoted. The statements are shocking in their total nonchalance for the three girls. They are things to be possessed and used, not human beings. Shocking! This is the history that must be acknowledged by all.
The book is straightforward and clear. It presents information that should be known.
The landscape is described by naming vegetation and fauna specific for the terrain, but such flora and fauna are foreign to me so I could not picture its beauty.
I was not enthralled with the audiobook's narration by Rachael Mazza. The narration is fast, the exciting parts even more so, perhaps in an effort particularly to increase the melodrama of the events. I feel the events speak for themselves. I don't appreciate the added drama. Maybe others do. I found the Australian dialect difficult to follow, and some of the aboriginal terms are not fully explained.
The book is about three half-caste aboriginal girls placed in the Moore River Native Settlement outside Perth. They were taken against both the wishes of the girls themselves and their families. This was a common practice, not at all a onetime exception. Half castes, children of aboriginal mothers and white fathers, that being most usually the case, were considered "smarter" than pure Aborigines. They were taken to so-called settlements/schools to be taught how to be less aboriginal, how to be more European. But why? So that they could be shaped into more useful servants for the British settlers. The three girls, aging from nine to fifteen, run away from the settlement where they had been imprisoned. Let’s call them prisons because that is what they were. There were bars on the windows and completely fenced in. These three girls escaped and ran home. How is this possible, walking alone, barefoot without the simplest equipment, without food, with all Australia searching for them? This walk took almost nine weeks and is the longest walk in the history of the Australian Outback. This is not fiction. It is history. And it is shocking.
A brief history of the foreign settlement of Australia is given. Information is given also about the "Rabbit-Proof Fence", originally constructed in 1907 to stop the invasion of rabbits into Western Australia from the East. Molly, the oldest of the three girls lives in a station in charge of the supervision of said fence in the northwestern desert area of Western Australia. Her step-father’s employment is care of this fence. So the idea was to follow that fence homeward.
Documented police files are quoted. The statements are shocking in their total nonchalance for the three girls. They are things to be possessed and used, not human beings. Shocking! This is the history that must be acknowledged by all.
The book is straightforward and clear. It presents information that should be known.
The landscape is described by naming vegetation and fauna specific for the terrain, but such flora and fauna are foreign to me so I could not picture its beauty.
I was not enthralled with the audiobook's narration by Rachael Mazza. The narration is fast, the exciting parts even more so, perhaps in an effort particularly to increase the melodrama of the events. I feel the events speak for themselves. I don't appreciate the added drama. Maybe others do. I found the Australian dialect difficult to follow, and some of the aboriginal terms are not fully explained.
June 11, 2015
This is the best book I have read in years. The book is a true story about the Stolen Generation - when the Australian Government forced half caste children away from their aboriginal families and into the white way of life. I felt outraged at the treatment of these children and was pining for them to return back home. There is constant suspense and intensity throughout the book as well as adventure. I really enjoyed learning more aboriginal traditions which put current issues into perspective. The book was so fascinating, I read it very quickly. As soon as I finished it, I ordered the sequel.
February 5, 2017
“In the life of an Aboriginal woman, no one is more important than her mother when she is young, her daughters when she is old.”
I knew very little about the (ugly side of) history of Australia, but this short book definitely was an eye-opener. Rabbit-Proof Fence is the harrowing true story of three mixed-race Aboriginal children who walked a thousand miles to get back to their mothers.
This book, written by Doris Pilkington, tells how her mother Molly and her younger cousins Gracie and Daisy were taking from their Aboriginal families and brought to a residential school for Aboriginal children. There they were told to forget everything about their native culture – the language, the songs, even their own mother – and to learn the British ways, so that these mixed-race children one day could serve as domestic servants and cheap labours.
Molly, Gracie, and Daisy, the girls only being 14, 10, and 8, of course wanted to go back home, and so Molly escaped with her cousins to make the long journey through the desert. Molly’s leadership skills are incredible: with her knowledge of the land and the animals, and her clever ideas to keep the British persecutors off their back, she was able to keep Gracie and Daisy safe during their heavy journey.
I’m a bit sad that I’ve read the Oxford University Press edition because the story has been shortened and simplified so that young children can read and understand the severe situation as well. This took away the impact and the edge of the story, but on the other hand movie-stills were added to the book, which helped me visualize the events and the main characters. Now I’m really interested in watching the movie based on this book…
So although the 3 stars are solemnly based on me reading this ‘child friendly’ edition, I do recommend this book to others because it’s part of a history that’s not very known and deserves a lot more attention.
