VATE Text Analysis Stolen by Jane Harrison

Stolen By Jane Harrison

Teaching notes prepared for VATE members by Anne-Louise Wilton

CONTENTS

1. Introduction to Stolen Page 1

2. Ways into the text Page 2

3. Running sheet Page 5

4. A perspective on the text Page 8

5. Character, style and setting Page 10

6. Guided analysis of selected passages and themes Page 14

7. Activities to explore the text Page 17

8. Appendix Page 21 - Handout 1 Page 21 - Handout 2 Page 22 - Handout 3 Page 23 - Handout 4 Page 24

Page numbers in these notes refer to Harrison, J. Stolen, Currency Press, 1998

VATE Purchasers may copy Inside Stories for classroom use Section 1. An introduction to Stolen

Set in a children’s home Stolen tells the story of five young Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families. The children: Anne, Shirley, Ruby, Sandy and Jimmy allow us into their lives and they share with the audience their personal and unique stories. Stolen shows the devastating impact that removal from their family and subsequent institutionalization has on each of the character’s lives.

Jane Harrison’s play was first produced in 1998 by the Ibijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative and Playbox Theatre Centre. The project began in 1992 and was initially called The Lost Children. Its name was changed when the Wilson-Dodson Bringing Them Home report was published in 1997.

The play begins with the characters as children and ends with them as adults finding their way ‘home’. The narratives are told in a non-linear manner as each character’s removal is interspersed with his or her later experiences. Jane Harrison has not written Stolen in a traditional way containing acts and scenes but rather as a series of episodes. Reading a non-linear narrative may prove to be a challenge for some VCE students as they deconstruct the plot and characters.

Without stories, the understanding of the policy of removal of aboriginal children from their families is likely to be too abstract and remote. It is these fragments of personal experience that fill out the picture of generations of separated children. Stolen by Jane Harrison is a moving theatrical experience, which will leave the audience with more understanding of this heart-wrenching chapter in our Australian story.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 2 Section 2. Ways into the text

Understanding the Context As hopeful as the ending may be, the journey of the characters is a story about loss, which can be discussed from historical, political and personal perspectives. The historical perspective

 Establishment of the racial attitudes and policies of the time is one way into the text. A viewing of the ABC series Frontier and use of the accompanying Inside Stories notes for this series (Ken Barbuto, 2000) could provide students with some background information about each of the following historic periods and policies.

White Australia Policy To promote a white Australia it was believed that part Aborigines had to be absorbed. State-run Aboriginal Protection or Welfare Boards controlled and supervised the lives of indigenous Australians from the early 1900’s until 1969. Government policy in all states of Australia advocated the removal of Aboriginal children from their families as it was believed this would disassociate them from their culture. These boards decided where indigenous people could live, who they might marry or have a relationship with, and where and how their children could be raised.

Protection Colonial governments saw Aboriginals not as people who had been colonised but as heathens to be converted and institutionalised. By the end of the nineteenth century, Australian states were introducing comprehensive ‘protection’ legislation which enabled extensive regulation over the lives of Aboriginal people. A central feature of the regulation of indigenous people was their segregation from non-Aboriginal society. Persons of part-descent as well as those of full-descent, were often rounded up and sent to missions, government stations and settlements on reserves, or were adopted or fostered by white families.

In the state of Victoria the following legislation was passed: - Aborigines Protection Act 1869. The Act created a Board that was given no specific duties under the Act. - Aborigines Protection Act 1886. This Act gave the board regulatory powers in respect of ‘half-castes’ and the power to issue rations, clothing and blankets. - These earlier acts were repealed with the Aborigines Act 1890, which gave wider regulatory powers concerning living, working, and education and provisioning for Aborigines and ‘half-castes’.

By 1911 all states and territories with the exception of Tasmania had passed some form of ‘protection’ legislation with an emphasis on segregation and restriction. The protection legislation remained intact for the first half of the twentieth century. The legislation was built on the assumption that Aboriginal people were a ‘dying race’. Darwin’s The Origin of Species had been published a decade earlier and policies reflected an acceptance of the doctrine, ‘survival of the fittest.’

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 3 Assimilation Officials who administered the assimilation policy quite commonly held the belief that the problem of the ‘half-castes’ was basically a matter of breeding different stock. However, in the 1920’s it was apparent that the Aboriginal race was not dying out but in was in fact being supplanted by the ‘half-caste’ population. The move towards this policy began in the late 1930’s but the actual introduction of assimilation policy was delayed until the end of WW11 in 1945.

At the 1961 Native Welfare Conference it was agreed that assimilation meant that all Aborigines and part-Aborigines were expected to attain the same manner of living as other Australians and to live as members of a single Australian community enjoying the same rights and privileges as other Australians. Legislation still remained restrictive even if there was a growing espousal of assimilation policy. For Aboriginal people to ‘fit in’ meant to stop being Aboriginal, thus the place of Aboriginal people was to be on the terms of non-Aboriginal people.

Integration In 1975, the Commonwealth passed an Act to make it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of individual characteristics, including race.

