The stolen generation has created a long-term impact on reconciliation in Australia and has created a significant impact in Australian history by affecting the lives of indigenous.
“The stolen generation has created many negative implications in Australian society, further disbanding therefore greatly slowing reconciliation attempts done by various prime minister and organisations
“We say Sorry” Kevin Rudd persistently repeated in his apology speech to The Stolen Generation. Where at least one hundred thousand indigenous children were forcibly removed from their parent’s care, this policy went on for 6 decades (1910 to 1960) this was the result of various government policies introduced in 1910. The children who were affected by this became
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This was one of the first reconciliation attempt to better strengthen ties and help victims as the result of the Stolen Generation.
This public apology was the stepping stone in attempts speed up reconciliation attempts. This was also the very first time an Australian prime minister publicly addressed this issue. Since Kevin Rudd’s speech. Hundreds of Web sites, books and movies and a national sorry day have been made to honour and commemorate the victims. (WIKIPEDIA , n.d.)
Moreover, victims of The Stolen Generation where interviewed and posted in various different organisations. This gave huge amounts of awareness of the problem but it is not enough and the damage has already been done. But despite all efforts to further reconciliation the government is still removing indigenous and Torres strait islander children than a far higher rate than non-indigenous children, this greatly breaks trust as aboriginal. Consequently, indigenous women are refusing to give birth at hospitals in the fear that their children to be stolen. Although Kevin Rudd’s Apology speech made a positive impact to help strengthen reconciliation in Australia. the ongoing removal of indigenous children is negatively impacting reconciliation in Australians
Only in recent years have we seen the recognition that the stolen generation deserves and the essential part it has play in the struggle of Aboriginal rights. Since the end of the stolen generation, numerous organisations and government agency has come out and said sorry for what happened for seventy years and as a result Aboriginal rights are becoming more apparent. The famous “I’m sorry” speech said by Kevin Rudd was the first Parliament apology to the Stolen Generation and was seen as a huge leap forward in the recognition of the Stolen Generation. The Bringing Them Home Report in 1997 was a strong campaign for The
The apology to the Stolen Generations was delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in the House of Representatives on the 13th February 2008. The national apology has become a symbol of hope for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders. Australia in modern day society are somewhat optimistic for the future of the relationship between both races. Attitudes to Indigenous lives and lifestyles, interactions and attitudes to personal involvement and cultural awareness and pride determines the quality of this relationship. The 2008 government apology to the Stolen Generations brought attention to the issue of reconciliation in a positive way that set an optimistic tone for the future. To improve the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and provide equal life chances for all Australians, it is crucial to understand the underlying perceptions and values that influence society. An essential consideration in understanding the significance of the apology is to understand the nature of mistakes and responsibilities to which the apology responds. State and territory parliaments delivered apologies which were recommended by the Bringing Them Home (1997) report of the Australian Human Rights Commission. This inquiry was based on the removal of Indigenous Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal juveniles from their families, culture and land. Post events of the apology delivered in 2008, saw Kevin Rudd apologising again to the Forgotten Australians in November 2009. It
These responses show that the apology was very important in healing the damage done by the stolen generations, and helped the members of the stolen generations feel more comfortable and accepted in Australia. This sense of closure given by the apology to the members of the stolen generations had a major impact on the sense of freedom felt by the members of the stolen
The apology letter that Kevin Rudd made to Australia’s Indigenous people refers to The Stolen Generation which were Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal Australians who were as children, forcibly removed from their parents and siblings and communities by welfare, government or church authorities and placed into things like institutional care or with a non- Indigenous foster family. the children were taken with hope to kill out their whole indigenous culture and children were forced to adapt to white culture.
Kevin Rudd’s apology was to the Aboriginals; but in particular, to the Stolen Generations. From 1909-1969, the Australian Government forced a policy know as assimilation upon the Aboriginals. Assimilation is the forced integration of minority groups onto the dominant society. Inhumane acts were inflicted upon these proud people because of the ‘Aborigines Protection Board’ which entailed that the Australian Government had full rights to forcibly remove half-caste children from Aboriginal care without parental consent nor a court order.
There were some people who wanted to do something about it but they were too scared. They both relate to something really tragic that happened.They both had their bad times and some people were left without anything. According to the article Australian Aboriginal Genocide Continues Despite Historic Apology “Apology was important in its healing implications for the victims and Indigenous Australians in general. However the harsh reality is that on the next day, 14 February 2008, 0.5 million Indigenous Australians were STILL mostly living in Third World conditions and the Aboriginal Genocide (9,000 Aboriginal excess deaths
Reconciliation is the process of building respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the wider Australian community. It is about understanding and respecting their culture and heritage and signifies ‘coming together’ to become one nation without racism and with equality for all. There are still vast differences in health, education, employment, and standards of living of the Indigenous peoples as compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Even today Indigenous peoples have a significantly lower life expectancy, up to 11.5 years for men and 9.7 years for women . The infant mortality rate for the Indigenous peoples is double the rate for non-Aboriginal Australians. Understanding these inequalities is the first step to reconciling the differences. Policies such as the stolen generation and assimilation policy destroyed Indigenous identity and culture and justified the dispossession of Indigenous people and the removal of Indigenous children from their parents. We can’t change the past but we can make a better future by understanding and learning from the mistakes of the past, reconciliation is about that. Many practical and symbolic strategies have been implemented over the last 50 years to achieve reconciliation such as ATSIC, Northern Territory Intervention and the Mabo decision. However, the most significant ones are the 1967 Referendum, Closing the Gap framework in 2008 and the ‘Sorry speech’. The aim is to improve the five dimensions of reconciliation: race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity, unity, and historical acceptance.