I knew very little about the (ugly side of) history of Australia, but this short book definitely was an eye-opener. Rabbit-Proof Fence is the harrowing true story of three mixed-race Aboriginal children who walked a thousand miles to get back to their mothers.
This book, written by Doris Pilkington, tells how her mother Molly and her younger cousins Gracie and Daisy were taking from their Aboriginal families and brought to a residential school for Aboriginal children. There they were told to forget everything about their native culture – the language, the songs, even their own mother – and to learn the British ways, so that these mixed-race children one day could serve as domestic servants and cheap labours.
Molly, Gracie, and Daisy, the girls only being 14, 10, and 8, of course wanted to go back home, and so Molly escaped with her cousins to make the long journey through the desert. Molly’s leadership skills are incredible: with her knowledge of the land and the animals, and her clever ideas to keep the British persecutors off their back, she was able to keep Gracie and Daisy safe during their heavy journey.
I’m a bit sad that I’ve read the Oxford University Press edition because the story has been shortened and simplified so that young children can read and understand the severe situation as well. This took away the impact and the edge of the story, but on the other hand movie-stills were added to the book, which helped me visualize the events and the main characters. Now I’m really interested in watching the movie based on this book…
So although the 3 stars are solemnly based on me reading this ‘child friendly’ edition, I do recommend this book to others because it’s part of a history that’s not very known and deserves a lot more attention.
September 25, 2014
I saw the movie based on this book when it came out in 2002 and really enjoyed it but the book turned out to be very-poorly written and a big disappointment. It starts out with a few very confusing and odd chapters about the history of the arrival of white men to Australia and then it moves on to the story of three half white/half Aboriginal girls who are taken over 1600 miles from their homes to an institution to be assimilated into white culture and then they escape and walk back to their homes. For a journey that must have been such a brave and scary and tough thing to do it came off as very dull. The book teeters back and forth between a simple no-frills narrative (they ate, they slept, they walked over and over and over again) and extremely awkward made-up dialogue with odd descriptions of flowers and random snippets of source material thrown in. It is severely lacking in details and often repeats the same phrases sometimes even within the same paragraph. We get to know little about the personality of the girls or their motivations so it is hard to ever really make any connection with them. The author also throws in a lot of words in her native language. I usually enjoy this in other books but it is done very poorly in this one. Instead of providing a translation when a word is first used or making it so that it can easily be guessed from the context they are really just thrown out there. There is a glossary in back but I didn’t realize that until I was practically through the entire book. I think reading about the history of Australia would be very interesting but this just isn’t the book for it.
October 14, 2008
This is the sad yet beautiful, poignant true story of three Aboriginal girls who were taken from their families and tribe during the Australian government's policy of removing children, educating them to be servants and working towards a goal of assimilation by wiping out their genes – the entire race, eventually – through inter-racial marriage. They had found that within three generations of breeding with whites, the children are blond and blue-eyed. Today these children are known as the Stolen Generation.
Set in Western Australia in the 1930s, the story is about three cousins – Molly, 14; Daisy, 11; and Gracie, 8 – who are forcibly taken from their tribe and home at Jigalong in the north-west to the Moore River Native Settlement just north of Perth. In Western Australia are two rabbit-proof fences that run north-south, and east of Perth, to keep the rabbits out of the farmland (Europeans deliberately introduced rabbits to Australia, where they have been a plague ever since). It’s the longest fence of its kind in the world.
The settlement the three girls are taken to is one of many designed to eradicate their cultural heritage – they’re forbidden to speak their native tongue – and mould them into good servants. It’s a cruel and punitive place. They escape the school and, barefoot and without provisions, undertake to walk 1,600 kilometres home by following the rabbit-proof fence, which runs past Jigalong. White men and black trackers follow them and planes search for them from above while they hid and trekked through scrub, rock and salt plains. The girls made the historic journey only to be taken back to the settlement.
The first five chapters give background and historical context for the story, as well as an understanding of Aboriginal culture and their thoughts and feelings. There’s also an appendix of Aboriginal words used in the story.
It’s a harrowing survival story of historic proportions that was made into a wonderful movie with breath-taking cinematography. Either the book or the movie would be great to use. The connections between the way the Australian Aborigines and the Canadian First Nations people were treated through government policy and settlements/residential schools add context and perspective to the history of either country. The fact that it’s a true story and an historical story, as well as an extraordinary feat, makes it a powerful story.
Written by Molly's daughter Nugi Garimara, whose "white" name is Doris Pilkington, the movie is also a must-see - the breath-taking cinemetagraphy helps balance out the sadness, and the young actors are excellent. It's yet another painful chapter in Australia's history, but one that shouldn't be ignored.