A Political Perspective

Aboriginal People and the Law Before the 1960’s the right of Aboriginal people to vote in elections varied from one state to another. The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1949 only allowed Aboriginal people the right to vote in national elections if they were enrolled in state elections or had been members of the defense force. Aboriginal people in Victoria did have the right to vote.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 withdrew the requirement of enrolment in state elections, thus giving Aboriginal people the right to vote in federal elections irrespective of their state of residence.

In 1967 a national referendum altered the Australian Constitution giving the Commonwealth, rather than the states, power to make laws relating to Aboriginal people. In addition the Aboriginal people were now to be counted in the national census.

The Bringing Them Home report written by Ronald Wilson in 1997 showed the rationale behind the removals was an attempt to indoctrinate aboriginal children. They were to think, act and behave as whites and by this means Aboriginality was to be bred out.

This report is available on the web: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/rsjproject/rsjlibrary/heroc/stolen

Source: Cunneen C and Libesman T (1995) Indigenous People and The Law, Butterworths, Adelaide,Australia.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 4 Three key political issues raised in Stolen are: - The sorry issue and reconciliation. - The question of reparations. - The question of cultural genocide. Information relevant to each of these issues can be found at The Age website: http://www.theage.com.au/issues/aboriginal.index.html

 Selected articles could be the basis for class discussion in preparation for reading the play.

The Personal Perspective

Writing stories is political because it is a way of informing people about how people live. The stories that are presented show how the Aboriginal people existed under this government policy and provide another way of thinking about this very political issue. To sensitise students to the personal issues involved:

 In class read and discuss other personal stories on the Aboriginal experience. - For example, selected stories in the collection : Weller, A. Going Home and the Inside Stories notes on this text (Mary Weaven, 2000) - Read the lyrics the Archie Roach’s songs ‘Took the Children Away’ and ‘Mother’s Hearbeat’ refer to Handouts number 1 and 2, (pp. 22- 23). - Read about Archie Roach’s life story in an article on the internet titled ‘Of White Lies and Stolen Lives’ http://www:/home.vicnet.net.au/~aar/stolen. - Read the picture books The Burnt Stick by Anthony Hill, Penguin, 1994 with Down the Hole, Up the Tree, Across the Sandhills: running away from the state and Daisy Bates by E.Williams, Jukurrpa, 2000. - Read a novel about Donna Meehan’s perspective in her autobiography It is no Secret -  View the following documentaries: Cry from the Heart SBS 25/5/00 50minutes Stolen Generations SBS 27/5/00 50minutes

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 5 Section 3. Running sheet

PAGE/S CONTENT

1 Arriving The actors arrive on the stage each holding a suitcase. They slip into their characters as children. They talk about home and family.

1 and 2 Adult Flashes In this episode the characters are adults. Ruby’s home is a mental institution. Anne is living on her own. Jimmy is in prison. Sandy carries his home with him. Shirley is knitting for her grandchildren.

3 and 4 Hiding Sandy A flashback to Sandy’s childhood shows the desperation of his mother to protect her ‘half-caste’ son from being taken by the Welfare people

4 and 5 It Rained The Day. A flashback to Shirley and Jimmy’s childhood. Sandy is being taken by the Welfare people.

5 and 6 Line-Up 1 The children are forced to line-up from lightest to darkest and ‘sell’ themselves so they will be taken ‘home’ for the weekend.

6 and 7 The Chosen Anne is adopted.

7 and 8 Jimmy Being Jimmy steals apples. Naughty

8 and 9 Unspoken Abuse Ruby has been sexually abused.

9 It Rained the Day Shirley’s son is taken away.

9 and 10 Ruby Comforting Ruby mimics her sexual abuse with a doll. Her Baby.

10 and 11 Sandy’s Story of the A fictional dreamtime story that shows the Mange boogieman as white.

11-13 Your Mum’s Dead The Matron lies when she tells Jimmy that his mother is dead.

13 Line-Up 2 Ruby reluctantly lines up because she feels her shame exposed. Jimmy is still desperate to be selected.

13 and 14 Anne’s Told She’s Anne’s adopted parents decide to tell her that she’s Aboriginal an Aborigine and that her biological mother wants to see her because she is dying.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 6 15 Unspoken Abuse Ruby is sexually abused again.

15 and 16 Your Mum’s Dead Jimmy’s mother writes a letter telling him that his father is ill. Jimmy never receives the letter because it is filed away.

16 To Tan or Not to Anne feels torn about whether she should see her Tan real mother.

17 Shirley’s Memories Shirley is stolen

17 Line-Up Age Twelve Jimmy is selected.

17-19 Cleaning Routine 2 The children learn that they will never have any position of economic power.

19 Shirley Knits for Shirley is knitting for her two children even though Her Family she does not know where they are, because they too were stolen.

19-20 A Can of Peas The Welfare people take Sandy because his mother has a can of peas ‘past their use-by-date’ in the back of her cupboard.

