At the time of the late 1800’s to the 1970’s aboriginal children, mainly half caste and quadroon, were taken from their homes and placed into the care of the state to be assimilated into white society. The children of the ‘Stolen Generations’ were taken under certain circumstances, even though there were suspicions that these ‘circumstances’ were not always valid. At the time, these children suffered harsh emotional consequences as a result of being taken. Even later in life, those indigenous people are known to still have strong social and cultural issues, that arose because of their childhood. The devastating event that was the ‘Stolen Generations’, had major short term and long term effects on the indigenous people, both emotionally, socially …show more content…
Listening to testimonies of people that lived through the time of the ‘Stolen Generations’ helps to get a view on what it was really like to be taken from their own family. This extract from Deborah Hocking’s ‘Stolen Generation’ testimonial details what it was like for her in the years after being taken. “Over the years there was so many questions...Then school time came and I got teased... I desperately wanted to see my family, of course, naturally I would... They weren’t my family, that I knew... Gastly foster homes, I was desperately lonely and wanted my mum... There was no allowance of any contact at all, there was deliberate separation and I guess, stripping of identity...”
Children of the ‘Stolen Generation’ were not properly informed on why they were being taken all of a sudden, they didn’t understand. For all they knew they were just normal children except for the difference that their skin was a different colour. They were confused as to why they did not call their care takers mum and dad, like other children. Other children redirected their confusion and anger into getting into trouble, as stated by Howard Edwards in his ‘Stolen Generation’ testimonial when reflecting on his own childhood and