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Stolen Generations

(Status : Public)
Coordinated by BlackWords Team
  • Drama and Film

    These plays and films deal with one of the most tragic and shameful stories of twentieth-century Australia, the removal of Aboriginal children from their families. They examine the personal fallout from a policy that is still affecting Aboriginal communities today.

  • Lousy Little Sixpence, by Alec Morgan and Gerry Bostock

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    A documentary that uses historical footage and interviews with people who were part of the generation of Indigenous Australians forced into unpaid servitude by the Australian government. The title refers to the amount of pocket money the indentured workers were supposed to be given, but never received, while their wages were managed by their 'employers' on behalf of the Aborigines Protection Board.

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  • Land of the Little Kings, by Des Kootji Raymond

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    'Archie Roach was about three years old when he was taken from his family. He talks about the value of 'joining the circle' - his metaphor for the recovery that can be achieved by those who have been separated from their families, as they link up again. We meet Jean in Cootamundra who was taken with her four siblings from La Perouse while her mother begged for more time with her children. When Sam Murray was taken as a young boy he was too young to remember his name.

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  • Stolen Generations, by Darlene Johnson

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    Stolen Generations, directed and narrated by Aboriginal filmm-maker Darlene Johnson, continues the examination of the impact of the removal of Aboriginal children from their families during the 1950s and 1960s. Using the particular stories of Bobby Randall, Cleonie Quayle and Daisy Howard, the fi lm expands upon the themes of Lousy Little Sixpence, showing the wide range of ways in which Aboriginal children were removed and the variety of destinations for the children.

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  • Snake Dreaming, by Jessica Ah Chee

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    'A short drama written and performed by Indigenous children about the Stolen Generations. Snake Dreaming is part of the Nganampa Anwernekenhe series produced by Central Australian Aboriginal Media Associaation (CAAMA) Productions. Nganampa Anwernekenhe means 'ours' in the Pitjantjatjara and Arrente languages, and the series aims to contribute to the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultures.' (Film synopsis)

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  • Case 442, by Mitch Torres

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    'Frank Byrne began his search for his mother 60 years ago. The journey is nearly over, as he has found Maudie in a pauper's grave, and must have the remains exhumed and returned back to her country. But Frank faces a new journey, as putting his mother to rest opens new discoveries about his own identity. ' (Source: Screen Australia)

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  • Shifting Sands : Grace, by Wesley Enoch

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    Screen shot from Shifting Sands - Grace sourced on-line

    After the death of her sister, an Indigenous Australian woman travels to her hometown to pay her last respects.

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  • Stolen, by Jane Harrison

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    Cover image courtesy of publisher.

    Stolen is based upon the lives of five Indigenous people, who go by the names of Sandy, Ruby, Jimmy, Anne and Shirley, who dealt with the issues for forceful removal by the Australian government.

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  • Ruby's Story, by Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach

    'Ruby's Story is a passionate and emotionally moving concert about stolen children and stolen water, sung and recounted by Ngarrindjeri woman Ruby Hunter and her partner in music and life, Archie Roach (Yorta Yorta).

    The much loved and respected Ruby and Archie, both members of the Stolen Generation, are accompanied by Paul Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra in this truly unique performance. The concert recounts Ruby's birth by the side of a billabong near the banks of the Murray River in SA.

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  • Luck of the Draw, by Ned Manning

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    'A young Aboriginal woman, Annie, and her brother, Pat, escape from their respective "Homes" in the 1940's and find their way to a Mission on the South Coast of NSW. The first half of the play explores their attempts to survive in what is often an oppressive environment. In Act 2, twenty years later, the play follows Annie's daughter Pearl as she attempts to come to terms with her Aboriginality and then is encouraged to re-unite with her estranged mother. The play explores questions of identity and white Australia's relationship with its Aboriginal past. (...more)
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  • Up the Road, by John Harding

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    A celebration of life, love and family set in the remote Aboriginal community of Flat Creek, where life is pretty uncomplicated—until a Canberra bureaucrat returns home. (Source: Australian Plays website)

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  • King Hit, by David Milroy and Geoffrey Narkle

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    'An acclaimed play that strikes at the very heart of the Stolen Generations, exploring the impact on an individual and a culture when relationships are brutally broken.' 'Based on the life story of Geoffrey Narkle, King Hit mirrors the lives of many Aboriginal people of his generation. Forcibly removed from his family, Geoffrey was raised on Wandering Mission before leaving to join Stewart's Boxing Troupe, where he travelled the South West as a tent boxer.'

    'Ultimately it would be Geoffrey's fighting spirit that gave him the strength to turn away from a downward spiral of despair and find peace within and reconcile broken family bonds.

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  • The Fence, by Alicia Talbot

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    '"The Fence" is an explosive story of love, belonging and dispossession. The performance takes place in a purpose-built family home in western Sydney. The story is of the resilience and wisdom of five middle-aged Australians, four of whom grew up in care as part of the Stolen Generations and Forgotten Australians.' Source: www.sydneyfestival.org.au (Sighted 08/01/2010). (...more)
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  • Mother Courage & Her Children, by Paul Nazarski and Wesley Enoch

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    'Bertolt Brecht's epic morality tale about the ravages of war is given a unique twist by Queensland Theatre Company Artistic Director Wesley Enoch and Paula Nazarski in a dazzling new translation.

    Instead of the 'Thirty Years' War of 1600s Europe, this near-future incarnation of the age-old story is set against the bleak backdrop of a post-apocalyptic desert where Mad Max might be at home - an Australia ravaged by devastating conflict, where life is cheap but business is still business.

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