Stolen Generation: Differences Between 1910 And 1970's

Between 1910 and 1970 many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families, in the hope that the growing population of Aboriginal people would eventually die out. These children are now referred to as the “Stolen Generation’. The plight of the ‘Stolen Generations’ had a negative impact upon Indigenous Australians. The government policies of the time impacted the children's life experiences, and they are still being felt today.

In the early 20th century, it was commonly thought that the Indigenous people in Australia would eventually die out. However the growing population of Aboriginal people of mixed race, led to the government to adopt the ‘assimilation policy’........... This was a new form of control, which was intended

to ensure mixed-aborigines could integrate and adapt to ‘white’ society, in particularly children. Therefore many indigenous children were forcibly removed from their parents without consent. These children are now referred to as the ‘Stolen Generation’. This policy was detrimental to the Aborigines as a ‘government’ act prevented them from having authority over their own children and having no control to being able to prevent the government or the church and welfare organisations from taking their children. A quote extracted from the Bringing them Home Report (UNHRC, 1997) explains the policy of the government.

“In contrast with the removal of non-indigenous children, proof of neglect was not always required before an indigenous child could be removed. Their Aborignities would sacrifice. Therefore, while some removals might be ‘justifiable’ after the event as being in the child's best interest, they quite often did not need to be justified at the time”

As it was believed by white authorities that aborigines parents were unable to look after their children properly. The removal was ultimately aimed at ‘destroying’ the indigenous race through social assimilation. Not only were they stolen from their families, but they also had their identity stolen from them. These policies had detrimental impacts on both the families of the children and the children themselves.

As a consequence of the many government policies that resulted in children being forcibly removed from their families, there was an unmeasurable affect on the indigenous children's life experiences. According to the ‘Bringing Them Home report’ 17 percent of the indigenous children were adopted into ‘white’ families (*in text referencing*), whilsts many others were placed in institutions and orphanages, neglected or even used as slaves by the white society. The conditions of these institutions were often poor and resources were insufficient to sustain the children with adequate clothes, food and shelter. Many aboriginal children experienced denigration or were told to reject their aboriginality and forced to adopt the white ways. In, addition they suffered various degrees of abuse, trauma and neglect and weren't allowed to use their own language. They gained a sense of not belonging to either the white society or the Aboriginal community.
The “Bringing them home report’ corroborates with a submission from a woman who gave evidence to the Inquiry about her experiences as a child.

“Most of us girls were thinking white in the head, but were feeling black inside. We weren't black or white. We were a very lonely, lost and sad, displaced group of people. We were taught to think and act like a white person, but we didn't know how to think and act like an Aboriginal. We didn't know anything about our culture”

Confidential submission 617, New South Wales: woman removed at 8 years with her 3 sisters in the 1940s; placed in Cootamundra Girls' Home. The report also found that the practice of forced removal was highly traumatic on children's physical and mental state. Little to no contact was encouraged by the white authorities and many were blatantly told that their parents rejected them, they were worthless or even

dead.
As quoted by the WA Aboriginal Legal Service Submission 127 (Pg.49) “The authorities said I was removed from my parents so I could receive an education but the fact is the nuns never gave me an education. I didn't receive an education. I was very neglected”. While the WA Aboriginal Legal Service Submission quotes a bad experience, there are many experiences from children that acknowledge the ‘love’ received by that ‘white society’ and that contradicts the bad experiences. As quoted in ……...
“I’ve got everything that could be reasonably expected: a good home environment, education, stuff like that, but that’s all material stuff. It’s all the non-material stuff that I didn’t have – the lineage. It’s like you’re the first human being at times. You know, you’ve just come out of nowhere; there you are. In terms of having a direction in life, how do you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve come from?”.
The Aboriginal Protection Board said it was removing children because it was believed they were being allegedly abused or neglected by their parents, but experiences and stories from the victims say otherwise and in some circumstance the abuse was far worse when they were forced to leave their families. The impact of these experiences damaged the children of the stolen generation, their families and the subsequent generation who continue to suffer the ongoing effects.

The impacts of Stolen Generation have had an ongoing effects towards the Indigenous Australians.

The impacts of the ‘assimilation policy’ are still seen and felt today amongst the Indigenous community. Many of the problems seen in the Aboriginal communities, like incarceration, alcoholism, poverty and higher suicide rates today can be linked to the trauma caused by the forcible removal of the children. Jane Mckendrick as quoted in the book… “a high proportion of people from the stolen generation were either psychologically, physically or sexually abused while in care”. The trauma caused then has an on-going negative impacts on the next generations. Dr Jane McKendrick reported that “when (aboriginal people who were removed) come to have their own children they’ve really got no idea how to parent in either the conventional aboriginal or non aboriginal way…... so their children are very often removed from them (by welfare agencies) which sets up this terrible cycle that goes on for generations”. It has also been proven that indigenous children and adults have a disadvantage in terms of their life expectancy and literacy rates in comparison to the white

society.

The Bringing Them Home report outlines the apologies the indigenous communities received by Kevin Rudd, the prime minister during 2008 in regards to the stolen generation. Given that apology, many important steps have been taken towards the healing process which is important to closing the gap and reconciliation between Aboriginal people and the non-Indigenous community. The impacts of the stolen generation still and will be felt until the profile of aboriginal matches that of other australians, on all measures.

We have found that those affected by the forced removal of children – the Stolen Generations and their children and grandchildren – are: • 50% more likely to be charged by police • 30% less likely to be in good health, and • 10% less likely to have a job.

Overall the plight of the Stolen Generation had a negative impact upon the Indigenous communities. That being it impacted both those of the stolen generation and their families, but also the subsequent generations that are still being affected by the impacts of the Stolen Generation era. However, it’s important to understand that the ‘Stolen Generation’ refers to those who were stolen on the basis of their race alone. In contrast with the removal of non indigenous children, the proof of neglect was not not always required to remove indigenous children.