Molly craig biography
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She managed to take Annabelle with her but had to leave Doris behind. Based on this source [13] This reference has been taken well out of context. They were transported over 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the Moore River Native Settlement, which was north of Perth.
The very next day, the three girls bravely escaped on foot.
She left Doris, who was 4, with a relative.
Sadly, in 1943, Annabelle (who was later known as Anna Wyld) was taken away from Molly.
Molly knew this was not her country, when they arrived, and after only one night there, through her strong will and determination, convinced Gracie and Daisy, who wanted to stay, to leave with her (ref.1).
The story of how, against all the odds, she and Daisy were successful in getting back to Jigalong, walking for 9 weeks, travelling overnight, is told in her daughter Nugi Garimara's book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. This initial phase relied on stealth and Molly's instinctive orientation rather than elaborate preparation, with the trio carrying minimal provisions scavenged from the settlement.[17][18]
The Trek Along the Rabbit-Proof Fence
In August 1931, Molly Craig (aged 14), her sister Daisy (aged 8), and cousin Gracie Fields (aged approximately 10) departed from the Moore River Native Settlement, initiating a grueling overland journey eastward and northward toward Jigalong.[19][20]Molly, drawing on bushcraft skills learned from her stepfather, led the group inland to intersect the Rabbit-Proof Fence—a 1,800-kilometer barrier constructed in the early 1900s to curb rabbit plagues—and followed its northerly alignment as a rudimentary guide, avoiding direct roads to minimize encounters.[20][21]To evade police patrols and government-employed Aboriginal trackers dispatched by Chief Protector A.O.Neville, the girls traveled mainly at night, concealing themselves by day in scrub, under bushes, or within rabbit burrows, while navigating by stars and landmarks.[20][21]The nine-week odyssey spanned roughly 1,600 kilometers of arid outback, marked by extremeheat, scarce water sources reliant on occasional soaks or fence-trapped dew, and physical tolls including infected blisters, scratches, and exhaustion that necessitated the younger girls taking turns being carried by Molly.[20][21][22]Sustenance came from foraging native plants like quandong fruit, hunting lizards and small mammals with sticks or bare hands, begging or receiving provisions from isolated farmers' wives, and pilfering flour or scraps when opportunities arose, though hunger periodically forced them to chew grass or sip rainwater from rock hollows.[20][21]Midway, Gracie became separated after a chance meeting with other Aboriginal people who, under false assurances of reunion with relatives, directed her southward, leading to her recapture and return to Moore River; Molly and Daisy, undeterred, pressed on alone through increasingly familiar territory.[20][21]By late October 1931, Molly and Daisy arrived emaciated but alive in Jigalong, reuniting with family amid the community's astonishment, their feat underscoring the navigational prowess rooted in traditional Martu knowledge of the landscape.[20][21]
Adulthood and Family Challenges
Establishing Family in Jigalong
Upon returning to Jigalong in late 1931 or early 1932 after her escape from the Moore River Native Settlement, Molly Craig married Toby Kelly, an Aboriginal stockman from the region.[6] The couple settled in the Jigalong community and took up work together on nearby Balfour Downs station in the East Pilbara, where they mustered sheep and cattle.[6] This employment provided a means of livelihood within the traditional Martu lands surrounding Jigalong, allowing Craig to reintegrate into family and communal life after her forced removal.[23]Their first child, daughter Doris (also known as Nugi Garimara), was born in 1937 on Balfour Downs station.[6] A second daughter, Annabelle, followed in 1939.[6] These births marked the establishment of Craig's immediate family unit amid the challenges of remote station work and ongoing government oversight of Aboriginal lives in Western Australia.[20] By 1940, however, authorities removed Craig and her two young daughters back to Moore River, citing her mixed ancestry and family circumstances, which interrupted this family formation before her subsequent escape and permanent return to Jigalong.[20]Attempt to Retrieve Stolen Daughter Annabelle
