Garimara, Doris Pilkington (1937-2014), was an Australian author best known for her book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (1996). The book was based on a campaign by the Australian government from about 1870 to 1970 to force Australia’s native Aboriginal people to assimilate into (be absorbed by) white culture in an effort to eliminate the race. Thousands of Aboriginal children were separated from their families and placed in institutions, missions, and foster homes. In many cases, all ties between parents and children ended once they were separated.
Garimara’s story was inspired by the life of her mother. It describes how an Aboriginal girl, taken from her family, escaped from a government re-education camp in the 1930’s. With two other girls, she walked for nine weeks over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) through desert, with only plants and small animals for food. The girl was eventually reunited with her mother in their hometown.
The story of the government campaign was little known outside Australia until Rabbit-Proof Fence, a motion picture version of Garimara’s book, was released in 2002. The Australian Film Institute named the motion picture the year’s best film, and it won prizes at many film festivals throughout the world. The book eventually was translated into 11 languages, publicizing what became known as the Stolen Generations in Australian history.
Garimara wrote three other books. Caprice: A Stockman’s Daughter (1991) is a short novel inspired by her family. Under the Wintamarra Tree (2002) was a sequel to Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. Her fourth book, Home to Mother (2006), is a children’s book adaptation of Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence.
Nugi Garimara was born at Balfour Downs station near Jigalong, Western Australia. In Australia, a station is a large cattle or sheep farm. Her mother originally called her Nugi, but the white woman who employed her mother as a domestic servant insisted the child be named Doris. Nugi’s actual date of birth was not registered. She was assigned the birthdate July 1, 1937, by the Australian Department of Native Affairs.
Doris Garimara married Gerald (Gerry) Pilkington in the 1950’s. She later became an original member of the government-approved Reconciliation Committee to improve relations between the white and Aboriginal peoples. She was also a major supporter of National Sorry Day, an annual event begun in 1998 to commemorate the government’s mistreatment of the Indigenous peoples of Australia. In 2006, Pilkington Garimara was named a member of the Order of Australia. The Order of Australia is the nation’s highest award for service to the country or to humanity. Garimara died on April 10, 2014.