Government policies authorising the removal of Aboriginal children have caused extensive and unrepairable damage to every aspect of Indigenous culture. It could be argued that the emotional turmoil which occurred as a result of this policy, is greater than any physical abused ever faced by the Australian Aboriginal people. The act of child removal would be a scarring experience for parents and children of any race or culture. This policy had a particularly damaging impact on the Indigenous people as their identity is based within a set of strong traditional guides and teachings. These lessons are not recorded, but can only be taught through speaking with elders and learning through a connection to others within the mob, connection to art forms
The Stolen Generation is the generation of children that were taken from their families and adopted by white families or placed in government-owned facilities. It was part of the assimilation process that aimed to make Aboriginal Australians blend into white society. It did not work and left the victims feeling neither white nor black, unable to fit in with either society (Australians together- no date). Children were made to forget about their Indigenous heritage and forced to adapt to white society. Their names were changed and it was prohibited for them to speak their original languages. The assimilation process focused more on “half-caste” children because they looked whiter than full blood children, so would be more accepted into white society. (Australians Together- no date). This meant that “half-caste” children were more at risk of removal. Nonetheless, anyone part of the Stolen Generation definitely suffered a great deal.
In February of 2008, on behalf of The Australian Parliament, Prime Minister of the time, Kevin Rudd, presented a speech directed towards “the Stolen Generation”. This extract addresses the horrific losses that the Indigenous community has endured in the recent past, acknowledging the mistreatment and offering stories of the abuse.
At the turn of the twentieth century the systematic forced removal of Aboriginal children from their mothers, families and cultural heritage was commonplace. There were several reasons that the government and white society used to justify the separation but the prevailing ideology of nationalism and maintaining Australia for the ‘whites’ was the over-riding motivation and justification for their actions[1]. Progressive sciences such as anthropology espoused such theories as eugenics, miscegenation, biological absorption and assimilation which legitimated governmental policies relating to Aboriginal affairs[2]. It was
Although many of these children were later adopted and had experienced an extensive education, the emotional and social cost was too high. The heartache experienced was detrimental to the growth and to their very survival. The ‘Stolen Generation’ has had significant effects upon the Australian history and culture and destructive effects upon the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples affected.
‘The Sapphires’ by Wayne Blair was the trigger that led my research into the effects of the Stolen Generation on Aboriginals in Australia. This film is about an Aboriginal singing group who want to make a name for themselves, but find it difficult because of the racism against them. This film also tells the stories of their cousin Kay, who was a half-caste and was stolen from her Aboriginal family at a young age to be taught the ways of white people, and forget her culture. This film made me realise that I am lucky to live in a country where racism of such an extent in which children are stolen from their indigenous families, isn’t part of our history, and has not affected me personally. From my research, I have found six main sources that have helped me to understand how large this problem was and continues to be. My sources: ‘The Sapphires’ by Wayne Blair; a film about a group of Aboriginal singers who are affected by racism which is based on a real life singing group; ‘The Sorry Speech’, by Kevin Rudd who was the Prime Minister of Australia in 2008 who explains the damage and apologises for the way that the actions of past governments tore apart the lives of their indigenous people. Then there is ‘Blind Eye,’ the documentary in which people who were stolen are interviewed and tell their stories. The film, ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ this tells the story of two girls who were stolen and gives us insight into how brutally that they were treated after being ripped apart from
The Stolen Generation was between the times of 1910-1970. An estimate of 6,200 children in New South wales were forcefully removed from their homes and many more, due to the government policies at the time. The policy of Assimilation, it was the black inferiority and white was more superior. This removable was to teach the children the “white” way of living, teaching the western way of living, making them neglect their culture languages and making them hate their own background. Half of the children would either be adopted or put into an institution, where they would be abused. This is dark past of Australians’
The Oxford dictionary defines the stolen generation as: “The Aboriginal people forcibly removed from their families as children between the 1900s and the 1960s, to be brought up by white foster families or in institutions.” But what the oxford definition cannot tell us is the horrible impacts of the stolen generation on the stolen children, their families, the Aboriginal culture and Australia as a Nation. The stolen generation was caused by European Australians belief that Aboriginal people were inferior to them, a belief stemming from the fact that the Aboriginal people had not industrialised and therefore they appeared primitive to European Australians whom had industrialised in the 1700s. The European Australians also believed that the