20 Jimmy’s Being Jimmy is stealing again Naughty Again

20-21 Line-Up 3 Jimmy is selected and taken for the weekend.

21-22 Shirley Never Shirley is searching for her son Lionel twenty-seven Gives Up Searching years later.

22-23 Desert Sands Aboriginal women stick sand into their vaginas to stop white men raping them.

23 Unspoken Abuse 3 Jimmy is sexually abused.

24-25 Ruby’s Descent Ruby suffers a nervous breakdown. into Madness

25-26 Sandy’s Life on Sandy spends his life travelling, after leaving the the Road nursing home.

26-28 Jimmy’s Story Jimmy leaves his prison cell and takes off aimlessly. He learns that his mother is alive.

28-29 Am I Black Anne meets her real mother or White?

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 7 29-30 What Do You Do? Jimmy and his mother express their fears and insecurities about meeting after being separated for twenty-six years.

30-31 Ruby’s Family Ruby’s real parents come to meet her in the Come to Visit institution for the mentally ill.

31-32 Sandy Revisits Sandy finds the children’s home being renovated the Children’s into a new apartment block. Home 32-33 Racist Insult Jimmy’s mother dies before he gets to meet her. He hangs himself in his prison cell.

34 Anne’s Scene After meeting her Aboriginal family she is not sure where she belongs.

35 Shirley’s Come Shirley meets daughter and her grandchild. She Full Circle vows she is never going to let them go!

35-36 Sandy at the End of Home for Sandy is the desert – the place where the the Road story began many centuries ago.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 8 Section 4. A perspective on the text

From the late 1880s until 1969, as part of their protection and assimilation policies, state governments took Aboriginal children away from their communities. Such children were either placed into government-run institutions or adopted or fostered by white families. In 1997 a report entitled Bringing Them Home showed the harmful physical, psychological and social effects that this policy had on Aboriginal children and their families. Until this report, Aboriginal peoples’ experience of these policies had been silenced.

Stolen by Jane Harrison is about five half-caste Aboriginal children who were removed from their families and placed in a children’s home. As the characters, Anne, Ruby, Shirley, Jimmy and Sandy, tell their stories they show that there is more to being stolen than the physical act. Jimmy’s admission, “I’ve been a thief but I’ve never stolen anyone’s soul”, (p.34) is heartbreaking and morally challenging because it confronts the audience with the traumatic effects that his removal had on an individual whose punishment was a life sentence.

It is the silence at all levels of society that raises the most confronting questions about this government policy. Were the principles of this policy so rigidly fixed that when the choice had to be made between saving a child, and/or maintaining the integrity of a system, the system would be given priority over the needs of the child?

The indigenous people who suffered at the expense of this policy know that loss is a poignant reminder of the fragility of life. The action that each character took either to protect the children from being removed or to be reunited with their family demonstrates the strength of family ties within indigenous communities. When the Welfare people came to remove Sandy, his extended family tried to hide him. His aunt says, “I tried to pass him off as one of my mob but he was too pale.” (P.3.) This scene demonstrates that children were not just the concern of biological parents, but of the extended community. The removals silenced storytelling, which was the passing of cultural knowledge from one generation to another.

Life in an institution, which is governed by rules, order and discipline, is an unforgiving world in which to raise a child. The line-up episodes where the children stand in order from lightest to darkest and sell themselves reinforce the dehumanizing nature of this environment. It is later when Ruby and Jimmy return from their weekend visits to white people’s homes that the audience learns that they were sexually abused. Ruby, when asked by the children, “What else did ya do?” replies, “I promised not to tell.” (P.8.) Similarly when the children ask Jimmy, “What did he do to ya?” he cannot speak because he promised not to tell and simply hangs his head in shame. (P.23.) Who should feel shamed by this incident? Did the political bureaucrats feel ashamed? Did the abuser feel ashamed?

The unspoken abuse episodes are a tragedy because two innocent lives are stolen and paralyzed by shame forever; Ruby is committed to an institution for the mentally ill and Jimmy dies in custody. Whilst it has been argued that we cannot judge past policies and practices by contemporary standards one finds the Matron’s silence on this issue most

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 9 confronting. Did she suspect that the children were being abused? Given the assumption that she did why did, she continue to let the children leave the home for the weekend?

A theme that weaves a thread through the individual and collective stories of the characters in Stolen is society’s feeling of cultural superiority towards the indigenous people. A poignant symbol of this attitude is reflected in the filing cabinet. The way it was used highlights the fact that the indigenous people were viewed as files that could put away. They were not considered to be humans who wanted to be loved by those who were closest to them. The Matron tells Jimmy that his mother is dead and to “Just forget her.” (p.12) Yet the audience knows that his mother is writing him letters which are being filed away. The final letter he wrote in custody was also filed. Why didn’t white society show some human warmth or compassion to the most basic of human needs? Did members of white society truly think that Aboriginals were so different, biologically and culturally, that they didn’t feel emotions of loneliness and sadness? It was heartening to witness Sandy return to the home, open the cabinet, and slam the cabinet shut because at least for him, that part of his story was over.

