The stolen generation is the most horrific chapter in Australia’s history and has been covered up by the Australian government; however, the long term psychological and sociocultural effects continue to haunt not only the individuals directly involved but also Australian and indigenous culture. (Cheyenne Rain Travis, 2014)
The stolen generation is unanimously considered to have begun in 1869 when the Victorian Board for the protection of Aborigines was established and given the power to remove any child from Indigenous families and relocated to white families or dormitories. (Creative spirits, 2014) Similar occurrences began in other states, some going as far to remove the title of legal guardian from the parents of aboriginal or half-caste…show more content… Some were simply taken away and told they were orphans or their parents were abusive, others mothers were given documents to sign and tricked into believing they were giving consent for treatment of life threatening illnesses, although no statistical evidence has been conclusively gathered most historians believe the children were taken to hospitals and never returned to the parents (Creative sprits, 2014). Several parties were affected by it, including the families, those who grew up as a part of the stolen generation who were often mistreated and abused and over time the culture of indigenous Australia was distorted, (unknown, NSDC,…show more content… The major complaint about the stolen generation is that they were stolen from their mothers. Rarely are the fathers of the children who were stolen indigenous, therefore the white Australians believed they had higher claim over the children. It is heavily argued that children of half-caste descent are more the European Australians than they are the first Australians. (J. Korff, creative spirits, 2014) The issue with this is that most half caste children lives begun with the raping, abuse and torture of their mothers from a white man. "Today 's surviving Indigenous Tasmanians are mostly descendants of Indigenous women who were kidnapped and enslaved by white sealers." (Cathy Bedson, 1999). During a time when white men and the first Australians didn’t see eye to eye, it was assumed that if the half caste children were to remain with their tribes both the child and mother would be seen as white men’s property and abused, tortured and killed. “ We only took the ones in peril or who were more ours than there’s. If they had remained with in their traditional homes they would have been beaten to death because they were marked white. We did them a favour” (Sheril Mantenen, 2007, In response to partition for an apology). The lash out to this response was horrendous, the women who stated it committed suicide due to the hate she received for her public comment. A regular argument to her