The Stolen Generation

Social Studies Online

TEACHERS Nicola Easthope & Rowena Taylor

Teacher Background Reading

• Notes for Teachers
• The Stolen Generation

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Select and adapt these learning activities to best meet the needs of your students, and to fit the time available:

1. Starter - Traditional Aboriginal Life
   1. Gapu Tidal Mix

      What preconceived images do we have of traditional Aboriginal Australia?

   2. In the Beginning - The Dreamtime

      How did the earth begin? How do different cultures portray the beginning of time?

   3. Traditional Elements of Culture

   4. Mini Inquiry

2. Terra Nullius - Latin = "land of no one"
   1. Look at this etching (click on #15) of West Botany Bay Harbour to see what the First Fleet of English convicts would have seen in February1788.

      Consider these first impressions Aboriginals of the area had of the new arrivals.

      In pairs make up a conversation between Captain Phillip and his first mate on the ship about their first impressions of this land and its people.

   2. Read the profiles of these people, and create a vox pop for each to identify their values position (viewpoint) about the emptiness of the land and give at least one reason for them holding this viewpoint.

   3. Why then did the first English arrivals call it "land of no one"? Aboriginals were listed amongst the flora and fauna (plants and animals).

   4. 'Then and Now'

      Complete the consequences web to say what you think Australia might be like now if Captain Cook and the English had not taken the option of declaring Australia Terra Nullius.

   5. The first fleet of convict ships landed in Sydney Cove in 1788.

      In pairs, think of some 5Ws and 1H questions to ask another pair of students.

3. Anguish - The Taking

   Tens of thousands of Aboriginal children in Australia were forcibly separated from their families and put in state and church centres under an official assimilation policy which ended in the mid-1960s. The aim was to assimilate the Aborigines into the mainly white society. Aboriginal people who were taken away call themselves 'the Stolen Generation'. In the 1990s the Stolen Generation began legal action against the government.

4. What has been the long term effect of this policy of assimilation?

   Read this article about the long term effects of the policy of assimilation on Lorna Cubillo and Peter Gunner. Consider these quotes, and construct a PMI chart to summarise your response to these quotes.

5. Aboriginal Movements for Self Determination

   "The invasion of the Northern Territory of Australia began with exploration as early as the 1820s. Since that time, Aboriginal people have been resisting this invasion. The modern history of the struggle for land rights began in 1963 and continues to this day." from Land & Sea Rights.

   1. Timeline of resistance

      Read through the Chronology of the Modern Land Rights Movement and construct a timeline on A3 paper. Write a summary of each event by the appropriate date and create a symbol or sketch to illustrate each event.

   2. Wave Hill: a significant turning point

      "IDA BERNARD is an important elderly Gurindji woman at Daguragu in the Northern Territory. In 1966 she was working at Vestey's Wave Hill station in the kitchens. Ida and her fellow countrymen -- stockmen and other workers -- "walked off" the cattle station demanding decent wages and living conditions. They walked 13 kilometres to Wattie Creek, a place of spiritual significance, and named their new community Daguragu. Their eight-year strike evolved as a battle for the return of stolen land and became the inspiration for the Aboriginal land rights movement."

      Read Ida's oral history account of the ‘walk off’ at Wave Hill
      View a photo of the man who led them
      Read the lyrics of a modern song about the strike

      Imagine you are going to translate this story from print to film. Create a history frame or a story map illustrating and describing the workers' life before, during and after their strike at Wave Hill Station.

   3. Tent Embassy - Icon or Eyesore

      Read this chronological account and Aboriginal viewpoint, and study these images. Do you think the Tent Embassy is an Australian icon or an eyesore? Fill out the opinion-proof graphic organizer.

6. The Turning Point: The Mabo Decision, June 1992
   1. Read this poem by Philip Rush.

   2. How did a university gardener come to change the course of Australia's legal history?
      Take part in this role play to see how important Eddie Mabo was in overturning the doctrine of Terra Nullius.

   3. Create a flow chart to show the sequence of events leading up to the Mabo Decision.

7. Reconciliation Moves began in 1995
   1. Read the words of this song by Yothu Yindi - Treaty
      Why do you think the Aboriginal people have made calls for a treaty?

   2. Hold a mini debate on the moot "Australia is not a racist society" using these sources to help identify arguments for the affirmative and negative.