Set in Western Australia in the 1930s, the story is about three cousins – Molly, 14; Daisy, 11; and Gracie, 8 – who are forcibly taken from their tribe and home at Jigalong in the north-west to the Moore River Native Settlement just north of Perth. In Western Australia are two rabbit-proof fences that run north-south, and east of Perth, to keep the rabbits out of the farmland (Europeans deliberately introduced rabbits to Australia, where they have been a plague ever since). It’s the longest fence of its kind in the world.
The settlement the three girls are taken to is one of many designed to eradicate their cultural heritage – they’re forbidden to speak their native tongue – and mould them into good servants. It’s a cruel and punitive place. They escape the school and, barefoot and without provisions, undertake to walk 1,600 kilometres home by following the rabbit-proof fence, which runs past Jigalong. White men and black trackers follow them and planes search for them from above while they hid and trekked through scrub, rock and salt plains. The girls made the historic journey only to be taken back to the settlement.
The first five chapters give background and historical context for the story, as well as an understanding of Aboriginal culture and their thoughts and feelings. There’s also an appendix of Aboriginal words used in the story.
It’s a harrowing survival story of historic proportions that was made into a wonderful movie with breath-taking cinematography. Either the book or the movie would be great to use. The connections between the way the Australian Aborigines and the Canadian First Nations people were treated through government policy and settlements/residential schools add context and perspective to the history of either country. The fact that it’s a true story and an historical story, as well as an extraordinary feat, makes it a powerful story.
Written by Molly's daughter Nugi Garimara, whose "white" name is Doris Pilkington, the movie is also a must-see - the breath-taking cinemetagraphy helps balance out the sadness, and the young actors are excellent. It's yet another painful chapter in Australia's history, but one that shouldn't be ignored.
March 8, 2016
Beautiful, beautiful story, I understand the hype around this book, and would highly recommend people read this book.
The "Rabbit-Proof Fence" tells the incredibly real and true story of 3 young aboriginal girls, who as part of the stolen generation are removed from their families and taken to a "boarding school" across the country. The girls make the decision to escape after witnessing the horrors of the "school" and embark on the epic journey back to their families and home, by following the rabbit proof fence, which bisects the 2 states and will eventually lead them home,
The epic 1,500 mile trip takes over a month, they are barely clothed and barefoot and yet manage to survive using nothing but their hunting skills, and a bit of kindness later on from strangers who offer food and clothing. The girls are relentlessly pursued by Aboriginal trackers and the authorities, but somehow they manage to avoid them - due in part to rain and in part due to their innate ability to anticipate the actions of the police and in hiding.
The "Rabbit-Proof Fence" tells the incredibly real and true story of 3 young aboriginal girls, who as part of the stolen generation are removed from their families and taken to a "boarding school" across the country. The girls make the decision to escape after witnessing the horrors of the "school" and embark on the epic journey back to their families and home, by following the rabbit proof fence, which bisects the 2 states and will eventually lead them home,
The epic 1,500 mile trip takes over a month, they are barely clothed and barefoot and yet manage to survive using nothing but their hunting skills, and a bit of kindness later on from strangers who offer food and clothing. The girls are relentlessly pursued by Aboriginal trackers and the authorities, but somehow they manage to avoid them - due in part to rain and in part due to their innate ability to anticipate the actions of the police and in hiding.
May 14, 2021
Questo libro racconta la storia vera della mamma e della zia dell'autrice, strappate negli anni '30 alla loro famiglia perché mezzosangue aborigene e mezzosangue bianche, portate al Moore River Native Settlement, idealmente una scuola, ma...
"Sembrava più un campo di concentramento che un convitto per bambini aborigeni"
E da esso fuggite. Le ragazze sono tre, hanno 15, 11 e 8 anni e cammineranno per nove settimane attraverso il bush australiano per tornare a casa a Jigalong dalle loro famiglie seguendo la barriera per conigli che dà il titolo al libro.
L'autrice si limita a raccontare la loro storia: le fatiche, le paure, i dolori e le speranze di tre ragazzine, ma anche dei loro inseguitori. Non dà giudizi, non entra nel merito di una pratica "educativa" barbara e razzista (gli aborigeni venivano istruiti per diventare servitori e "in cambio" dovevano abbandonare la loro lingua e le loro tradizioni); tuttavia la storia arriva come un pugno allo stomaco, un capito molto triste della storia dell'Australia.
"Sembrava più un campo di concentramento che un convitto per bambini aborigeni"
E da esso fuggite. Le ragazze sono tre, hanno 15, 11 e 8 anni e cammineranno per nove settimane attraverso il bush australiano per tornare a casa a Jigalong dalle loro famiglie seguendo la barriera per conigli che dà il titolo al libro.
