On this Historic Australian day..

[littlegrohl]

I would like to say...

SORRY!

:hug:

 

[Cathie!]

Sorry for what?

OK just googled it...I see now.

 

[pure]

I just watched this on the news and have to say I'm glad that their (your) government has finally done this.

Cathie - the Australian gov't have apologized to the aboriginal families who had their children removed from them in order to bring them up 'white'!

 

[littlegrohl]

I just watched this on the news and have to say I'm glad that their (your) government has finally done this.

Cathie - the Australian gov't have apologized to the aboriginal families who had their children removed from them in order to bring them up 'white'!

Its about so much more then we will ever realise.. but one of the main focus of this day is the seperation of Aboriginal and torres strait islander children from their families.. i have added some quotes here that are worth a read.. but so many more i couldnt add as they are not fit for a public forum.. the "bringing them home" enquiry is one of the most dark, depressing, insperational reads i have ever experianced..


Broadly speaking there were two distinct periods in law and policy when Indigenous children were forcibly removed. The first was the period of segregation of `full bloods' for their `protection' and removal of `half-castes' for absorption. This period commenced as early as the mid-nineteenth century in eastern States.
Change came with the 1937 national conference at It was marked which the assimilation policy was adopted nationally. New legislation was introduced almost everywhere by 1940. These were gradually dismantled during the late 1950s and early 1960s and Indigenous children were transferred to the mainstream child welfare systems. However, the policy and practice of assimilation, including the transfer of Indigenous children into non-Indigenous families and institutions, continued into the 1970s. The transfer of Indigenous children continues to this day,

Y'know, I can remember we used to just talk lingo. [In the Home] they used to tell us not to talk that language, that it's devil's language. And they'd wash our mouths with soap. We sorta had to sit down with Bible language all the time. So it sorta wiped out all our language that we knew.​

Confidential evidence 170, South Australia: woman taken from her parents with her 3 sisters when the family, who worked and resided on a pastoral station, came into town to collect stores; placed at Umewarra Mission.​

When I first met my mother - when I was 14 - she wasn't what they said she was. They made her sound like she was stupid, you know, they made her sound so bad. And when I saw her she was so beautiful. Mum said, `My baby's been crying' and she walked into the room and she stood there and I walked into my - I walked into my mother and we hugged and this hot, hot rush just from the tip of my toes up to my head filled every part of my body - so hot. That was my first feeling of love and it only could come from my mum. I was so happy and that was the last time I got to see her. When my mum passed away I went to her funeral, which is stupid because I'm allowed to go see her at her funeral but I couldn't have that when she requested me. They wouldn't let me have her.​

Confidential evidence 139, Victoria: removed 1967; witness's mother died two years after their first and only meeting.

I've seen girls naked, strapped to chairs and whipped. We've all been through the locking up period, locked in dark rooms. I had a problem of fainting when I was growing up and I got belted every time I fainted and this is belted, not just on the hands or nothing. I've seen my sister dragged by the hair into those block rooms and belted because she's trying to protect me ... How could this be for my own good? Please tell me. ​

Confidential evidence 8, New South Wales: woman removed to Cootamundra Girls' Home in the 1940s.

The thing that hurts the most is that they didn't care about who they put us with. As long as it looked like they were doing their job, it just didn't matter. They put me with one family and the man of the house used to come down and use me whenever he wanted to ... Being raped over and over and there was no-one I could turn to. They were supposed to look after me and protect me, but no-one ever did.​

Confidential evidence 689, New South Wales: woman removed to Parramatta Girls' Home at the age of 13 in the 1960s and subsequently placed in domestic service.

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[dee]

god thats awful , the human race is a wierd one at best :cry:

 

[beautyseeker]

Hey I'm sorry too. My dad had an uncle, aunt and cousins who were £10 poms after the war. We have lost contact over the years, in fact I think they only heard from them a couple of times after they went, but it makes me feel conected. Britain was part of that whole aboriginal treatment too and should also apologise for its part.

Trish :hug:

 

[beautynails]

I posted this on Chel's blog but thought I'd put it here too.


There are so many people in this country whos' lives were ripped apart by this (I don't even know what to call it, it's so horrid).

Growing up I thought of something that had happened soooooooooo long ago. But about 10 years ago I heard a woman speak about when her sibling was taken.

There were several children, and they all ran off and hid, but this woman's sister was taken and they never saw her again.

This woman was of a similar age to my mother. Given that fair skinned children were often taken and trained to work in peoples houses, that could have easily been my mother.

The idea that a race can be bred out is an atrosity, and it's about time people admitted that instead of all the sugar coating and dismissal that has gone on for years.

My opinion of Kevin Rudd has been raised considerably today and I have been pleasantly supprised by other peoples reactions.

 

[nailzoo]

i find it odd that other countries that have invaded (then taken over) have never felt the need to apologise for anything.

Throughout time man and country have conquered and never felt the need to apologise.

It is very civilsed of the government to say sorry for something they had nothing to do with, just as I am not responsible for what my grandparents did.

 

[becki x]

Sometimes i am so ignornt to history,the ways of the world etc,maybe with age i'll learn ,but thankyou for sharing either way

 

[littlegrohl]

i find it odd that other countries that have invaded (then taken over) have never felt the need to apologise for anything.

Throughout time man and country have conquered and never felt the need to apologise.

It is very civilsed of the government to say sorry for something they had nothing to do with, just as I am not responsible for what my grandparents did.

No i get this argument.. but i am sure that if i ever met someone who was a victem of cruelty by any member of my family i would be sorry for the pain they had caused...
as far as the government are concerned well i feel they cannot take pride in say,

the outrages cost and monstrosity that is parliment house..
or even pride in their part of a wars that soldiers died in,

..all of which happened under past governments without also admitting and regreting.. even saying sorry, for the part that their countries government instigated and which caused generations of ruin.

as i said in my blog, its a personal thing as to whether anyone feels sorry.. no one should say it unless they mean it.. and in this case majority of the people were and did.. for that im very proud.

btw.. i quoted you only because its an argument i have had with my boyfriend.. (discussion really) ... i actually do get what you are saying.

 

[beautynails]

i find it odd that other countries that have invaded (then taken over) have never felt the need to apologise for anything.

Throughout time man and country have conquered and never felt the need to apologise.

It is very civilsed of the government to say sorry for something they had nothing to do with, just as I am not responsible for what my grandparents did.

I also get what you're saying, but I don't think it has as much to do with the apology as it is just a public aknowledgment. I think the refusal to say sorry is what actually made it so important. The fact that no one would come out in an official capacity and say, this happened..........it was wrong, caused resentment in alot of people.

 

[roLLerGirL]

I'm just glad that it's finished with. It's been said and at least everyone can move on - whether they agreed or disagreed.

Personally I don't think it was nessesary but at least the constant " he won't say sorry" reports (going back to Howard days) & then the "will the new PM say it?" reports in the media will cease - they were annoying.