‘Yes, they used to muster ‘em all up, take ‘em away, ngaltutjara – poor things.
Like a sheep.’

Down the Hole sees three Aboriginal women, Edna Tantjingu Williams, Eileen Wani Wingfield and Kunyi June-Anne McInerney, come together to tell of the story and heartbreak that Australia’s Indigenous people suffered at the hands of European colonisation. This story, set in South Australia during the early 1900’s, focuses on the children, of mixed race, who were to be taken from their families in order to assimilate them into European society … they are the stolen children.

Williams and Wingfield tell of their own personal experiences, through this true story of sadness, confusion and loss of Aboriginal heritage. It is the voices of these two Aboriginal women that make this true story such an emotional read, allowing the reader to gain some understanding of the terror that the Aboriginal children and their families would have gone through. These children were hidden away in dark holes or bushes, away from the governmental authorities that sought them, in hope of retaining the family unit. Though for many Aboriginal families, parents and children were never reunited; this story highlights the struggle for survival, both as an individual and as a culture.

McInerney’s beautiful illustrations add a powerfully sombre mood to the already heart wrenching written text, as she too was one of these ‘fair-skinned’ children that was taken from her family. McInerney’s use of rich brown and gold tones on textured canvas assists her to encapsulate the beauty and simplicity of the Australian outback and the people that inhabited it long before European settlement. The warm brush strokes capture the confused faces of small children, babies and the expressions of disparity among adults when they hear of the State’s arrival.

This text offers a historical recount of a period in time that many would rather forget. This includes the arrival of a ‘whitefella’ named Daisy Bates, an infamous writer, whose ‘intolerance of Aborigines… particularly half-caste’ was renowned at the time. Daisy Bates’ entrance into this story is met by cries from mothers and fathers ‘Run away…you fair kids and keep running’.

‘It was the State People; the State People – that’s the lot that were taking them.
Just kidnapping them!’

And the children did, ‘All the little fair ones used to run along together’. However, not all of these children were found by ‘the State’ some were ‘Down the hole, up the tree, across the sandhills…running from the State and Daisy Bates’. This is that story, one that tells of long days in the piti, of insecurity and of fear.

Williams and Wingman have chosen to team the English text with the use of Indigenous language, adding depth, and a sense of Aboriginality. This conscious choice by the authors offers both European and Indigenous Australian readers the opportunity to identify with the text through a bilingual narrative, with explanations provided for those who are unfamiliar with the terminology and pronunciation.

The concluding pages of this text offers biographical information of the authors and illustrator allowing the reader to hear of their own personal stories and the anguish that each of them and their families have suffered. Additionally, historical information regarding the colonisation of Australia, the rationale behind the taking of the children, and Daisy Bates’ role in Australian history is presented to the reader. The endpapers assist with this historical recount providing a visual representation of central South Australia at the time of these occurrences and of today.

Beautifully illustrated and presented this picture book provides a glimpse of the traumatic experiences that Australia’s Indigenous people went through and still suffer from today, due to the ignorance of European settlers. Williams and Wingman state that this story is left as a legacy to their people, particularly their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as a ‘way of setting the record straight’ and ensuring that this story of Aboriginal history is not lost in today’s world. Though this was the authors’ intention, this story perhaps just as importantly provides the European Australian reader with a reminder of past wrongdoings. These echoes should never be forgotten, just learnt from in order to respect the original people who inhabited this land long before the ‘whitefella’.

Review by Natalie Shearer

This piece was originally submitted as part of the course work in Australian Children's Literature.  It listed as references:

Williams, Edna Tantjingu; Wingfield, Eileen Wani and McInerney, Kunyi June-Anne (2000) Down the hole, up the tree, across the sandhills: running from the State and Daisy Bates. Alice Springs, NT: IAD Press.

© 2007 Natalie Shearer