The view of indigenous people and their culture as inferior is highlighted in the episode when Anne’s adoptive parents tell her that her biological mother is alive and that she’s “ -Aboriginal?” (P.14.) Anne’s adoptive parents feel “the shame”, (p.14) of her cultural background. In this confrontation we see the mother and father support one another while Anne, isolated and alone begins to question her understanding of who she is. Anne’s parents’ attitudes mirror many of those in society at the time who thought that they were giving an Aboriginal child a “good upbringing”. (P.7.)

Stolen does not provide a quick-fix solution to the problems of its characters and in fact raises more questions than it answers. What was the intention of the government policy, which took ‘half-caste’ Aboriginal children from their cultural environment? Are these characters’ stories representative of others who were stolen? Does this policy contravene the United Nations Convention of Human Rights? Was the policy of taking the children a subversive attempt at genocide? Can we retrospectively judge the action by contemporary standards and policies? Where do we go to from here in terms of reconciliation?

Jane Harrison shows the devastating effects of removing Aboriginal children from their families and placing them in an institution where they did not belong. Neglected, abused and silenced, Anne, Ruby, Shirley, Jimmy and Sandy all eventually find their way ‘home’. The shame of this policy was that children incapable of protecting themselves had to cope with physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual loss of innocence. Yet in the end Stolen is a celebration of the strength of the human spirit and the individual’s capacity for survival.

Stolen shows that voicing our individual stories, no matter how painful, is a necessary part of the healing process. It is through sharing their stories that the characters ensure we do not reinforce a second silence in the present and as a nation it moves us one step closer towards reconciliation. Jane Harrison’s play Stolen shows that when one person suffers we are all wounded and diminished and that the well-being of our society is the measure of our collective Australian identity.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 10 Section 5. Character, style and setting

The characters’ journeys, as represented by their suitcases, show the audience that whenever one moves either by force or voluntarily, one carries the knapsack of self. And the self is a ragbag of genes and habits, a little knowledge, a memory of other times. For some, as for these characters, the past is a heavy burden that limits freedom and expression. Whilst each story in Stolen is unique, the themes of identity, cultural superiority and inferiority, one’s sense of place, and, finally hope and reunion, link the characters’ experiences on their journeys.

Jimmy is a lost and lonely boy who desperately wants to be reunited with his mother who loves him. During his periods of institutionalization he experiences emotional and physical abuse which has a devastating effect on his sense of self-worth. Jimmy’s journey leads him back home where he learns that his mother is alive. Tragically, fate intervenes and she dies before they are reunited. When he learns of her death he hangs himself in custody.

 Jimmy’s story is a damning indictment of the way white society treated Aboriginal children. Find examples in the play that support this statement.

 Jimmy is a victim of circumstances beyond his control. Do you agree or disagree? Find examples from the play to support your point of view.

 How do you interpret Jimmy’s death? Is it a tragic waste or a hopeful end to his life?

Sandy is removed from a carefree childhood, spent with an extended family, on the land where he feels a sense of belonging. The Welfare people decide his mother is unfit to raise her children because at the back of the cupboard she has a can of peas which are past the use-by-date. The severity of this judgment, relating standards of house-keeping to maternal capability, might well strike a chord with the audience.

Sandy’s journey is spent on the run as he searches for a place to call home. Despite never being reunited with his family Sandy finds peace and realizes that like the earth, he has the power to heal himself and that no one can take his home again, because he carries it with him.

 What does Sandy mean when he states, “I carry my home with me”? (P.1.)

 What is the message that Sandy shares when he tells the fictional Dreamtime story of the Mungee?

 Whilst on the run Sandy, shares his story with a white lady who feels sorry for him and hands him a twenty dollar note. Why does she do this?

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 11  The end of Sandy’s journey leaves the audience feeling a sense of hope because he shows us that you can’t steal what belongs to eternity. Do you agree with this interpretation?

Shirley

Shirley is a stolen child, and later a mother who has her own children, Kate and Lionel, stolen. Finally she is a grandmother whose family is reunited. She knits to numb the excruciating pain of losing her children, which she has carried for twenty-five years. Shirley knows how fragile one’s hold on life can be, yet, despite this, she is optimistic about the future.

 Shirley says, “They say time heals – but that’s a load of bullshit – if you’ll pardon my language.” (p.35) To what extent to you agree with Shirley’s opinion?

 Read Helen Barnacle’s story, entitled Don’t Let Her See Me Cry, about parting with her four-year-old daughter when she was in Fairlea Women’s Prison. What do the stories show about the biological bond between a mother and a child?

Anne is adopted by couple who feel they are ‘saving’ her from the degradation of Aboriginal culture. The raise her as their own daughter until they are forced to reveal that her Aboriginal mother is ill. This places Anne in a quandary because it is the first time that she has been told that she is of Aboriginal origin. This knowledge raises many complex questions about her identity. The problems are not resolved with a quick fix, neat, happy ‘Hollywood ending’. Rather the audience is left wondering how she will mesh the two worlds together given her upbringing.