8. Bringing Them Home Report 1997

   "It never goes away. Just 'cause we're not walking around on crutches with bandages or plasters on our legs and arms doesn't mean we're not hurting… I suspect I'll carry these sorts of wounds 'til the day I die. I'd just like it to be not quite as intense, that's all." Bringing them Home Report, p 178

   "The Inquiry concluded that forcible removal was an act of genocide contrary to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was signed for Australia on 11 December 1948 and ratified by Australia on 8 July 1949. It was the first human rights convention adopted by the UN General Assembly. Among the acts defined as genocide is the forcible transfer of children from a national, ethnical, racial or religious group to another group." Gough Whitlam, former Labour Prime Minister 1972-75, from a speech at Murdoch University, 1997.

   John Pilger said on the "Welcome to Australia" documentary "Parliament devoted 30 minutes to this report, the same day they spent 60 minutes debating the oversupply of emus".

   Write an item for a radio broadcast in which you interview a government official, matron of an orphanage, Aboriginal parent or a stolen child about their response to the Bringing Them Home Report.

9. National Sorry Day 1998

   The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998 - one year after the tabling of the report 'Bringing them Home' which was the result of an inquiry into the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. One of the recommendations of the report was that a National Sorry Day should be declared. The Day offers the community the opportunity to participate and be involved in activities to acknowledge the impact of the policies of forcible removal on Australia's indigenous populations.

   1. The theme for 2003 is Healing the past, shaping the future.

      Find out what is happening around the country by searching the following sites and construct a mindmap to show the various METHODS individuals and groups in Australia express their apologies:

      • Sorry Day 2003
      • UNSW Equity & Diversity Unit

   2. Create a symbol or draw a diagram for each of the 8 points in the Reconciliation Plan

10. A Formal Apology?

    1. To apologise or not to apologise?

       'No Indigenous Australian who gave evidence to the National Inquiry said that they wanted non-Indigenous Australians to feel guilty.' From The Stolen Generation of Aboriginal Children

       Values Exploration: Demonstrate how groups may share some values and agree to differ about others.

    2. Consequences of a formal apology

       Often when politicians apologise, the people who have been wronged seek compensation for the historical injustice. Read the stories of these two women, Valerie and Joy, who have been to court to seek financial compensation. Construct a Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences in their situations and success in receiving compensation.

    3. Write a Letter to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald expressing your views on the treatment of Aboriginal children who were taken from their parents. Think of the impact on Aboriginal people, Aboriginal culture and Australian society as a whole.

       Set out your paragraphs in this structure. Remember to set out your letter with the correct conventions
       Who else could you address this letter to?

11. The New Stolen Generation

    Aboriginal families are still suffering the consequences of the policy of assimilation. Read Karen's Story and brainstorm ways in which people like Karen can be helped to overcome her problems.

12. To sum up
    1. Read 'Song of Hope' (scroll down) by Oodgeroo Noonuccal (formerly Kath Walker), the noted Queensland Aboriginal poet (first Aboriginal poet to be published), activist and educationist.

       To read more of Oodgeroo's poetry, click here
       To learn about her life, click here
       For more, including photos of Oodgeroo, check out Oodgeroo Noonuccal

    2. Use De Bono's Hats to summarise the information you have been studying in this unit.

RESOURCES

Electronic

• Human Rights Commission
• Organisations
  • ANTar
• Racism NoWay Fact Sheets
• Unfinished Business: The Australian Stolen Generations

Print

Student Texts

• Brundall, J. (1998). Australia: The land and the people Book A. Christchurch: User Friendly Resources
• Childs, R, Childs, P, Dickson, G. (2002). Australia: People Moving, Cultures Mixing. Auckland: Longman.
• Naumann, R., Harrison, L. & Winiata,T.K. (1990). Te Mana o Te Tiriti - The Living Treaty. Auckland: New House
• Naumann, R. (2002) Culture and Heritage. Auckland: New House

Teacher Texts

• Camm, E. P., Camm, J. C. R., & Gordon, M. (1990). Society and Culture in a Changing World. Melbourne: Longman.
• Gibbs, R. M. (1996). The Aborigine. Melbourne: Longman
• Morgan, S. (1987). My Place. Western Australia:Fremantle Arts Centre Press
• Moriarty, J. (2000). Saltwater Fella: an inspiring true story of success against all odds. Victoria, Australia: Viking
• Parbury, N. (1986). Survival: a history of Aboriginal life in New South Wales. Sydney, Australia: Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, New South Wales.
• Reynolds, H. (1999). Why weren't We Told? A personal search for the truth about our history. Australia: Penguin

Other

Videos

• John Pilger Special Report (2000) Welcome to Australia
• Rabbit Proof Fence (2002)

Newspaper

• Schrader, J. (Ed). The Darkest Days. Outlook World Focus page in The Dominion Post, Tuesday November 26, 2002, page C14.