How are the three main girls referred to due to their mixed ethnic background?
The three girls were referred to as half-castes because they had mixed-parentage of aboriginal and white parents.
How are the homes for children explained/ described to Australian society?
The Moore River Native Settlement Homes were branded as re-education camps to help the half-castes. It was said the rehabilitation would improve their lives.
What was the purpose of the homes for children?
It was said that the children would be put there to grow, after which they would be sent off to white homes to work as laborers. They would marry whites which would help get rid of the aboriginal blood. According to Neville, the project was to help the ‘bush natives’ ‘from themselves’ (Rabbit-Proof Fence). They were to have them adopt a white culture, convert to Christianity and become assimilated into the white community.
What are some of the rules at Moore River?
The rules at Moore were extremely strict:
They were not allowed to speak their native language.
They were to be strictly disciplined, and anyone who broke the laid rules was isolated for two weeks (Rabbit-Proof Fence).
The sexes were separated.
People were put in dormitories which separated families (Rabbit-Proof Fence).
They were not allowed to leave the settlement and would be brought back by trackers.
Who tracks the girls?
The girls were tracked by Riggs and an Aboriginal tracker, Moodoo, having been ordered to do so by
How do they find their way?
They followed the rabbit-proof fence and walked along it to find their way home. They covered their tracks in to avoid being found and use their native instinct to move through the tough terrain.
What is the girls’ ultimate fate?
Gracie was recaptured by the authorities at the train station and was never seen again. Molly and Daisy went all the way home and reunited with their mother and grandmother. In the end, the film shows them as old grown women in real life.
Why do you think the Australian government did this? The real reasons?
The Australian government maintained that the camps were opened to help the Aboriginals to gain skills through training, and to protect their children from abuse and poor upbringing. It was deemed that the Aboriginal community would die off hence the push to protect the ‘half-castes’. However, this can be seen as purely racial segregation and an attempt to get rid of the Aboriginal’s lineage through assimilation and intermarriages. The whites were also in need of cheap labor from the Aboriginals and used the camps as a source of laborers. He whites also deemed the Aboriginals as inferior and backward in their culture, hence the need to re-educate them.
What do you think about this film?
The film is a well-told story about the reality in Australia. It is a good representation of the injustices that the Aboriginal population went through and depicts the inhumane white supremacy policies at the time. It shows how such rules broke the spirit of many generations and disregarded their fundamental human rights. The film is also a demonstration of the strength and the determination of a group to survive in the midst of oppression.
Works Cited
Rabbit-Proof Fence. Sydney: Phillip Noyce, 2002. video.
