Description: Australia
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It turns out that between 1885 and 1970, around 100,000 aboriginal children in Australia were forcefully taken away from their families, separated from their relatives, their environment and culture, and sent away to church missions, reserves or foster homes . They lost contact with their families and friends, with their language, customs and traditions and in most cases, their parents didn´t know where they were or what had happened to them. They came to be known as “the stolen or the lost generation” in Australia.
But why did all these things happen? According to some information I found in the British newspaper The Independent (February 13, 2008) “the government believed that their race (the aboriginal) had no future and they would be better off being brought up in a white society (…) There were federal and state laws designed to integrate the children into the mainstream and eventually “breed out” their colour.” Child protection, assimilation policies, and a desire to attain white racial purity (Wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_generation) are among the reasons for this atrocity.
On February 13, 2008, Australia´s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave a public apology in Parliament to all the people who were affected by this shameful period in Australia´s history. The minister gave a long speech apologizing for “the grief and the suffering inflicted on the stolen generation and the breaking up of families” He also asked Australians to turn a new page in order to start a healing process on this injustice of the past and to close the gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal living conditions. His speech was very moving and it seemed to be sincere. Even though it can be an important first step towards reconciliation and healing, it cannot make up for all the hardships all these people and their families have gone through.
Some affected people have asked for economic compensation; Others have proposed government funding for different projects (counseling, education, etc,) that would help bridge the gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal population in Australia.
Back in the year 2002, Peter Read already posed an interesting question: Should Australia be trying to forge an integrated nation or should Australia be a multicultural association of peoples? I think there is no easy answer to this question but it is something important to think about in order to prevent these things from happening again in any country. It should also make us wonder about the situation with indigenous people in our own country. What do you think?
Bibliography:
Appleton, J. (2002). Australia´s Stolen Generation´ and the Extinction of Aboriginality. Peter Read at the British Library. Consultado el 12 de enero de 2009 en: http://www.culturewars.org.uk/2002-12/stolengeneration.htm
Burke, R. y Lay, T. (2005) Aboriginal Children: A Lost Generation. Consultado el 13 de enero de 2009 en: http://www.iearn.org/hgp/aeti/aeti-1998-no-frames/aboriginal-children.htm
Celermajer, D. (2005). The Stolen Generation: Aboriginal Children in Australia. En Carnegie Council. Consultado el 8 de enero de 2009 en: http://www.cceia.org/resources/publications/dialogue/2_12/section_1/5142.html
Mc. Smith, A. y Finn, C. (2008). Australia´s Stolen Generation: “To the Mothers and Fathers, the Brothers and the Sisters, We Say Sorry.” En The Independent. Consultado el 15 de enero de 2009 en: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australias-stolen-generation-to-the-mothers-and-the-fathers-the-brothers-and-the-sisters-we-say-sorry-781543.html
Tarczynski, S. (2008). Rights-Australia: Apology, No Compensation for Lost Generations. En Inter Press Service. Consultado el 28 de diciembre de 2008 en: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40955