L'autrice si limita a raccontare la loro storia: le fatiche, le paure, i dolori e le speranze di tre ragazzine, ma anche dei loro inseguitori. Non dà giudizi, non entra nel merito di una pratica "educativa" barbara e razzista (gli aborigeni venivano istruiti per diventare servitori e "in cambio" dovevano abbandonare la loro lingua e le loro tradizioni); tuttavia la storia arriva come un pugno allo stomaco, un capito molto triste della storia dell'Australia.
February 13, 2017
Australia has a turbulent and atrocious history of the treatment of our traditional land owners, the Indigenous communities that have endured at the mercy of white European settlement. The late Doris Pilkington has created a narration of her mother's story, born to an Indigenous mother and white English father, deprived of her community when removed from her land to be placed into government custody along with her younger sister and cousin. Throughout the introduction, the author discusses the history of white settlement, communities slaughtered and indigenous women taken and used as sexual servants. Isolated from their communities, the government introduced a policy allowing land to be claimed by white, European farming families. Land that belonged to Indigenous Australians.
The Moore River Native Settlement is a regimented encampment, housing Indigenous children born to white fathers, taken from their communities under the belief that partially white children are superior and can therefore become disciplined servants for white families. Molly is a free spirited young lady and along with Gracie and Daisy, is determined to return to her elders and Jigalong community, the distance spanning over a thousand miles by following the Rabbit Proof fence. The Rabbit Proof Fence was constructed in the early nineteen hundreds to subdue the migration of rabbits into Western Australia from the eastern states and now becomes a beacon of hope and home.
Throughout the narrative, transcripts and newspaper articles are included about the girls disappearance, only further verifying that the young Indigenous girls are little more than a commodity. Although the journey is harrowing and confronting, the terrain is breathtaking as the girls navigate the parched spiritual land. One of the loveliest aspects about Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence is the sense of family throughout our Indigenous communities and the respect for elders that is instilled in their children.
Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence is an integral aspect of Australian history, placing the importance upon the continuing treatment of our Indigenous communities and the destruction brought by white European settlement. A horrific historical narrative that is beautifully written and illustrates the strength and determination of three remarkable young girls.
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2017/02/f...
The Moore River Native Settlement is a regimented encampment, housing Indigenous children born to white fathers, taken from their communities under the belief that partially white children are superior and can therefore become disciplined servants for white families. Molly is a free spirited young lady and along with Gracie and Daisy, is determined to return to her elders and Jigalong community, the distance spanning over a thousand miles by following the Rabbit Proof fence. The Rabbit Proof Fence was constructed in the early nineteen hundreds to subdue the migration of rabbits into Western Australia from the eastern states and now becomes a beacon of hope and home.
Throughout the narrative, transcripts and newspaper articles are included about the girls disappearance, only further verifying that the young Indigenous girls are little more than a commodity. Although the journey is harrowing and confronting, the terrain is breathtaking as the girls navigate the parched spiritual land. One of the loveliest aspects about Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence is the sense of family throughout our Indigenous communities and the respect for elders that is instilled in their children.
Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence is an integral aspect of Australian history, placing the importance upon the continuing treatment of our Indigenous communities and the destruction brought by white European settlement. A horrific historical narrative that is beautifully written and illustrates the strength and determination of three remarkable young girls.
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2017/02/f...
April 18, 2014
This is the story of three Aboriginal half caste girls removed from their families in Western Australia by government officials who sent them 1000 miles away to a 'residential school', more like a prison than a boarding school, where they were incarcerated and expected to learn to read and write and speak English before being sent off to be servants. The author, Doris Pilkington (Aboriginal name Nugi Garimara)is the daughter of the eldest girl, Molly and she retells their story in simple, straightforward language.
Molly and the two younger girls, sisters Daisy and Gracie run away from the school within days of arriving with only the clothes on their backs and no provisions. They amazingly manage to survive using their native skills in hunting and finding clean water and later strangers who give them food and clothing. Somehow, partly due to the rain and partly to their skills at hiding they manage to evade the police and the trackers sent to find them. Molly is familiar with the rabbit proof fence that runs the length of the state and knows if she can find that then they will just need to follow it home.
Although told simply, this incredible story of tenacity and survival is powerful in portraying the devastation of white settlement on Australia's Aboriginal communities, first by depriving them of their land and the ability to feed themselves and then by allowing a paternalistic government to deprive them of their mixed race children.