In 1943, Annabelle, Molly Kelly's younger daughter born circa 1939–1940, was removed from her mother in Jigalong by Western Australian authorities and placed at Sister Kate's Children's Home in Perth, where she was raised as a whitechild and informed she was an orphan.[24][23] This separation occurred shortly after Kelly had escaped Moore River Native Settlement in 1941 with her daughters, though accounts differ on whether Annabelle accompanied her fully during that trek or was left behind temporarily.[23]Kelly persistently sought information about Annabelle's whereabouts in the years following the removal, inquiring annually and expressing a desire to embrace her daughter once more.[24] Efforts intensified after Kelly reunited with her elder daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara, in Jigalong in 1962, but Annabelle—later known as Anna Wyld—remained estranged, having internalized the narrative that her mother had deserted her.[24][23] Indirect contact occurred later, with Annabelle sending gifts to Kelly via her own daughter Helen in August 2003, yet no face-to-face reunion materialized.[23]A formal reunion was planned for 2004, but Kelly died in Jigalong on January 13, 2004, without achieving it, leaving the separation as her enduring regret.[24] Annabelle's reluctance stemmed from her assimilation into non-Aboriginal society and disconnection from her heritage, highlighting the long-term familial disruptions enforced by removal policies.[24] Despite these overtures, the mother-daughter bond was never restored in person.[23]Later Life and Death
Community Role and Oral Histories
In her later years, Molly Craig, known as Molly Kelly after marriage, resided in Jigalong, the remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia's Pilbara region where she was born around 1917, and became a respected elder among the Martu people.[6] She maintained traditional practices, such as sleeping on her veranda and orienting her bed to prevailing winds, while contributing to community cohesion through her presence and shared knowledge of survival in the desert environment.[6] Following the 2002 release of the film Rabbit-Proof Fence, inspired by her life, Jigalong hosted a premiere event attended by approximately 1,000 people, where Craig watched her story depicted on a large screen alongside her sister Daisy; she subsequently hosted visitors on her veranda, reinforcing her status as a communal figure of endurance and cultural continuity.[6][25]Craig's oral histories, transmitted within her family and community, preserved accounts of her 1931 escape from the Moore River Native Settlement and subsequent journeys home, emphasizing reliance on the rabbit-proof fence for navigation and kinship ties for sustenance.It is possible that the Skin name was started to be used as a surname as Doris (and likely her mother) were not initiated. This was part of a government policy.
The Escape Journey
In 1931, Molly (who was probably 14), her half-sister Daisy Kadibil (about 8), and her cousin Gracie (about 11) were taken from their homes.
1917 – 13 January 2004) was a Martu Aboriginal woman from Jigalong in Western Australia's Pilbara region, renowned for escaping the Moore River Native Settlement in 1931 at age 14 and leading her younger half-sister Daisy and cousin Gracie on a 1,600-kilometer trek across desert terrain back to their home community, using the rabbit-proof fence as a navigational guide.[1][2] Born to a Martu mother, Maude, and British-born fence inspector Thomas Craig, Kelly was among thousands of mixed-descent Aboriginal children forcibly removed from families under Western Australia's Aborigines Act 1905 and subsequent policies intended to assimilate them into white society by severing cultural ties.[2] Her nine-week journey, completed despite recapture attempts and harsh conditions, succeeded for her and Daisy, though Gracie was recaptured en route.[1][2]Kelly married Aboriginal stockman Toby Kelly and bore two daughters, Doris and Annabelle, but faced further separations when taken back to Moore River in 1940 with her children for medical treatment; she escaped again on 1 January 1941, carrying 18-month-old Annabelle while leaving four-year-old Doris behind.[1] Annabelle was later removed in 1943 and placed in a home for "near-white" children, prompting Kelly decades later to undertake a second long-distance search on foot, though the two never reunited.[2] Kelly's experiences, emblematic of the broader forced removals known as the Stolen Generations, were documented by Doris Pilkington Garimara in the 1996 book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, which detailed the 1931 escape and inspired Phillip Noyce's 2002 film adaptation starring Everlyn Sampi as the teenage Molly.[1] She died peacefully in her sleep at Jigalong, aged approximately 87.[2]
Early Life and Family Background
Birth and Parentage
Molly Craig was born circa 1917 in Jigalong, a remote Aboriginal community in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.[3][1] Her exact birth date is not recorded in official documents, consistent with the limited administrative oversight of Indigenous births in early 20th-century remote Australia.[4]Craig's mother was Maude (also known as Maude Garimara), a Mardu (or Martu) Aboriginal woman from the desert regions, whose traditional knowledge included survival skills in arid environments.[5][3] Her father was Thomas Craig, a British-born white Australian employed as a fence inspector maintaining the rabbit-proof fence, which separated pastoral lands from desert areas.[4][3] This mixed parentage placed Craig within the category of "half-caste" under colonial classifications, influencing her later experiences under assimilation policies.[1]Upbringing in Jigalong