What stereotyped images of Aboriginals does Anne share with the audience?

 Whilst Anne expressed anger at her white adoptive parents she never expressed anger at her Aboriginal family for her removal. Do you think this is a typical response of children in similar situations?

 It has been stated that ‘ignorance is bliss’. Do you think Anne’s adoptive parents did the ‘right’ thing telling her about her Aboriginal mother given the conflict that it caused between them, within Anne, and most probably between Anne and her Aboriginal family?

Ruby’s innocence is stolen from her when she is sexually abused. As a result of her tortured experience, cruel and degrading voices reverberate in her head. Whilst Ruby is reunited with her Aboriginal family, the audience feels that there is little chance that this reunion will help the healing process.

 Reread her descent into madness on p.24, and the episode where she is reunited with her family on pp. 30-31. Do you think Ruby will ever find her way home from the mental pain and suffering that she experiences?

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 12  Both Ruby and Anne are given a doll. Why was each girl given a doll? What does a white doll with white hair symbolize? What does this show about white people’s attitudes towards the children?

 Whilst all the characters suffered it could be argued that Jimmy and Ruby suffered the most. Do you agree or disagree with this interpretation?

 Using the Inspirations software package, write a summary of the plot and complete a profile on each of the main characters. Select relevant quotes to support your ideas.

Setting

The director and designer have approached the setting in a minimalist way. Five old iron institutional beds represent their characters’ lives at different periods of time. Anne’s bed is prettier because wealthy white parents adopt her; Jimmy’s bed is turned around showing us that he has spent time in custody. Images in black and white, which cast shadows over the set, are symbolic of the shadows in each of the character’s lives.

Props The characters carry a suitcase with their life’s belongings The white, clean room highlights that the characters can’t hide or breathe in this environment which simultaneously sealed them in, and tore them apart. The broom is a symbol of domestic servitude The filing cabinet shows the repression that each of them suffered.

 Read Handout Number 4 Is That You Ruthie? By Ruth Hegarty pp.134 – 137. This short extract highlights the control that the filing cabinet had over each of the character’s lives.

Style and Language

The style of the play is direct and simple. There are very few stage directions. Stolen lacks any clear structure in terms of plot or character development. It is rather themes that link the episodes.

 Initially, the play was to be titled The Lost Generation but was changed after The Bringing Them Home report was published in 1997. What different images does the term lost in comparison to stolen conjure in the reader’s and the audience’s mind?

 List the derogatory terms in the play associated with Aboriginal people. What effect did this language have on their development as individuals?

 Anne states in the episode Am I Black or White? “You know nothing about being a Koori”. (p.29.) Why is this word only used once? Why is Koori selected and not Aboriginal person?

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 13  To develop a visual understanding of the images used on the projected slides refer to: MacDonald Rowena (1995) Between Two Worlds IAD Press Northern Territory Australia Or Visit the Melbourne Museum at the Exhibition Buildings

 For a further discussion with the director, playwright and designer, Background notes are available from the Playbox for a minimal cost.

 Stolen is returning to the Playbox Theatre at the Malthouse for another season in 2002.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 14 Section 6. A guided approach to analysing selected passages and themes

Aboriginal Identity

Jimmy: “I’ve been a thug and a thief – but I’ve never stolen anyone’s soul.” (P.34.)

Removal has had devastating effects on Aboriginal communities because the people’s sense of self is totally bound up with kinship. In Aboriginal society the family unit is very large and extended, often with ties to the community. Breaking down the family unit has created many emotional, mental and physical problems. It also impeded intellectual development.

 Define the term identity and discuss the different aspects that contribute to one’s sense of identity.

 Find examples in the text that show that the strength of Aboriginal identity is inexorably tied up with belonging to a community.

 Stolen shows the reader that you have to know where you come from to know where you are going. Discuss

 Read in more depth about indigenous families on the internet at the following website: http://dreamtime.net.au/indigenous/family.com

A Sense of Place

Sandy: “Back to me place. That bit of red desert. I still remember it. The sand must have seeped into my brain.” (P.36.)

Stolen shows that despite some of the physical characteristics that distinguish the characters from one another they all felt a spiritual tie with the land. It also shows how removing them from the land took the spirit out of the character’s life. Added to this, human contact was always authoritarian in the institutions where the children were placed. Is it any wonder that they failed to grow?

The Land  Reread the episode ‘Desert Sands’, (pp.22-23.) What does this episode show about the importance of Sandy’s link to the land?

The Children’s Home  Re-read the episodes ‘Cleaning Routine’, (pp.17-18) and ‘Unspoken Abuse 3’ and ‘Ruby’s Descent into Madness’, (pp.23-24.) What do these episodes shows about how the children were conditioned to think?

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 15  Peter Read, in his text, A rape of the soul so profound, reports the outcomes of ten case histories he examined. It reveals that each person removed declined catastrophically in both personality and intelligence. Refer to Handout Number 3, (p.23), for a copy of the comments drawn from school reports and superintendents’ assessments.

