Stolen Generations' Testimonies

Film • 2012

Stolen Generations' Testimonies

Listening, deep listening…so the healing can begin

The ‘Stolen Generations’ Testimonies’ project is an initiative to record on film the personal testimonies of Australia’s Stolen Generation Survivors and share them online. By allowing Australians to listen to the Survivors’ stories with open hearts and without judgement, it is hoped, more people will be engaged in the healing process. The project has been created with the aim of producing a national treasure and a sacred keeping place for Stolen Generations’ Survivors testimonies.

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To the Survivors of the Stolen Generations, we want to thank you for sharing yourselves and your stories with us so that we can feel and understand your pain.

It was an honour to hear and film your testimonies more than a decade ago and it continues to be an honour to listen to them today. Thank you for giving us all the opportunity to practice deep listening.

We acknowledge that your pain may never fade away. We also acknowledge what you have lost. Family and culture are among the most treasured aspects of our humanity. We hope that you gain a little strength in knowing that there are people who recognise and admire how you have managed your devastating tragedy.

The board of the Stolen Generations’ Testimonies Foundation and myself send you our deepest respect.

Praise for Stolen Generations Testimonies

"There’s nothing more powerful than the personal story. For people to understand, we have to open ourselves up. It’s hard to tell our personal stories but we are doing this to educate people. For us to heal as a country these are the stories we need to share. They’re sad stories but they’re important stories. For me as a Stolen Generations’ Survivor, I know you don’t get over things. You sometimes don’t fully recover. What you do is you adjust and you build your life around the scars and that’s what you have to do in order to survive. And many of us have survived. Whatever this resilience is, whatever this stuff is that keeps us going, it is the strength of the Aboriginal spirit that keeps us alive. For those people who do feel challenged about the ‘Stolen Generations’, we ask you to listen to just one of these testimonies to see if you still feel the same. That’s all we ask"

Debra Hocking

"There’s nothing more powerful than the personal story. For people to understand, we have to open ourselves up. It’s hard to tell our personal stories but we are doing this to educate people. For us to heal as a country these are the stories we need to share. They’re sad stories but they’re important stories. For me as a Stolen Generations’ Survivor, I know you don’t get over things. You sometimes don’t fully recover. What you do is you adjust and you build your life around the scars and that’s what you have to do in order to survive. And many of us have survived. Whatever this resilience is, whatever this stuff is that keeps us going, it is the strength of the Aboriginal spirit that keeps us alive. For those people who do feel challenged about the ‘Stolen Generations’, we ask you to listen to just one of these testimonies to see if you still feel the same. That’s all we ask"

Debra Hocking

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