Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence - Doris Pilkington

Nugi Garimara is Doris Pilkington’s Aboriginal name. She was born on Balfour Downs Station in the East Pilbara. 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.

At eighteen, Doris left the mission system as the first of its members to qualify for the Royal Perth Hospital’s nursing aide training program. Following marriage and a family, she studied journalism and worked in film/video production.
Caprice: A Stockman’s Daughter,
originally published in 1991, is her first book and won the 1990 David Unaipon National Award.
Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence
was first published in 1996, and was released internationally in 2002 as the film ‘Rabbit-Proof Fence,’ directed by Phillip Noyce. Doris’s own story is told in
Under the Wintamarra Tree
(UQP, 2002). In 2002 she was appointed Co-Patron of State and Federal Sorry Day Committees’ Journey of Healing.

“An adventure of great cleverness and courage. To take the journey is to understand something of the scars on the Australian soul.”

“A vividly told story about cultural arrogance, cruelty and courage.”

“This book is almost unbearable to read, and yet is still compulsive.”

“Uncontrived and unadorned, Pilkington’s story is genuinely moving.”

“It’s about the importance of love. About having a heart. About the real people behind the policies and statistics. It’s about giving them names, telling their stories. That’s what Doris Pilkington Garimara had in mind when she wrote down the story of her mother Molly on which the film is based.”

“A lot of people still don’t quite understand the emotions, such as the traumas that one experiences when they are taken away from their parents—the separation and the injustice that occurred back in the 1930s. People who watch this movie will walk away changed more than they may realise.”

“I hope the film will encourage us to reclaim that part of our history for ourselves. It’s only by coming to terms with the past, that you can go ahead into the future.”

“I could not have written the script without Doris. Without her, it would have been a real outsider’s view.”

“Sorry, Molly. Sorry, Daisy. Sorry that a book and a movie, inspired by injustice and your bravery, have taken so long to be acknowledged.”

I gratefully acknowledge my mother and my aunt for sharing this story with me, and the Aboriginal Arts Board for making it possible for me to publish their experience. To those who have advised and supported me in this project, I extend my thanks and appreciation. Special acknowledgments go to Keith Chesson; Jenny Clark, librarian, Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority; Duncan Graham; Jude Allen, Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM); and Harry Taylor, Information Research Officer, Adoptions Branch, Department of Community Services.

Map revised 2002

The trek back home to Jigalong in the north-west of Western Australia from the Moore River Native Settlement just north of Perth was not only a historical event, it was also one of the most incredible feats imaginable, undertaken by three Aboriginal girls in the 1930s.

The two surviving members of the trio, my mother and her sister Daisy, are now in their late sixties and seventies and are anxious for their story to be published before they die. They refer to their sister Grace in the interviews simply as “the sister we lose ’em in Geraldton” or “your Aunty”. This is the custom in traditional Aboriginal communities where the name of a person is never mentioned after their death. Anyone with the same name is referred to as gurnmanu which means “what’s his name”, or have Nguberu substituted for their given names. For example, Adam Thomas would be addressed as Nguberu Thomas following the death of another man named Adam.

The task of reconstructing the trek home from the settlement has been both an exhausting and an interesting experience. One needed to have a vivid imagination, the patience of many saints and the determination to succeed despite the odds. Molly, Daisy and Gracie were outside familiar territory so I found it necessary to become a ten-year-old girl again in order to draw on my own childhood memories of the countryside surrounding the settlement. In my mind I walked the same paths and called on my skills as a writer to describe the scenery and how it looked through their eyes. By combining my imagination and the information from records of geographical and botanical explorations undertaken in the area during the early 1900s and later, I was able to build a clearer picture of the vegetation and landscape through which the girls trekked.

