| Slide 1 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
STOLEN GENERATION
“Why me; why was I taken? It's like a hole in my heart that can never heal”
Fazil Cetiner
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| Slide 2 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
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| Slide 3 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Statement
Children who generally were born of white father and indigenous mother outside of marriage are called; half-descent, mixed-blood or half-caste.
Institution are places where the children received residential care; orphanage, church home etc.
Indigenous = Aboriginal + Torres Strait Islander People.
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| Slide 4 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Aboriginal
Torres Strait
Islander
Tasmania
Indigenous
Indigenous
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| Slide 5 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
What is The Stolen Generation?
Between 1910-1970.
An estimated 55.000 indigenous children.
Children were taken forcibly from their family because of “The Assimilation Policy”.
This social issue is called Stolen Generation or Child Removal.
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| Slide 6 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Reasons of the Child Removal
White Australia Policy:
* Australia should be a White
European country.
The Half-Caste Children issue:
*The Children should be merged into
European society.
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| Slide 7 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Legislation
“The Children Welfare Act” was legislated in 1909 and abolished 1969.
The Act gave power to the government agencies to take children without a court order and family permission.
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| Slide 8 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Children's Places
Orphanages
Church Homes
Adoptive families
Foster families
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| Slide 9 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Life in Institutions
Institutions were very poor.
* Sometimes at night they cried whit hunger.
Emotional, physical, sexual abuse were common.
Consequently they received a little education and they worked as cattlemen, farm workers and domestic servants.
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| Slide 10 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Their Losses
They forgot:
* Their languages, cultures, habits.
They lost:
* Their ties with their families and
communities
* Their rights of lands and identities.
* Their opportunities.
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| Slide 11 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Effects
Abuse and suffering caused many emotional, mental and physical health problems.
They had difficulties in relationships.
*Many of them couldn’t get married and lived alone.
Many of them were aggressive and offensive.
Crime and suicide rate was very high.
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| Slide 12 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
HREO Commission
100 Indigenous people committed suicide.
1990, Royal Commission was established.
1995, Human Rights Equal Opportunity Commission was established.
Sir Ronald Wilson presented the HEROC
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| Slide 13 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
National Inquiry
HREOC visited all states to collect submissions.
Inquiry took 17 months.
They prepared a 689 pages “National inquiry report”
The report is called “ Bringing Them Home”.
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| Slide 14 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Conclusion of the Report
Children had been removed forcibly.
The Child removal was systematic racial discrimination.
Child Removal was also genocide. *(International Human Rights)
* “Genocide is not only to destroy a group physically; destroying a group’ s culture, language and transferring them to an other group forcibly, is also genocide.”
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| Slide 15 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
National Sorry Day
On 26 May 1988 The Report was presented in
the Commonwealth Parliament. Since then
every year on May 26 has been commemorated
as a National Sorry Day.
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Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
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| Slide 17 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
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| Slide 18 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Children’s Experiences 1
“We were always told “When white people came, run into the bush and hide yourself”. If aboriginal group was taken unawares, our parents would stuff us into flour bags and we would pretend we weren’t there. We were told “not to sneeze”…. We didn’t know who white people were.”
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| Slide 19 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Children’s Experiences 2
A Indigenous girl was sent to work from orphanage to elsewhere at the age of 14.
“The day I left the orphanage that was a very sad day for me. I was very unhappy, there was nowhere to turn. You were on your own. With the hardships going and thinking of my sister and two brothers, because I had to leave them at the orphanage. I would never see them.”
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| Slide 20 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
Children’s Experiences 3
“I have visited the old lady four times in my life. When I saw her first time she was 86 years old and I was 60. We were sitting on the bench I said “ I am your son” and her eyes just sparkled then a second later she said “ No, you are not my son”. Well mate, she didn’t recognize me because the last time she saw me I was three years old.”
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| Slide 21 |
Oral Presentation, Fazil Cetiner.9.11.06
QUESTION TIME
Tell me grandfather:
Why…?
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