Molly and the two younger girls, sisters Daisy and Gracie run away from the school within days of arriving with only the clothes on their backs and no provisions. They amazingly manage to survive using their native skills in hunting and finding clean water and later strangers who give them food and clothing. Somehow, partly due to the rain and partly to their skills at hiding they manage to evade the police and the trackers sent to find them. Molly is familiar with the rabbit proof fence that runs the length of the state and knows if she can find that then they will just need to follow it home.
Although told simply, this incredible story of tenacity and survival is powerful in portraying the devastation of white settlement on Australia's Aboriginal communities, first by depriving them of their land and the ability to feed themselves and then by allowing a paternalistic government to deprive them of their mixed race children.
August 4, 2018
This has blown my mind and broken my heart at once.
The true story of these three girls lives and incredible journey will stay with me.
Unfortunately so will the history it covered with regards to Australia, America and Britain.
How the aborigines were treated was truly shocking.
The fight for life these children had and bonds to their family that thousands of kms could not break is incredible.
There was parts where the text didn't flow too well but it didn't take away from the overall book.
I'm glad I got to read the book before watching the movie .
The true story of these three girls lives and incredible journey will stay with me.
Unfortunately so will the history it covered with regards to Australia, America and Britain.
How the aborigines were treated was truly shocking.
The fight for life these children had and bonds to their family that thousands of kms could not break is incredible.
There was parts where the text didn't flow too well but it didn't take away from the overall book.
I'm glad I got to read the book before watching the movie .
June 21, 2022
The true story of three "half-caste" Martu Australian indigenous girls taken from their families in 1931, and placed in a school 1500 miles away in Western Australia. The girls escape, and walk through a largely unpopulated region, all the way back to their home, which takes 9 weeks.
I didn't realize until the end that the author was the daughter of the oldest girl. The story was repeated in the 1940s, when the mother and her two daughters were taken to the distant school again. The mother managed to escape again, and take one of her daughters, but she was not able to see her 3-year old daughter (the book's author) for another 22 years.
So a true story, based on the testimony of the author's mother and aunt, years after the fact, and police and newspaper documents from the time. After several chapters of historical background, the story kicks in. Very simply, dispassionately told. Insightful about the way a "good intentioned" policy could result in such injustice and cruelty.
I didn't realize until the end that the author was the daughter of the oldest girl. The story was repeated in the 1940s, when the mother and her two daughters were taken to the distant school again. The mother managed to escape again, and take one of her daughters, but she was not able to see her 3-year old daughter (the book's author) for another 22 years.
So a true story, based on the testimony of the author's mother and aunt, years after the fact, and police and newspaper documents from the time. After several chapters of historical background, the story kicks in. Very simply, dispassionately told. Insightful about the way a "good intentioned" policy could result in such injustice and cruelty.
December 28, 2020
Variációk egy témára: a My Place után elolvastam ezt a könyvet is.
Ennek a nyelvezete sokkal egyszerűbb, de a történet magával ragadja az embert. A bennszülött családjuktól erőszakkal elszakított három kislány története, akik 1600 km-t gyalogoltak hazáig, miután elszöktek az intézetből, ahova elvitték őket.
Az elején ad egy kis történelmi áttekintést is, arról, hogyan alakultak ki – többek között – a könyvben leírt viszonyok. Még a XX. század első felében is elszakították bennszülött családjuktól a fehér apáktól származó félvér gyerekeket, hogy „fehérré” neveljék őket – természetesen a fehéreket kiszolgáló kihasznált, kizsákmányolt szolgává. Ezek a gyerekek soha többé nem térhettek vissza családjukhoz, szülőföldjükre.
Érdekes volt utánanézni, utánaolvasni a "nyúlbiztos kerítés"-nek is, ami építésekor (meg tán azóta is) a világ leghosszabb folyamatos kerítése volt.
Ennek a nyelvezete sokkal egyszerűbb, de a történet magával ragadja az embert. A bennszülött családjuktól erőszakkal elszakított három kislány története, akik 1600 km-t gyalogoltak hazáig, miután elszöktek az intézetből, ahova elvitték őket.
Az elején ad egy kis történelmi áttekintést is, arról, hogyan alakultak ki – többek között – a könyvben leírt viszonyok. Még a XX. század első felében is elszakították bennszülött családjuktól a fehér apáktól származó félvér gyerekeket, hogy „fehérré” neveljék őket – természetesen a fehéreket kiszolgáló kihasznált, kizsákmányolt szolgává. Ezek a gyerekek soha többé nem térhettek vissza családjukhoz, szülőföldjükre.
Érdekes volt utánanézni, utánaolvasni a "nyúlbiztos kerítés"-nek is, ami építésekor (meg tán azóta is) a világ leghosszabb folyamatos kerítése volt.
