Going home by 'the rabbit-proof fence'

By Beverly Goldsmith Contributing editor

Three young girls torn from the arms of their mothers. Transported far from their home and housed in grim conditions with other children. Told they will be trained as domestic servants.

Unable to bear the separation from their families, they escape. On foot, they embark on an epic three-month, 2,400-kilometer (1,491mile) journey home over desolate terrain, pursued by their captors. Their guide for this trek is the longest unbroken line of fence in the world—Australia's rabbit-proof fence.

This is the true story of two sisters, Molly and Daisy, and their cousin Gracie. Forcibly taken from their Aboriginal families in Jigalong, Western Australia, in 1931, they are removed to Moore River Native Settlement. Fleeing the settlement, they are pursued by authorities whose "official Government policy of the time decreed that all 'half-caste' children should be taken from their kin and land in order to be made white" (www.rabbitprooffence.com.au). This policy of removal continued until 1972.

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