There were so many other factors that had to be taken into consideration when telling their story. First, how was I going to reconstruct a landscape which had either changed considerably or disappeared completely. At the time of the event much of the terrain was uncleared virgin bush, a strange, scary wilderness to these three girls who came from the desert regions of Western Australia. In addition to this, there were no major highways linking the towns that were scattered in the country north-east of Perth. Molly, Gracie and Daisy passed through parts of the country that changed every 15 or 20 kilometres, with each change of scenery bringing more tension as food and sustenance became harder to procure. In my mind I actually walked beside them, from the moment they left the girls’ dormitory at the settlement all the way home to Jigalong.

Age presented no problem for my mother and aunty. Their minds were sharp and they had no difficulty recounting their experiences along the way, however, I realise that consideration must be given to the time lapse since they were young at the time, and to allow for patches of dimmed memories and sketchy reflections. Another fact I completely overlooked until the interviews began was their illiteracy. This, combined with their lack of numeracy skills, made it impossible to establish measurements accurately. Numbers, dates, in fact mathematics of any kind, have little or no relevance in our traditional Aboriginal society. Nature was their social calendar, everything was measured by events and incidents affected by seasonal changes. For example, summer is pink-eye time when eye problems brought on by the heat, dust and flies flare up. This was the period when station workers took their annual holidays. Pink-eye time was the common term used for weekends and days off from normal duties on the stations in the Pilbara region. The winter or rainy season is yalta or galyu time. Similarly the days of the week were named according to which domestic duties were carried out on: Monday was referred to as washing day, Tuesday was ironing day, Wednesday was mending day, and so on.

Time was also marked by activities of cultural and ceremonial significance. For example, the people in Jigalong and the Gibson Desert regions use a specific event or incident when telling stories. Their stories, whether they be oral history or anecdotes, do not begin in the same way as Western stories: “I remember clearly it was during the Christmas holidays in 1968 when...”, and so on. Rather the speaker will remind the listeners that, “It was galyu time. Galyu everywhere, all the roads were cut off...” Or, “It was Ngulungga time when we had that big meeting”. The listeners know that this was the time when traditional rites and rituals were performed. So in these communities time is based on practical events, incidents and seasons.

When recounting the long walk home, Aunty Daisy mentioned how they chased emu chicks at the Nannine railway siding south of Meekatharra. She described how the chicks were striped in black and white. By combining research and personal observation I was able to establish that the chicks must have been a certain age and so it would have been either late August or September.

Seasonal time and not numbers is important in recounting this journey. Consistent with Aboriginal storytelling style, seasonal time and the features of the natural environment are more important to recounting this journey than are the western notions of time and distance. I have though worked to synthesise these different forms of knowledge to give readers the fullest insight into this historic journey.

This journey took place when there were no highways or sealed roads criss-crossing the continent, only gravel roads or more often, dirt tracks and trails made by carts, sulkies and light, early model cars. The girls avoided these routes, especially where the rabbit-proof fence came near towns such as Sandstone. Walking along the tracks and trails, the girls knew that they would have been too exposed to the white population and their whereabouts would have been immediately reported to the local police.

Molly, Gracie and Daisy came from a remote community in the north-west of Western Australia where the white population tended to stick tightly together, and maintained contact by pedal wireless, telephone and mail. Aware of this the girls aimed to pass by silently and swiftly without being detected and to reach home as fast as they could.

1

It was still very cool in the early summer morning; the fresh, clean air he breathed into his lungs felt good. He stood up and stretched his arms above his head then dropped them to his side. He was the first to rise. This was not unusual, Kundilla always woke before anyone else and this morning was no different from any other. He looked slowly around at the sleeping forms covered by warm, animal-skin blankets, lying outside their shelters made from branches and slabs of bark. There was no shortage of trees and shrubs around here, that is why this spot was chosen for the winter camp. Kundilla walked silently to perform his early morning rituals, away from the camp, which was situated in a clearing a hundred metres from the river. On his return he stopped along the banks of the river to pull up the fish traps he had set the previous evening. How peaceful it was, with the sounds of birds twittering high above, amid the leafy branches of the giant river gums, and the occasional splash of the fish in the river. Dawn was his favourite time of day. As the sun rose he could meditate and reflect on the events of the past few days but, more importantly, he could plan future activities without interruption and distraction.