May 1, 2022
Earlier this year I read the memoir A Fortunate Life by Albert B. Facey (1894-1982). As a young boy he moved with his siblings and grandmother to Western Australia in search of his mother. Life was tough for him because his mother had already started a new family and he was immediately put to heavy labor work to support the family. Now this memoir by Doris Pilkington aka Nugi Garimara (1937-2014) is based on the life of her mother Molly in Western Australia and how she ran away in 1931 from the Moore River Native Settlement to get back to her family. That trek across Western Australia took nine weeks and Molly was only 15 years old and accompanied by her sisters Gracie (11/12 years old) and Daisy (8/9 years old). An amazing accomplishment!
It's the first time that I read a book from the perspective of an Aboriginal. It's a very short book and the writing isn't fancy; it gets straight to the point and is deeply honest. The book starts off with a short introduction to Australian history from the aboriginal perspective; how the white people arrived and just claimed the land for themselves. How they placed a flag on the land and declared it theirs, it looked strange to the Aboriginal people. The Aboriginals had to observe and were forced to follow the ways of the white people.
"The white settlers were a protected species; they were safe with their own laws and had police and soldiers to enforce these rules."
Then the author goes into the history of her grandparents and much of the book is dedicated to her mother's girlhood. Molly, Gracie and Daisy. The girls were all half-caste daughters of Aboriginal women and white fathers. They were teased by full-blooded aboriginal children for standing out with their lighter skin color, but at the same time they were loved by their aboriginal family. Despite having white fathers, the girls were forced to be separated from their families and placed in government-run settlements, where they would receive schooling and health care. Molly was a very strong-willed girl and knew from day one that she wanted to return back to her family. She followed the rabbit-proof fence to find her way back to her family. The description of nature was fascinating, she could name so many trees. How she and the two other girls survived is remarkable and shows what a vast knowledge they had of the land and how to survive in that land.
The memoir is interspersed with official government texts regarding the three half-caste girls. How they were picked up from Jigalong to be sent south to the Moore River Native Settlement. How government officials spoke about their escape with authorities across the state. How the officials communicated to each other regarding the girls' whereabouts and what should be done to them. Who gives them the right to decide what's best for the girls if all they want is to be with their family? The government wants to raise aboriginal children to become productive workers for society by separating them from their families and their culture. In the settlements, they were only allowed to speak English. Aboriginal culture was deemed unfit for the building of the Australian nation. It reminds me of the Uighur children who are separated from their parents and sent to dormitory schools along the coast with the pretext that they can integrate better into Chinese society. And governments are never held accountable for the pain they inflict on families.
I've read other books about Australia (A Fortunate Life, The Secret River, The Road from Coorain...) but this Aboriginal memoir added something that was missing from the other books. This was essential and important to read.
It's the first time that I read a book from the perspective of an Aboriginal. It's a very short book and the writing isn't fancy; it gets straight to the point and is deeply honest. The book starts off with a short introduction to Australian history from the aboriginal perspective; how the white people arrived and just claimed the land for themselves. How they placed a flag on the land and declared it theirs, it looked strange to the Aboriginal people. The Aboriginals had to observe and were forced to follow the ways of the white people.
"The white settlers were a protected species; they were safe with their own laws and had police and soldiers to enforce these rules."
Then the author goes into the history of her grandparents and much of the book is dedicated to her mother's girlhood. Molly, Gracie and Daisy. The girls were all half-caste daughters of Aboriginal women and white fathers. They were teased by full-blooded aboriginal children for standing out with their lighter skin color, but at the same time they were loved by their aboriginal family. Despite having white fathers, the girls were forced to be separated from their families and placed in government-run settlements, where they would receive schooling and health care. Molly was a very strong-willed girl and knew from day one that she wanted to return back to her family. She followed the rabbit-proof fence to find her way back to her family. The description of nature was fascinating, she could name so many trees. How she and the two other girls survived is remarkable and shows what a vast knowledge they had of the land and how to survive in that land.
The memoir is interspersed with official government texts regarding the three half-caste girls. How they were picked up from Jigalong to be sent south to the Moore River Native Settlement. How government officials spoke about their escape with authorities across the state. How the officials communicated to each other regarding the girls' whereabouts and what should be done to them. Who gives them the right to decide what's best for the girls if all they want is to be with their family? The government wants to raise aboriginal children to become productive workers for society by separating them from their families and their culture. In the settlements, they were only allowed to speak English. Aboriginal culture was deemed unfit for the building of the Australian nation. It reminds me of the Uighur children who are separated from their parents and sent to dormitory schools along the coast with the pretext that they can integrate better into Chinese society. And governments are never held accountable for the pain they inflict on families.
