Down the Hole

by Edna Tantjingu Williams, Eileen Wani Wingfield

When they came to take the fair-skinned Aboriginal children away, they didn't always find them. Those kids were Down the hole, up the tree, across the sandhills…running from the State and Daisy Bates. This is a true story!

52 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Cai · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a dark time in Australian history when Indigenous children, in particular the fairer skinned were take away from their parents and tribes and put in missionary homes to be raised "the white way". This book depicts the lengths that the children would go to to escape the State and people like Daisy Bates.

The story was so moving. I have always known about the Stolen Generation and what happened but reading this story to my daughter and knowing that others have had their babies taken away from them just because of their skin colour is just horrible. I had goosebumps and a lump in my throat while reading this aloud. I hope one day, when V is older and understands history better, she picks this up and reads it again.

V @ 6 months old.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart breaking. Heart shattering. Just as it ought to be. A really great, and effective, story of the realities of the Stolen Generations.

It's a book that merits re-reading, partially because the words and story are so captivating that I kept forgetting to look at the illustrations (which are also beautiful and painful. Sepia-toned, Western style, watercolour on canvas I'm pretty sure.)

Language is used on each page, and on the side of the page are pronunciation aids. The words come from Yankunytjatjara, Kokatha and Matutjara, which are related languages.

There are five pages of author information, background, and further language notes at the end of the book. It is a beautiful book and really ought to be considered a classic. It's a pity that I'd never heard of it and only really stumbled over it while shelving.