Little did he know that soon devastation and desolation would shatter this tranquil environment; that this pristine forest would echo the anguished cries and the ceaseless weeping of thousands of people—his people—as they were tormented by foreigners and driven off their land.

His long, wavy, grey hair and thick white beard heightened his dignified appearance as he approached the camp carrying two fish traps filled with marrons and gilgies for his family’s breakfast. He had power and strength which commanded respect.

Kundilla was satisfied with the results of yesterday’s annual scrub firing. This was a special time on the seasonal calendar when his family clans from far around would gather on their territory to set fire to areas of dense undergrowth to flush out any game, such as kangaroos and wallabies, that might be sheltering there. All the men waited in strategic places around the scrub as the animals dashed out in panic. Then they either speared or clubbed them to death. The animal pelts were made into warm cloaks as protection against the bitterly cold winter winds of the south west. The smaller skins were made into skin bags with fur lining the inside to be used for carrying babies and as all-purpose bags.

Kundilla had two wives, the senior wife, Ngingana, had already lit the fire to cook the first meal of the day when he returned. She raked the coals and ashes to one side then dropped the marrons and gilgies on them. When they were cooked she pulled them out with a long green stick and laid them on the gum leaves. As she dusted the ashes from the food she called for everyone to come and eat. This meal was washed down with the cool water drawn from the soak under the thick bullrushes that grew along the river bank. Kundilla’s second wife Mardina was breastfeeding their youngest child, Jalda.

Her two teenage sons, Wandani and Binmu, would soon be taken away to join several others who would leave the camp
as boys to go through the Law and return as men. She glanced proudly at her sons and felt a pang of sadness. To her they were still boys, surely one more summer wouldn’t make any difference. She was only their mother, the tribal elders had already made their decision and there was nothing she could do to change it. Mardina wiped the tears from her eyes then raised her head and continued to feed baby Jalda.

Kundilla’s three married sons and their families were camped to the right of them. Others camped nearby, forming a semicircle. There were about sixty people in the group and for the hunters and fishermen this was the place to be right now. Some had travelled for many days from outlying areas to join this group while the food supply was plentiful here. Kundilla had planned to move soon to the mouth of the river so that he and his family could feast on crayfish, crabs, seals and shellfish. They all looked forward to this annual trip to the coast.

After breakfast, Kundilla sat under the shade of a large eucalypt away from the camp and began checking his spears and fishing traps in preparation for the coastal trip. Behind him the sounds of normal, everyday camp life continued: mothers and grandmothers yelling orders to their offspring, children playing games, some fighting and squabbling, others delightedly splashing and diving in the pool. As he reached for the sharpening stone to hone a spear, an ominous sound reverberated through the forest. The peace and tranquility was shattered by a loud boom. Alarmed and frightened, the women snatched up their babies and toddlers and ran to the men.

“What was that?” the people asked their leader. Even the flocks of birds were squawking loudly as they sought refuge in the high canopy of the forest.

“I don’t know what that noise was or where it came from,” Kundilla replied. “But we will go down and find
out,” he assured them. He called all the adult men to him and they gathered by a tea-tree clump.

“They’re back. They’ve come to take away our women,” he said in a voice filled with passion, anxiety and fear.

“Yes, but what can we do to stop them?” asked Bunyun, his eldest son. “You know what happened the last time they came ashore.”

The men nodded as they recalled the incident; it happened to Bunyun’s Uncle Tumi and other members of his family who usually camped further along the beach, near the cove. They were shot by the white raiders when they tried to stop them from kidnapping the women. The family were still mourning their dead.

Kundilla and his family had heard how their brothers and uncles were killed by ruthless white pirates, desperados and escaped convicts. Those cruel and murderous men came ashore and stole Aboriginal women and kept them on board their ships as sexual slaves, then murdered them and tossed their bodies into the ocean when their services were no longer required. These renegades made up the crews of the American whaling ships who hunted for whales and seals on the southern coast of Western Australia. Although the brave Nyungar warriors fought gallantly and fearlessly, they were no match for the evil white invaders with their muskets, swords and pistols.