 Shirley says, “Home is where the heart is.” To what extent is this demonstrated in the play?

Cultural Stereotypes and Cultural Superiority

Anne’s adopted parents: Father to the Mother: “We’ll give her the best of everything.” (P.7.) Anne: “I thought they’d live in the country or the outback or something. You know on the land.” (P.28.) White Voice: “Maybe ya just wanna get a cheap loan or handout.” (P.29.)

Stolen shows the stereotyped views of Aboriginal people that existed in society. It also shows that culturally stereotyping was not limited to white people. It is Jimmy who says “God I hope she’s (his mother) not real dirty or something.” (P.30.) It could be argued that public anxieties about the well-being of Aboriginal children at the time were subject to a cultural code of silence. Did people not speak out for fear of upsetting the status quo?

 Define the term cultural stereotype.

 Reread the episode ‘Racist Insult’, (p.32.) The real danger with this type of cultural stereotyping is that it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. Do you agree?

 Reread the episodes ‘Anne’s Told She’s Aboriginal’, (p.13) and ‘Am I Black or White?’ (P.28.)

 Find examples in the play that show how the policy of removal was meant to help Aboriginal children.

 Find examples in the play that show white people didn’t believe that the Aboriginal people had an inner life.

 Find examples in the play that show negative information about Aboriginal culture being given to the characters.

 It was argued that the policies were well intentioned. View “The Sunday Program” Channel 9, 9 April 2000. It shows the white person’s perspective of this policy.

 Why were white voices used to taunt the characters instead of real people?

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 16 Hope and Reconciliation

Sandy states, “I don’t have to hide. I’m going – home.” (P.36.) Stolen shows the strength of Aboriginal identity and the determination of the characters to return to their families. At the end of the play, all of the characters are reunited with their Aboriginal families. In one sense this could be seen as hopeful.

 Re-read the episodes ‘Sandy Revisits The Children’s Home’, (p.31) and ‘Shirley’s Come Full Circle’, (p.35.)

 We move on, we do not forget. Find examples within the play that shows this statement is an accurate summation of the character’s journeys.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 17 Section 7. Activities for exploring the text

Questions for discussion

 Discuss the front cover of the text. What aspects of the play does it suggest or reveal?

 Why has Jane Harrison written the play as series of episodes and not included acts and scenes?

 Where and when is the play set?

 What cultural stereotypes of indigenous people are presented in the play?

 Do you think Aboriginal mothers can grieve for their whole life for a lost child? Would an Aboriginal mother's loss be greater than another person’s loss? If so, why?

 Do you think there are any light-hearted or humorous moments in the play? Support your answer with reference to the text.

 Is it possible to force people to adopt the same values and believe the same things if we are to live in a cohesive society?

 What do you think Aboriginal people can offer by way of education to the non- Aboriginal community about the history of this country?

Further research, reading and viewing

 Research about Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories. http://dreamtime.net.au/indigenous.com

 Re-read Handout 4, (p.24.) After discussing the contents, research what life was like for Aborigines living in government institutions. You may like to research one or all of the following: - Kinchela - Cootamundra Girls Home

 Read or watch the film (to be released 2002) Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilikington - What does this book teach you about Aboriginal culture? - What similarities are there between the girls’ journey and the characters in Stolen? - Has reading this text and the play changed your views on Aborigines?

 Read the 1949 Universal Declarations of Human Rights.  How does Australian treatment of Aboriginals measure up against this declaration?

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 18 The Question of Genocide

 Could the policy of assimilation be considered genocide? If so, why? If not, why not?  Read Raymond Gaita’s ‘Genocide and the Stolen Generations’ found in A Common Humanity: Thinking about Love and Truth and Justice, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 1999, pp.131-155.  Further References: Haebich, Anna Broken Circles: fragmenting indigenous families 1800-2000 Freemantle Arts Centre Press, 2000. Read, P. A Rape of the Soul So Profound: the return of the stolen generations, Allen and Unwin, New South Wales, Australia, 1999.

 What are other people’s perspectives on The Bringing Them Home report? - Read the section title ‘Perspectives’, (pp.121-164) in Bird, Carmel, The Stolen Children and their Stories, Random House, New South Wales, Australia, 1998.

Creative Writing Tasks

 Jimmy, Ruby, Anne, Shirley and Sandy carry physical and emotional scars from their experience in the institution. Write a story titled either, ‘The things I carry’ or ‘I carry my home with me’.

 Write a narrative showing that the children’s families grieved as much as the stolen children.

 Imagine you were a stolen child and that you have contacted Link Up (a NSW organisation formed to help stolen children deal with their grief and/or to help them find their families.) Write a diary entry on your feelings about the possibility of meeting your family for the first time.

 You have been researching your family history and you have discovered that you have Aboriginal ancestors. What is your response? Write either a narrative or a diary entry exploring questions about your identity.

 You are a journalist and your task is to interview an indigenous person who was stolen. Write list of questions and record the person’s response.