Molly Craig was born circa 1917 in Jigalong, a remote settlement in Western Australia's Pilbara region, approximately 1,400 kilometers northeast of Perth, serving as a maintenance depot for the rabbit-proof fence constructed to curb rabbit plagues.[6] The community consisted primarily of Martu Aboriginal families, including workers employed in fence repairs and related tasks, blending traditional nomadic practices with the semi-permanent structure of the depot.[6]She was the daughter of Maude, a Mardu (Martu) Aboriginal woman from the desert region, and Thomas Craig, a British-born fence inspector who worked on the rabbit-proof fence.[6][4] Molly's upbringing occurred in this mixed-heritage family environment, living with her mother, two younger full sisters—Daisy (born circa 1925) and Annabelle (born circa 1923)—and a half-sister from Maude's prior relationship.[6] The family resided in basic humpies or tents near the depot, characteristic of the rudimentary housing for Aboriginal laborers and their kin in the early 20th-century outback.[6]Her early years involved a semi-nomadic lifestyle, with periods spent foraging and traveling in the surrounding desert while anchored to the Jigalong depot for provisions and work.[6] Molly's first language was Martu Wangka, the dialect of her maternal Martu heritage, immersing her in traditional cultural knowledge.[6] From her mother, she learned critical survival skills suited to the arid environment, including hunting small game, tracking water sources, identifying edible plants, and navigating vast distances using natural landmarks and the fence itself—abilities honed through daily life in the wilderness that sustained the community.[6][7] These formative experiences until age 14 in 1931 equipped her with self-reliance amid the isolation and hardships of desert existence, where families depended on bush tucker and intermittent depot rations.[6]Government Removal and the Stolen Generations Policy
Context of Assimilation Policies
Australia's assimilation policies, emerging in the early 20th century, sought to integrate Indigenous Australians, particularly those of mixed descent, into the non-Indigenous population by eradicating their cultural identities and promoting biological absorption into white society.[8] These policies viewed the presence of Aboriginal people as a solvable "problem" through gradual dilution of Indigenous traits via education, segregation from traditional communities, and controlled intermarriage, with child removals serving as a core mechanism to prevent transmission of Aboriginal culture.[9] Proponents rationalized removals as benevolent intervention, arguing that separating children from "camp life" would equip them for civilized employment and avert social menaces like vagrancy among "half-castes."[9]In Western Australia, the Aborigines Act 1905 formalized state authority over Indigenous children by designating the Chief Protector of Aborigines as the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and "half-caste" child under 16 years old, thereby empowering officials to remove children from families without parental consent or judicial oversight.[10] This legislation responded to concerns over an estimated 750 "half-castes" in the southwest, whom officials feared would become outcasts without intervention, with one proponent stating it might seem "cruel to tear an Aboriginal child from its mother, but it is necessary in some cases to be cruel to be kind."[9] The Act facilitated placements in missions or government settlements for vocational training in domestic or stock work, aiming to assimilate children into white economic roles while prohibiting associations with full-blood Aboriginal relatives.[9]Auber Octavius Neville, serving as Chief Protector from 1915 to 1940, aggressively implemented these policies in Western Australia, advocating the removal of "scores of children in the bush camps" to provide them opportunities denied in traditional settings.[9] Neville promoted a "biological absorption" strategy, positing that selective interbreeding with non-Indigenous Australians would progressively lighten skin tones over generations, rendering Aboriginal physical traits obsolete and enabling full societal integration.[9] Under his administration, removals intensified, often executed by police under warrants, targeting children deemed at risk of cultural influence, with no requirement for evidence of neglect.[9]By the 1930s, these efforts had established institutions like the Moore River Native Settlement, opened in 1918 near Perth, which housed removed children for assimilation training and expanded to approximately 500 inmates by 1932.[9] Western Australia recorded among the highest removal rates nationally, with at least 500 children relocated to southern settlements between 1915 and 1920 alone, representing about a quarter of some local Indigenous populations.[9] The Native Administration Act 1936 further entrenched Neville's powers, extending guardianship to age 21 and formalizing controls over employment and movement, aligning with emerging national assimilation consensus.[9]The 1931 Removal to Moore River
