Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence

This is an extraordinary story of courage and faith. It is based on the actual experiences of three girls who fled from the repressive life of Moore River Native Settlement, following along the rabbit-proof fence back to their homelands.

Assimilationist policy deemed these girls should be taken from their kin and their land in order to be made white. Never having seen the ocean before, the three girls' experience of transportation by boat to the settlement was tormenting, but their torment was just beginning. Settlement life was unbearable with its chains and padlocks, barred windows, hard cold beds and horrible food. Solitary confinement was doled out as regular punishment. They were not even allowed to speak their language.

Of all the journeys made since white people set foot on Australian soil, the 1931 journey made by these girls born of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers speaks something to us all.

About the author:

Doris Pilkington's traditional name is Nugi Garimara. She was born in 1937 on Balfour Downs Station in the East Pilbara, homeland of her Mardu ancestors. As a toddler she was removed by authorities from her home at the station, along with her mother Molly Craig and baby sister Anna, and committed to Moore River Native Settlement. This was the same institution Molly had escaped from ten years previously, the account of which is told in Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence.