Piece image

Aboriginal Australians

Series: RN Focus: Worlds Apart
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Length: 00:59:33

Personal stories of being part of Australia’s Stolen Generation. Read the full description.
To hear the full audio, sign up for a free PRX account or log in.

More from Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Piece image

Oglala Lakota Sioux (00:59:30)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Oglala Lakota Sioux: A Tour of the Great Plains
Piece image

Inuit (00:59:32)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Inuit communities return to their traditions to bridge their past and present
Piece image

The State We're In 2012, Story of the Week, part 6 (00:05:00)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Taher Moslimany and Rita Isaac are madly in love. Both are Palestinian, and madly in love. But he lives in Israel and she lives in Gaza.
Piece image

The State We're In 2012, Story of the Week, part 5 (00:05:00)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Mike Williams recounts the tale of sweet revenge he took on an office bully who stole his chair and dared him to take it back.
Piece image

The State We're In 2012, Story of the Week, part 4 (00:05:00)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

The Syrian politician who made headlines around the world when he defected to Egypt on January 16 gives his first major interview
Piece image

The State We're In 2012, Story of the Week, part 3 (00:05:00)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Chris Mburu was sometimes kicked out of his village school in Kenya because his family couldn’t afford the fees.
Piece image

The State We're In 2012, Story of the Week, part 2 (00:05:00)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Atie Ridder-Visser is now 97. When she was in her 30s, she assassinated a suspected Nazi collaborator.
Piece image

The State We're In 2012, Story of the Week, part 1 (00:05:00)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

THE ACCIDENTAL MILLIONAIRE: Jerry Winkler had a tough time growing up.
Piece image

The State We're In, Story of the Week, part 33 (00:05:00)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

THE ACCIDENTAL MILLIONAIRE: Jerry Winkler had a tough time growing up.
Piece image

The State We're In, Story of the Week, part 33 (00:05:00)
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Canadian filmmaker Billie Mintz had his life savings stolen from him in a Ponzi scheme.

Piece Description

Dheera Sujan brings us back to her native Australia with two deeply moving stories. Both are personal accounts of Aboriginals, who - like many older generation Native Americans in the US - were taken from their homes at an early age and 'relocated' to be schooled and molded into mainstream white culture. Part 1: Aboriginal children, especially the lighter coloured ones were as late as the 1960’s often taken from their greifstricken families to be raised in orphanages or fostered out to white families. In the case of the Collards – the family featured in this programme – children were separated which meant that they grew up to inhabit different worlds. While one suffered abuse and neglect, another was brought up in the white way. Today the children and their parents are trying to come to terms with being worlds apart. Part 2: Until relatively recently many aboriginal children in Australia were taken from their families and their homes and put into orphanages or fostered out to white families. Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter were both part of this so called “Stolen Generation.” Archie met Ruby on the streets when they were both teenagers and they’ve been together ever since. They’re amongst the “lucky ones” as they’ve managed to channel their pain into their music. The programme is liberally sprinkled with the songs that Archie wrote and sings together with Ruby.

1 Comment Atom Feed

User image

Review of Aboriginal Australians

FOUR STARS

Snatched from their mother's breast
Said it was for the best.

These lyrics come from the anthemic ?Took the Children Away,? by aboriginal singer-songwriter Archie Roach. He and his partner Ruby Hunter are profiled in the second half hour of this excellent package from Radio Netherlands on the ?stolen? generation of Aboriginal Australians. Young black Australians were taken from their parents in the 1950s and 1960s and raised in institutions or foster families.

The first half hour focuses on the Collard family ? and two Collard daughters who were ?stolen?. One, Glynnis, grew up ?black? and ended up, first, in foster institutions and then on the streets. Her sister, Ellen, with lighter skin, was raised white. Producer Dheera Sujan makes the wise decision to ?drop out? of the program here, letting the characters speak in their own words.

Glynnis's words are shocking and exceptional, especially when she speaks about being ?presented? to white men at age 12. They become still more powerful when they bump up against sister Ellen?s story about meeting her real ?black? family, after living for years with her white one.

One quibble: This block of material begins about ten minutes into the program -- after a section establishing the Collard?s family history, material that lost me as a listener and may not be necessary. I wonder if it will also lose others, especially those not used to Australian accents. Maybe stations can tell listeners: it's worth the wait.

The profile of Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter in Part Two, ironically, benefits from the presence of producer Sujan. She shares her experiences as a white Australian growing up in the 1970s. Archie Roach?s reflections on racism and the untranslatable experience of being black are valuable and fresh.

The two programs are packaged together in Radio Netherland?s series ?Worlds Apart?. The series looks at indigenous peoples bridging modern and traditional ways. Either could stand as a half hour speaking to some of the questions about race engaging American audiences today.

Anthea Raymond
Editorial Board
Los Angeles
August 12, 2006

Transcript

Part 1:

First Teasers session ’31 –
I just remember crying crying crying… ….too heartbreaking to tell, bloody wicked

INTRO
Radio Netherlands The Sound Fountain presents “Worlds Apart; the Story of the Collard Family”. Produced by Dheera Sujan

Mix down id 6’35
id 4’14 + e taken (2’21) = 6’38
My name is GC… … ….my wh influence had lot to do with how I think I guess

Session- Glynnis taken 4’18 – with water sounds under first bit of clip
I still remember the day that my nana … ....really different thing

SFX – faint echo sound of kids singing, playing
11’30

Glynnis – abuse at SK’s 2’03
I really started hating, hating people from 3… ….hear that for years after

SFX – under next clip –– night sounds

Gl – men abusing 2 1’24
One time one man… ..what you were taught

SFX – kids playing

Glynnis ranaway 1’45
When I...
Read the full transcript

Musical Works

Part 2:
Carrier Title “Charcoal Lane” Perf + comp Archie Roach. Aurora Mush32013.2. All the tracks have the same info.

“took the children away” (tr 6) 0’00 – fade around ‘52

Related Website

http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/cultureandhistory/050930wa