In 1931, Molly Craig, aged approximately 14, her half-sister Daisy Kadibil, aged about 8, and their cousin Gracie Fields, aged about 11, were forcibly removed from their family camp in Jigalong, a remote settlement in Western Australia's Pilbara region where their mothers worked as part of a government-supported tracking team maintaining the rabbit-proof fence.[4][1] The removal was executed by police officers acting under directives from the Chief Protector of Aborigines, A.O. Neville, who oversaw the segregation and assimilation of mixed-descent ("half-caste") children deemed suitable for institutional training to erase Indigenous cultural ties and integrate them into white labor roles.[4][11] The girls' mixed heritage—Molly's mother Maude a Mardu woman and father Thomas Craig a white fence inspector—marked them as targets, despite their deep roots in traditional bush life and limited prior contact with authorities.[1][5]The authorities arrived unannounced while the girls were under the care of relatives, as Maude was away working; Molly, the eldest, attempted resistance but was overpowered and separated from her family amid protests that were ignored.[4][11] Transport began by truck to the nearest railhead, followed by a train journey southward, covering roughly 1,600 kilometers to the Moore River Native Settlement near Mogumber, established in 1918 as a compound for detaining and "civilizing" over 500 Aboriginal inmates at its peak, primarily through regimented labor, basic education, and suppression of native languages and customs.[12][1] Upon arrival, the girls underwent delousing, uniform issuance, and assignment to dormitories, initiating a period of enforced separation from kin and cultural identity, with no specified return date or family visitation rights.[4] These events, detailed in family oral accounts preserved by Molly's daughter Doris Pilkington Garimara, reflect standard procedures under Western Australia's Aborigines Act 1905, which granted protectors sweeping custody powers over Indigenous children up to age 16 (or 21 for females in some cases).[13][14]
The Escape and Return Journey
Planning and Initiation of the Escape
Molly Craig, then approximately 14 years old, arrived at the Moore River Native Settlement with her half-sister Daisy (about 8) and cousin Gracie (about 10) in August 1931, following their forced removal from Jigalong.Sources
- ↑https://www.smh.com.au/national/for-molly-the-fence-was-a-lifeline-20040120-gdi6vb.html
- ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigalong_Community,_Western_Australia
- ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Kelly_(Australian_Aboriginal)
- ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigalong_Community,_Western_Australia
- ↑https://books.google.com.au/books?id=zg2_fPK4MsAC&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=Department+of+Native+Affairs+file+no.+173/+30&source=bl&ots=GxR8_dhc9H&sig=ACfU3U0UzbUrqemR6EB21v2i5gZwOEGcGQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQyeer6ZfqAhWNbn0KHWQzB0UQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Department%20of%20Native%20Affairs%20file%20no.%20173%2F%2030&f=false
- ↑https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Moore_River_Native_Settlement
- ↑https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/waikato-times/20180626/281543701655715
- ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gulpilil
- ↑https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/history-wars/2010/03/the-holes-in-the-rabbit-proof-fence/
- ↑http://whalenenglish.com/sophstoriesnew/nonfiction/rabbitproofminecomplete.pdf
- ↑https://www.smh.com.au/national/daughter-dies-with-her-story-still-incomplete-20040115-gdi5s5.html
- ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martu_people#Kinship_system
- ↑https://www.clc.org.au/files/pdf/170112_-_Arrernte_country_singer_Warren_H_Williams_on_skin_names.pdf
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Molly Craig facts for kids
Molly Kelly (born Molly Craig, died January 2004) was an Martu Aboriginal woman from Australia.
No one responded. She was believed to be 87[11]. This is also similar in how by convention a child will take a father's surname, except in exceptional circumstances. She managed to run away again in 1941, carrying 18-month-old Annabelle. Taking her sister and cousin with her, Craig escaped and walked sixteen hundred miles across the desert to return home.
Molly died in her sleep at Jigalong, Western Australia, after going for her afternoon nap on Tuesday [13 January 2004]. As a consequence, the family spent long periods away living a semi-nomadic life. In the mission, Craig was beaten for speaking her native language and was not reunited with Doris Pilkington Garimara until 1962.