The stolen generations
“They used to belt them till they was knocked out, that’s how cruel they was.” – Personal testimony, Ruth Mackenzie. Ruth Mackenzie was one of the roughly estimated 6200 aboriginal children to be taken from their home in the stolen generations period. Mackenzie was one of the children the authorities targeted as she was of mixed decent, the government believed that children of mixed decent would be easier to assimilate into the “white” society. Many of the facts of what happened during the stolen generation period (ca. 1890 – 1970.) are not clear, as not much of it was recorded and what was recorded was attempted destroyed. However, many testimonies have been made by the stolen children. So what exactly did happen to them?

To begin I think it is necessary to explain what the stolen generations mean. The stolen generations refer to period between 1890 and 1970 when aboriginal children were forcefully taken away from their families. The goal of this was that the aboriginal culture and people would die out, and since the culture is passed on from generation to generation taking the aboriginal children away was also taken away the aboriginals future. The children were normally either sent to institutions or white farms and households, what occurred in these places is hard to imagine. …show more content…
These children were also not allowed to see their parents, and were often completely separated from their siblings. It is tough enough for a child or adolescent to be separated from their culture and home, but that was only one of the violations of their rights that were made. In a report it was estimated that around 10% of the stolen generations children sent to institutions were sexually abused, and that 20% of children in a “white” household were both mentally and physically