Stolen Motherhood
Aboriginal Mothers and Child Removal in the Stolen Generations Era
Abstract
The removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families gained national attention in Australia following the Bringing Them Home Report in 1997. However, the voices of Indigenous parents were largely missing from the Report. The Inquiry attributed their lack of testimony to the impact of trauma and the silencing impact of parents’ overwhelming sense of guilt and despair; a submission by Link-Up NSW commented on Aboriginal mothers being “unwilling and unable to speak about the immense pain, grief and anguish that losing their children had caused them.”
This book explores what happened to Aboriginal mothers who had children removed and why they have overwhelmingly remained silent about their experiences. Identifying the structural barriers to Aboriginal mothering in the Stolen Generations era, the author examines how contemporary laws, policies and practices increased the likelihood of Aboriginal child removal and argues that negative perceptions of Aboriginal mothering underpinned removal processes, with tragic consequences. This book makes an important contribution to understanding the history of the Stolen Generations and highlights the importance of designing inclusive truth-telling processes that enable a diversity of perspectives to be shared.
Schlagworte
Aboriginal history Aboriginal mothers Bringing Them Home Australian history Indigenous child removal Indigenous parental rights right to mother the Stolen Generations- Kapitel Ausklappen | EinklappenSeiten
- i–x Preface i–x
- 1–16 Introduction 1–16
- 161–170 Conclusion 161–170
- 171–172 Appendix I 171–172
- 173–176 Appendix II 173–176
- 177–188 Bibliography 177–188
- 189–196 Index 189–196
- 197–197 About the Author 197–197