Quiet dignity and strength radiated from the deep brown eyes of author Doris Pilkington as she stood before MSU students and faculty to share the struggles of her family Monday evening in the Union.
Students, faculty and community members began filling the conference room to hear the story of Pilkington's mother, Molly Craig, who escaped an Aborigine reservation in Australia and traveled more than 1,500 miles home on foot. Her story inspired Pilkington's book, "Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence," and the award-winning movie, "Rabbit-Proof Fence."
Speaking about Australia's "stolen generations," Pilkington explained the history of the treatment of the Aboriginal people.
"The (Australian) government had the grand idea of breeding out a race," Pilkington said. "The skin color, the features, the culture - everything about the Aborigines. It was a dismal failure."
Labeling children who were part Aborigine and part white "half-caste," the government took children away from their families and put them in the Moore River Native Settlement. At the settlement, children were not allowed to speak their native language and were forced to practice white culture.
The effects of the actions of the Australian government have been tragic for the Aboriginal people, Pilkington said, adding that families were torn apart.
Both Pilkington and her younger sister were separated from their mother at a very early age. Pilkington's younger sister was successfully convinced to believe she was an orphan and that she was white. Pilkington did not meet her mother or her sister until she was an adult, and said she is the product of "the stolen generation."
"What's happening is that many of the stolen generations didn't have role models and parents and have had dysfunctional homes," Pilkington said. "Traditional young boys would have gone through a rite of passage and learned to become leaders. Instead, many have become leaders of gangs."
The story of the Aboriginal people of Australia bears strong parallels and special importance to the experience of members of American Indian organizations on campus.
"The impact of families, the whole notion that thousands of people don't know who their parents are and where they came from - no one should have to suffer through those kinds of experiences in the modern world," said George Cornell, director of the Native American Institute and president of the MSU faculty American Indian Group EAGLE, which stands for Educating Anishnaabe: Giving, Learning, and Empowering.
Don Lyons, a member of the North American Indigenous Student Organization, said he was glad to hear the story of the Aboriginal people in Australia because the story was so similar to the history of the American Indians.
"It's important that people know Indigenous people are still here and have many concerns," Lyons said. "Personally, it's very important and very interesting to educate myself about not only the Indigenous people, but the Aborigine in Australia."
Pilkington has been traveling to universities across the United States to promote the movie since the beginning of February. She will head to Oregon, Utah and California before returning home for the funeral of her mother, the main figure of her book, who died in January. The author was traveling when she heard the news of her mother's death.
"It's been very overwhelming when someone so near and dear to me has been so respected," Pilkington said. "She took on the system and won."