When the invaders encountered the Nyungar people of the Great Southern region, they were pleased to find friendly, hospitable people. At first, the Aboriginal men welcomed the sealers and whalers. They were very interested in the boats in which the crew had rowed ashore. Through sign language they managed to indicate that they were impressed with the timber structure and design of the boats. These unsuspecting men were invited to visit the beach camp of the white crew as a gesture of friendship and goodwill; the women stayed behind, out of sight of the strangers.

The Nyungar made it known to the sealers that they wanted to be taken to an island (now known as Green Island) to collect birds’ eggs. The request could not please the devious men more; it was just what they wanted. They readily agreed and took six men to the island and left them there, stranded without food or water. Meanwhile, they returned to the mainland and made a thorough search of the area beyond the sand dunes until they found the Aboriginal people’s camp and kidnapped six women who were taken back to the whaling ships where they were brutalised and later murdered.

The whalers and sealers soon realised that the Nyungar people respected and revered them because they believed that these white men were gengas. They set up camps along the coast from Kangaroo Island, along the Great Australian Bight and the shores of Western Australia at what was to be called King George Sound.

Major Edmund Lockyer with a detachment of eighteen soldiers from the 93rd Regiment and fifty convicts were sent to King George Sound (where Albany is now situated) by Governor Darling in New South Wales, to establish a military base. Their aim was to deter renegade convicts, whalers and sealers. They sailed in the brig
Amity
and had been anchored offshore in King George Sound for over a month. On a hot summer day in 1826, Major Lockyer and two of his officers went ashore and climbed the cliffs and explored the harbour. They were delighted with the beauty of the coastal region but were not impressed with the soil.

The loud boom that had startled the Nyungar people was a salute from an eighteen-pounder cannon by the soldiers as they raised the British flag, the Union Jack, for the first time on the shores of Western Australia.

When Kundilla and his three sons reached the coast they weren’t sure what to expect. As it was quite warm they decided to rest under the shade; it was here that Kundilla admitted to his sons that he was afraid. Suddenly, they
heard voices of men shouting loudly and yelling back and forth. Kundilla and his sons became alarmed. They clambered up the cliffs and hid behind the thick bushes on the rocky ledge. Lying on their stomachs they peered over the edge. They were not prepared for the sight that greeted them. They were confronted not with shouting, cruel men, but different men wearing strange scarlet jackets and others in white, coarse cotton suits. All these men were very pale. “Surely they must be gengas,” whispered Kundilla, as he moved closer to the edge of the cliff.

The strangers were speaking in a language the Aboriginal men hadn’t heard before. They all had the same pale skin but they had different coloured hair. Some had hair like the colour of dry grass and others like the biguda and some had dark hair like their own. The white men had set up a camp site and settled in.

Kundilla and his sons felt a chill pass over them when they saw the reason for the commotion on the beach below. Two Nyungar men were being escorted by four redcoats to a small boat that would take them out to the brig anchored in the harbour. Later they were surprised and pleased when their countrymen returned, unharmed, to shore.

“These strangers are not here to cause harm,” Kundilla said to his sons.

It seemed that the Nyungar men were only kept on board the
Amity
while Major Lockyer and a couple of the officers collected specimens of plants and soil, then they were released. When he realised that the strangers were not kidnappers and murderers, Kundilla decided to return to the camp and give an account of what happened on the coast. He would assure his people that the visitors would not endanger their lives.

The military outpost at Albany lasted five years, during which time the garrison and convicts began to suffer from
the effects of isolation, loneliness and boredom. Captain Lockyer felt that they didn’t really have the weapons to withstand an attack from the whalers and sealers; he and his men were too vulnerable. Eventually they returned to the growing lively city of Sydney leaving behind the tyranny of remote outpost living. Each day at Albany had been an ordeal for the Europeans, they were happy to see the last of the military post.