![[from left] Mulkas Cave Hyden; Wedge Island; Shark's Mouth](/Resources/Images/slides/nat_photos.jpg)
![[from left] Camp at Crawley; Noongar men at Guildford 1901. Both photos courtesy of Battye Library](/Resources/Images/slides/hist_photos.jpg)
Contact History | Stolen Generations
History of the Stolen Generations
The first recorded removal of a Noongar child was in 1833. Lt. Governor Irwin wrote to his superiors in London after the execution of Noongar elder, Midgegooroo. Irwin writes in relation to Midgegooroo's eight-year-old son. 'The Child has been kept in ignorance of his father's fate and it is my present intention to retain him in confinement'… The systematic removal of Aboriginal children was set in place with the increase of missions and the introduction of the 1905 Act. Many children were also removed from their families before this period. See Summary.
Children at Moore River Native Settlement, 1930s
Courtesy State Library of Western Australia, The Battye Library 226017PD. No further reproduction may be made from the copy for any purpose without the written permission of the Library Board of Western Australia.
Bringing Them Home Report
Between 1995 and 1997 there was an inquiry which looked into the removal of Aboriginal children from their families. The Bringing Them Home Report (available at the HREOC website) handed their findings to the Federal Government on May 26, 1997, which led to Sorry Day, one year later. The report found that from 1910 to 1970, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children removed from their families was between one in three and one in ten children.
Children at Sister Kate's Home.
Courtesy State Library of Western Australia, The Battye Library 4363B11. No further reproduction to be made from the copy for any purpose without the written permission of the Library Board of Western Australia
Resistance
Many children grew up not knowing they were Noongar. Many, too, resisted the authorities who came to remove children - they blackened themselves with charcoal or like Aunty Doolann Leisha Eatts, their mothers hid them in a hessian bag.
Doolann Leisha Eatts
Aunty Doolann Leisha talks about Noongar people working together to protect children from being removed. View the Oral History below.
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