I've read other books about Australia (A Fortunate Life, The Secret River, The Road from Coorain...) but this Aboriginal memoir added something that was missing from the other books. This was essential and important to read.
October 31, 2021
I can’t recall the last time I read a book in one day. Nugi Garimara (aka Doris Pilkington) has written a gripping, if a little uneven, account of her mother’s incredible voyage in Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. Garimara is an Australian aborigine. After colonization, children of mixed parentage, such as her mother, were taken from their parents and placed in state-run schools where they were very cheaply accommodated. Molly, Nugi’s mother, decided to run away at 14, taking her two sisters, 11 and 8, with her.
The three girls walked nearly 1000 miles, avoiding the patrols out looking for them, returning to their home. It really is a remarkable story. Clearly there’s some follow-up that would be good to have, but I don’t want to spoil anything. This true story (although sometimes classified as fiction) is plainly told, without pretension. It is a story of will and determination and a justice that still hasn’t come.
There may be some spoilers on my blog post about it (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), but it is a story well worth reading. I wouldn’t have found it if I hadn’t been browsing in my local library. It is an unanswered question how this book ended up in a small town library in the state of Pennsylvania. I haven’t been the only person to have checked it out, which, in it’s own way is a cause for hope.
The three girls walked nearly 1000 miles, avoiding the patrols out looking for them, returning to their home. It really is a remarkable story. Clearly there’s some follow-up that would be good to have, but I don’t want to spoil anything. This true story (although sometimes classified as fiction) is plainly told, without pretension. It is a story of will and determination and a justice that still hasn’t come.
There may be some spoilers on my blog post about it (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), but it is a story well worth reading. I wouldn’t have found it if I hadn’t been browsing in my local library. It is an unanswered question how this book ended up in a small town library in the state of Pennsylvania. I haven’t been the only person to have checked it out, which, in it’s own way is a cause for hope.
March 21, 2009
A memoir about three Aboriginal girls who are taken out of their home in Northern Australia (during 1930s) and put in a ‘school’ to train them to become servants. This is all with government approval because the girls are part white and part native. The oldest girl is determined not to stay and to get back to her home. They run away from the school-prison and find the rabbit proof fence that runs the length of Australia and walk home, eating rabbits, beetles, what ever they could find. Pilkington, whose native name is Nugi Garimara, writes her mothers memoir who was the oldest girl. We wonder how blind sighted the whites were in Australia, America, South America where such unjust treatment because of the color of the skin. I liked this book. It isn’t a great book but it is testament to courage, determination, and the strength of family. I would recommend it.
June 21, 2013
Very disappointed in this book.... The struggle of the girls was sad, and that was the only chapter I enjoyed.. "The escape"! So glad that's over.... :)
February 11, 2022
Doris Pilkington is a fantastic storyteller. I didn’t know much about the colonial violence faced by Aboriginal Australians before reading this book, and I learned a lot by reading it. The journey that Pilkington’s mother, Molly, and her aunties, Gracie and Daisy, undertook is nothing short of incredible, but also demonstrates how deeply traumatizing Australian boarding schools were for Aboriginal children, and the distances that they were willing to travel to escape. Rabbit-proof fence is a must-read for anyone and everyone, because it shows the true realities of the Australian Settler State— not the lies.
August 21, 2022
A harrowing story but something everyone should read.
June 28, 2023
This book is considered an Australian classic. It portrays the true account of three Indigenous girls--two sisters and their cousin--who were forcibly taken from their families in the Pilbara to be assimilated into white society in a Christian mission near Perth. Upon arriving, the girls escaped and were pursued by A. O. Neville, the Chief Protector of the Aborigines for Western Australia, and his aides. Using the rabbit-proof fence, the two sisters managed to regain their freedom. The cousin, who took a different route to find her mother, was eventually captured and returned to the mission.
Although the book offers a poignant portrayal of the girls' experiences, it falls short in its attempt to connect the story of these children to the broader machinations of Australian political history. The narrative briefly touches upon Indigenous-European interactions following the latter's settlement of Western Australia, but it fast-forwards to the early-20th century, when state and federal governments were implementing a series of child removal policies that would later become known as the Stolen Generations. One may find themselves uncertain as to why these children were removed, especially if they are not familiar with Australian history.
In short, the British Empire's conquest of Australia led to the decimation of Indigenous populations through disease and frontier violence. White colonisers, therefore, assumed that Indigenous people were a "dying race." A. O. Neville, the architect of the Stolen Generation policy, believed that by educating Indigenous children with some white heritage in white society, they would assimilate into that society. Policemen and other officials were thus given the authority to locate babies and children and bring them to state institutions, primarily missions.