 A sepia photo album was Shirley’s link to the past. Create an imaginary photo album and include a narrative beside each photo showing the progression of her life.

 For talented artists in the classroom. Read the picture books entitled The Burnt Stick by Anthony Hill, Penguin, 1994 and E. Williams, Down the Hole, Up the Tree, Across the Sandhills: running away from the state and Daisy Bates, Jukurrpa, 2000. Select one aspect of this topic and write and illustrate a picture book.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 19 Group Oral Presentations

 Select and dramatise an episode (or episodes) from the text.

 Monologue Analyse a character (not necessarily a major character), and give a perspective on the removal of Aboriginal children. For example, a student may choose to present Anne’s adoptive mother and father’s perspective of raising a ‘half-caste’ child.

 Informative presentation Using PowerPoint, present a brief outline of Aboriginal history making direct links to the experiences of the characters in the text. This presentation should make use of an informative voice-over as well as still photographs.

 Text presentation Re-read the episode, ‘Your mum’s dead’, (pp.11-13.) Dramatise this episode and use PowerPoint to present the ‘dreamin’ images that circle around their beds.

 Narrative on a theme Present an interpretation of the text by addressing (and acting out) important events in the narrative. Students should focus on a theme that ties related events together in the play, and explain changes that have occurred over time, and the reasons for such changes occurring.

 Developing an episode outside the scope of the play Write an episode (or series of episodes) depicting imagined conversations outside the action of the play. For example, dialogue between the Matron and Ruby’s caretakers for the weekend or a dialogue between the Welfare men as they arrive to take Sandy and his brothers and sisters.

 Debate or Speech ‘That there never was a generation of stolen children.’ Refer to The Education Age website: www.theage.com.au/issues/aboriginal.index.html

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 20 Topics for writing

 ‘ Stolen deals with each character’s struggle to be reunited with their ancestral identity.’ Are they successful?

 ‘ Lives governed by the same regimented policy affected us differently; however, what happened to one, happened to all of us.’ Discuss.

 ‘There is a lot of pain in having fingers and legs broken but it takes a lot longer to repair spirits and minds.’ Discuss.

 The characters are never victims as they triumph over adversity and inspire optimism and spirit. Do you agree?

 Jane Harrison stated, “What always impressed me was the lack of bitterness from the many survivors of these policies and I’ve tried to mirror that attitude in the play. Stolen is not about blame, it’s about understanding and acceptance.” Is this your view of Stolen?

 Stolen shows the effects of institutionalisation on an individual who is simply trained to obey and not treated as a person of flesh and blood. Discuss.

 ‘The shame is about never being regarded as someone’s daughter or son who had needs and dreams.’ Discuss.

 Stolen shows the disastrous consequences of the cruelty of severing the spiritual and biological link between mother and child. Discuss.

 Institutionalization teaches the characters learned helplessness. What is your opinion?

 A review of the play claims that Stolen is an evening of shame and sorrow and a desperate pleading for reconciliation between black and white. To what extent do you agree with this view?

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 21 Section 8. Appendix

Handout Number 1

The Archie Roach story has been well documented. A former homeless alcoholic, Archie Roach recorded his first record Charcoal Lane, in 1990 with Paul Kelly lending a hand. The album contained Took the Children Away, a song that dealt with Archie's past experience as one of what is now called the 'stolen generation' of Aboriginal people.

This story’s right, this story’s true Took us away I would not tell lies to you They took us away Like the promises they did not keep Snatched us from our mother’s breast And how they fenced us in like sheep Said it was for the best Said to us come take our hand Took us away Sent us off to mission land Taught us to read, to write and pray Told us what to do and say Then they took the children away Told us all the white man’s ways Then they split us up again Took the children away And gave us gifts to ease the pain The children away Sent us off to foster homes Snatched from their mother’s breast Said it was for the best As we grew we felt alone Took them away Cause we were aching white Yet feeling black The welfare and the policeman One sweet day all the children came back Said you’ve got to understand The children came back We’ll give to them what you can’t give The children came back Teach them how to really live Back where their hearts grow strong Teach them how to live they said Back where they all belong Humiliated them instead The children came back Taught them that and taught them this Said the children came back And others taught them prejudice The children came back Back where they understand You took the children away Back to their mother’s land The Children away The children came back Breaking their mother’s heart Tearing us all apart Back to their mother Took them away Back to their father Back to their sister One dark day on Framingham Back to their brother Came and didn’t give a damn Back to their people My mother cried “Go get their dad” Back to their land He came running fighting mad Mother’s tears were falling down All the children came back Dad shaped up, he stood his ground The children came back He said “You touch my kids and you fight The children came back me” Yes, I came back And they took us from our family

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 22 Handout Number 2

Archie's 1997 release, Looking for Butter Boy, sees him again explore musically his past. Mother's Heartbeat is a moving song about the stolen generation, which gives an insight into the depth of suffering experienced by so many Aboriginal Australians.

