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y separately published work icon The Stolen Children : Their Stories anthology   autobiography   essay   poetry  
Issue Details: First known date: 1998... 1998 The Stolen Children : Their Stories
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'These stories rise out of the pain of separation and displacement. Showing hope and forgiveness, the writers give an insight into the strength of the human spirit. The Stolen Children - Their Stories is an acknowledgement of the human tragedy created during a misunderstood and shameful part of Australia's history. The Stolen Children - Their Stories includes a collection of documents and personal stories of Indigenous people that appear in the Report from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Bringing Them Home. Also in this collection are the reactions to the Report by political and community leaders.'

'This collection of stories and perspectives is redemptive. It is a step toward healing the suffering of the stolen generations and it urgently demonstrates the importance to every Australian of national compassion and a true spirit of reconciliation.' (Source: Back cover, Random House, 1998 edition)

Exhibitions

8931289
15517612

Notes

  • Including extracts from the Report of the National Inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families (appears on title page and cover)
  • Epigraph: They are people to be treasured. Kim Beazley
  • This work is divided into three main sections:

    Section One: The Stories

    'The following stories are written just as they were told to the Inquiry. The names of the authors are the false names used in Bringing Them Home for the purpose of preserving anonymity and protecting the privacy of the authors and their families.' (The Stories, Carmel Bird)

    Section Two: Voices

    'Throughout the report, as the history and practice of removal are examined, there are short quotations from dozens of submissions from Indigenous people.' This section comprises a selection of these brief 'anecdotes and comments', Indigenous voices describing their 'memories...frustrations and sorrows'. (Voices, Carmel Bird)

    Section Three: Perspectives

    This section contains 'a selection of some reactions to the stories of the stolen children, both within the Parliament and in the community'. Contributing writers include Kim Beazley, Veronica Brady, Martin Flanagan, Robert Manne, Henry Reynolds, Sir Ronald Wilson, and Jack Waterford. (Perspectives, Carmel Bird)

  • Contents indexed selectively.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Milsons Point, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,:Random House , 1998 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Introduction, Carmel Bird , single work essay (p. [1]-15)
Sorryi"Years have come and years have gone", Millicent , single work poetry (p. [193]-194)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Notes:

Dedication: 'This book is dedicated to the people of the stolen generations. The editor hopes it will be regarded as an apology for the sorrows inflicted by white Australians upon Indigenous Australians for more than two hundred years.'

Note: The Dedication in this edition includes variant wording as well as a paragraph extracted from Bringing Them Home.

    • Milsons Point, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Random House , 1998 .
      image of person or book cover 4425173689913518422.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: xv, 188 p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Preface by Sir Ronald Wilson.
      • Afterword by Henry Reynolds.
      • Includes The Recommendations of the Report and Postscript.
      • Published 6th March 1998.

        For adolescent readers.

      ISBN: 9780091836894 (pbk), 0091836891 (pbk)
Notes:
This edition includes additional content, 'Jennifer's Story' (pp. 56-61), as well as a variant Dedication.
Notes:
Both 1998 Random House works have been sighted, there is no variation to publication details which appear on verso of title page, including the listed ISBN.
Notes:
A WorldCat record indicates that an Erratum slip was inserted in the edition with extended pagination; however, a copy containing the slip has not been traced.
Notes:
Dedication: 'This book is dedicated to the people of the stolen generations. The editor hopes it will be regarded as an apology for the sorrows inflicted by white Australians upon Indigenous Australians for more than two hundred years. The greater part of the royalties on this book will be paid to the people whose work appears in the section "Stories".'
    • Milsons Point, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Random House , 1998 .
      Extent: xv, 194 p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Preface by Sir Ronald Wilson.
      • Afterword by Henry Reynolds.
      • Includes The Recommendations of the Report and Postscript.
      ISBN: 0091836891 (pbk), 9780091836894 (pbk)

Works about this Work

Locating an Intergenerational Self in Postcolonial Family Histories Ashley Barnwell , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Life Writing , vol. 14 no. 4 2017; (p. 485-493)

'Historians acknowledge that since the 1970s family history research has driven individuals to confront the silences within Australia’s colonial past, including ‘the convict stain’. However, little attention is given to how the practice has been used by the Stolen Generations to deal with the fracturing impact of ‘protectionist’ social policies on family and life histories. To explore this, I bring the concept of the intergenerational self into dialogue with ‘Paul’s Story’, a short memoir collected in Carmel Bird’s The Stolen Children: Their Stories (1998), and singer/songwriter Archie Roach’s testimony from the ABC Blackout television documentary ‘Best Kept Secret’ (1991). In these cases, the narrative continuity of family lines is severed. Faced with lost origins, the authors must reclaim an intergenerational self retrospectively through research and revision. The paper examines these cases in the context of an emerging focus on relational lives. It demonstrates how people write and tell family histories to rebuild an intergenerational identity in the wake of destructive colonial policies.'  (Publication abstract)

Contesting the Colonial Myths : Life Writing of Aboriginal Women Aditya Dulta , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: IJAS , no. 6 2013; (p. 90-106)
'Autobiographies from the mainstream of exceptionally successful persons have been common for long, but of late the stories of 'the failures, to whose lot neither fortunes nor stirring adventures fell' (Bennet and Strauss) have generated tremendous interest in the academy and general readers. These writings are implicit or explicit political documents and campaigns demanding freedom, just, equality and land rights.' (90)
Giving Pain a Place in the World: Aboriginal Women's Bodies in Australian Stolen Generations Autobiographical Narratives Christine Crowe , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Tracing the Autobiographical 2005; (p. 189-204)
Legitimising the Personal Voice : Shame and the Stolen Generation Testimony Kay Schaffer , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Resistance and Reconciliation : Writing in the Commonwealth 2003; (p. 47-62)
In the Second Person : Narrative Transactions in Stolen Generations Testimony Gillian Whitlock , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Biography , Winter vol. 24 no. 1 2001; (p. 197-214)
Last amended 18 Nov 2015 17:08:09
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