The book does not adequately address the disastrous effects of this policy. Up to 100,000 children were removed, leading to significant psychological trauma for both the families and the children involved. These removed children were several times more likely to engage in substance abuse, obtain a police record, and have high incidences of suicide. Additionally, there are inter-generational effects, where children who grew up in households where a member of the Stolen Generation was present were more likely to experience adverse health outcomes and social destitution.
It is peculiar that the story denotes a tale of Indigenous pursuit for freedom yet neglects to elaborate on why Indigenous trackers were used to hinder that pursuit. The book could have done more to explain the complexities of Indigenous relations with British colonisers. The former weere often coerced into performing such acts to ensure their own freedom after infringing upon colonial laws or to obtain a life with a few more privileges. Delving into this dichotomy would have enhanced the book's content.
Although the book offers a poignant portrayal of the girls' experiences, it falls short in its attempt to connect the story of these children to the broader machinations of Australian political history. The narrative briefly touches upon Indigenous-European interactions following the latter's settlement of Western Australia, but it fast-forwards to the early-20th century, when state and federal governments were implementing a series of child removal policies that would later become known as the Stolen Generations. One may find themselves uncertain as to why these children were removed, especially if they are not familiar with Australian history.
In short, the British Empire's conquest of Australia led to the decimation of Indigenous populations through disease and frontier violence. White colonisers, therefore, assumed that Indigenous people were a "dying race." A. O. Neville, the architect of the Stolen Generation policy, believed that by educating Indigenous children with some white heritage in white society, they would assimilate into that society. Policemen and other officials were thus given the authority to locate babies and children and bring them to state institutions, primarily missions.
The book does not adequately address the disastrous effects of this policy. Up to 100,000 children were removed, leading to significant psychological trauma for both the families and the children involved. These removed children were several times more likely to engage in substance abuse, obtain a police record, and have high incidences of suicide. Additionally, there are inter-generational effects, where children who grew up in households where a member of the Stolen Generation was present were more likely to experience adverse health outcomes and social destitution.
It is peculiar that the story denotes a tale of Indigenous pursuit for freedom yet neglects to elaborate on why Indigenous trackers were used to hinder that pursuit. The book could have done more to explain the complexities of Indigenous relations with British colonisers. The former weere often coerced into performing such acts to ensure their own freedom after infringing upon colonial laws or to obtain a life with a few more privileges. Delving into this dichotomy would have enhanced the book's content.
June 21, 2013
The premise of the book is good; but the actuality the book was poorly written, at times grammar incorrect, and thus very disappointing. Their very Lil insight from the girl perspective and the 1st fifty pages were disorganized telling of European colonization. The 1st half of book jumped around all over the place with little to no transition btw completely new subjects. Quick read but was hard to read quickly.
September 1, 2020
This book is a true story. It tells of the British invading Western Australia in the early 1800's. People took land that didn't belong to them. They built homes and created a government on land that belonged to the aboriginal people.
By 1900 a well established white government was in place.
This government made a decision to build the rabbit proof fence because of the overwhelming number of rabbits. Stations were set up by white people along the fence line to maintain it. Station masters would employ aboriginal people and pay them in food for their family. Some station masters built up good repores with the families and even had children with some of the women. These children are known as half-castes.
This book follows one particular aboriginal family that had three half-caste children and while the other children ridiculed them for their light skin, the government decided half-caste children were smarter than other aboriginal children so wanted to educate them before giving them to homes where they would work as slaves.
These children are known as the stolen generation.
This 130 page book broke my heart. To think children could be treated in such a poor manner and families are still suffering to this day.
This book has led me to research more about the stolen generation and I realized I didn't know enough. Schools aren't teaching enough about Australia's aboriginal heritage and that needs to change.
I urge all Australians to read this book.
By 1900 a well established white government was in place.
This government made a decision to build the rabbit proof fence because of the overwhelming number of rabbits. Stations were set up by white people along the fence line to maintain it. Station masters would employ aboriginal people and pay them in food for their family. Some station masters built up good repores with the families and even had children with some of the women. These children are known as half-castes.
This book follows one particular aboriginal family that had three half-caste children and while the other children ridiculed them for their light skin, the government decided half-caste children were smarter than other aboriginal children so wanted to educate them before giving them to homes where they would work as slaves.
These children are known as the stolen generation.
This 130 page book broke my heart. To think children could be treated in such a poor manner and families are still suffering to this day.
This book has led me to research more about the stolen generation and I realized I didn't know enough. Schools aren't teaching enough about Australia's aboriginal heritage and that needs to change.
I urge all Australians to read this book.
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