Stolen Families, Stolen Lives

This week is reconcilation week in Australia and there is a lot to it as it is a mark on our history that should never be forgetten to ensure it doesn't happen again. There is evidence that the system currently is continuing to repeat the past but as a nation we are making small progress.

Trigger warning for all the @motherhood community as this story can be traumatic and triggering for many as we tell a story of past injustices and the hands of Government.

May 26 is National Sorry Day and the commencement of reconciliation week. National Sorry Day remembers and acknowledges the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who suffered emencly under Government policies that forcibly removed them from their families, communities and outlawed their culture, heritage, history and attempted to force assimilation.

This happened to my family and the resulting consequences of that has been hundreds of years of systemic failures that lead to poor health outcomes, lower life expectency, economic participation barriers, mental health issues with a greater risk of suicide. My mother in-law as a young child was removed from her family and placed in an assimilation facility that renamed her, banned her from speaking her language, forced her to stop practicing her culture and beliefs and punished her for being who she was.

The punishment was of the most extreme for many but for many young girls those crimes were far more henious at the hands of male abusers, so much so I wish not to relay here in words as simlpy writing them is hurtful and many would feel the same.

My mother in-law was not seen as a human nor was she counted in the official population or entitled to vote or participate in civic life. Not until 1964 referrendum were Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples formally recognised and allowed to vote in elections which has provided little to no recourse.

1999 Australia launched it's first Sorry Day after the Bringing them home report which provided a damaging insight into the affairs of Government and the harm it was committing against it's citizens.

In 2000 the Federal Government issued an apology to it's citizens some politicians defied the position and refused to participate in making an apology.

Perhaps the next generation will have more brains and courage than the current ones and the future will be different and we will no longer need to say Sorry but truly be a united nation with no more division.

For the best experience view this post on Liketu