When I was inside my mother beating inside her womb her heartbeat kept me whole waiting inside my room in perfect time together her body loves me to sleep my mind, my body, my soul waiting through my darkest night there's nothing so sweet beating, it's my rhythm of life as my mother's heartbeat the sound of my mother's heartbeat my mother's heart was beating ah, my mother's heart is beating when I first touched the ground somewhere in this earth safe in my mother's keeping and at night while I lie there sleeping how I was safe and sound I'll dream sweet dreams of her ah, there's nothing so sweet for there's nothing so sweet as my as my mother's heartbeat heartbeat my mother's heart stopped beating one dark and dreadful day and all I heard was weeping the day I went away ah, there's nothing so sweet as my mother's heartbeat

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 23 Handout Number 3 Extract from “A Rape of the Soul So Profound” by Peter Read

Comments drawn from school reports and superintendents’ assessments (pp.173-174) Clem 1943: first in a class of six 1947: ‘a very good worker by himself’ 1953: convicted of assault and robbery

Elsie 1946: ‘good conduct’ 1947: encouraging school reports 1949: ‘very poor intelligence’, special abilities ‘nil’ 1950: ‘a very lazy worker and not clean’, ‘seems to be in a daze’

George 1941: ‘Trustworthy’, ‘very good’ 1944: ‘very dull’ 1946: ‘spends all his spare time on his bed reading and sleeping’

Norman 1944: ‘a good little boy’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘very bright’ 1950: ‘difficult’, ‘temperamental’, ‘very erratic’, ‘of doubtful morals and honesty’ 1952: of insufficient education even to join the army

Fred 1947: ‘satisfactory, developing along the right lines’ 1951: ‘very sullen disposition’, ‘most unhappy’

Claude 1946: ‘intellectually good’, ‘fair’ 7th in a class of 12 1950: ‘unsettled’ after running away to join his mother 1952: certified insane and placed in a mental hospital

Annie 1942: first in class, behaviour ‘very fair even good’, needs help, ‘wants to be a nurse’ 1943: ‘reasonably good’ 1949: ‘defiant, rude and untruthful’, legally uncontrollable

Irene 1945: did well in some subjects at school 1946: ‘good child’, ‘doing all right’, ‘good’ 1948: 8th out of a class of 21, although of ‘poor’ intelligence; ‘doing very well’, ‘a good willing girl’ 1950: accused of theft, ‘tantrums’, complained of loneliness 1952: ‘mentally retarded’, ‘should be examined by a mental expert’ 1962: ‘in and out of gaol, mostly for drunkenness’.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 24 Handout Number 4 Extract from Is That You Ruthie? by Ruth Hegarty pp. 135-137

In 1986 Joe died of cancer, it was then that I began to journey back to my roots, and find out what was happening to all my friends.

Every now and then one of them would say, “When are you going to write that book, Ruthie?” and I’d think about our lives in the dormitory. I felt that there had to be more information around, something written down, some official record of the dormitories. On the advice of my daughter, Moira, I went to the Department of Family Services in George Street hoping to discover some of the dormitory girls’ history. “No,” they said, “there’s no official history, no one expected you (Aboriginal people) to survive, so no one bothered to write a history . . . But we do have a file on you.” I was surprised, but apparently everyone who went through the dormitory system had a file. I was there that day with Cassie, my eldest daughter, and we waited patiently while they went off to find my file.

Finally they handed it to me and as I turned over the pages I saw the story of my life written in official letter-head, memorandums, letters, copies of travel permits and clothing dockets. I even found letters I’d sent to Gleny’s father, and one from him that I’d never received. There were the letters I’d sent to the Department of Native Affairs, and their letters to me and to various people I had worked over the years.

But I was horrified to discover they also had records of the awful interviews they put us dormitory girls through when we came back to Cherbourg pregnant. Nosey and demeaning questions about who we had been seeing and what we had been doing. It was disgusting; I did not want my children – or anyone else – seeing this. I remembered how humiliating it was, all those years ago, having to stand in front of the administrator while he asked those questions – very personal questions. You had to stand in front of his desk while he sat back in a comfortable chair and took notes. Many of the girls were put through this, and often they would say “yes” to anything to get the interview over and done with. To think that they had written it all down and put it in a file where it sat for nearly fifty years.

Afterwards, I thought how different my life might have been had Glenys’ father got to read those letters I sent him, or if I had read his. They wouldn’t let me have the letters, so I got copies of them for Glenys to read. But I wanted all those files to be destroyed, and I went in and told them so. But they wouldn’t destroy them. They don’t belong to me, they said, the files are the property of the Queensland government. But they told me I could put a waiver on my file or on some of it if I wanted to, so that no one else could ever see it, so I did.

Seeing that file there and all the information in it made me realise how much they controlled our lives. All the other dormitory girls would have similar files too, all stored away in this government department. How ironic it turned out to be – here was material I could use to help me write my book. But even with all this information, it would take me the phone call about Dulcie’s death to really get me started.

VATE Inside Stories Stolen 25