Doris Pilkington Garimara (born Nugi Garimara; c. 1 July 1937 – 10 April 2014), also known as Doris Pilkington, was an Aboriginal

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

author. Garimara wrote '' Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence'' (1996), a story about the

stolen generation The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...

, and based on three Aboriginal girls, among them Pilkington's mother, Molly Craig, who escaped from the

Moore River Native Settlement The Moore River Native Settlement was the name of the now defunct Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal settlement and internment camp located north of Perth and west of Mogumber, Western Australia, Mogumber in Western Australia, near the Source ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and travelled 2,414 km (1,500 miles) for nine weeks to return to their family.

Biography

Pilkington was born at

Balfour Downs Station Balfour Downs Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station located approximately northeast of Newman, east of Roy Hill and southeast of Nullagine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. At , it is among the largest cattle stations i ...

, near the north

n settlement of

Jigalong Jigalong is a remote Aboriginal community of approximately 333 people located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The traditional owners of the land are the Martu people. Location Jigalong is in the Pilbara region of Western Australia ...

. Her mother, Molly, named her Nugi Garimara, but she was called Doris by Molly's employer at the station, Mary Dunnet, who thought Nugi was "a stupid name". As her birth was unregistered, her birth date was recorded as 1 July 1937 by the Department of Native Affairs.Stephens, Tony
All tracks lead to Jigalong
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', 7 December 2002. She was taken from her mother to be raised at the Moore River mission when she was three and a half years old. Her younger sister, Annabelle, was also taken and was told she was an orphan, and over the years distanced herself from her Aboriginal heritage. Doris was reunited with her mother 21 years later.

Writing

Garimara's ''Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence'' is considered a powerful description of the abuses endured by the Stolen Generations. The book was made into an internationally successful

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

in 2002, directed by

Phillip Noyce Phillip Roger Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian film and television director. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet Amer ...

. Her follow-up book, ''Under the Wintamarra Tree'', details her own life at ''Moore River'' and at the ''Roelands Native Mission'' and how she managed to escape by enrolling in a nursing school. ''Home to Mother'' is her children's edition of ''Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence''. In the four books, ''Caprice, a Stockman's Daughter'', ''Follow the Rabbit-proof Fence'', ''Home to Mother'', and ''Under the Wintamarra Tree'', Pilkington documented three generations of women in her family. In 1990, Pilkington's book ''Caprice: A Stockman's Daughter'', the first of the trilogy, won the

Queensland Premier's Literary Awards The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across ...

' Unpublished Indigenous Writer – The

David Unaipon David Ngunaitponi (28 September 1872 – 7 February 1967), known as David Unaipon, was an Aboriginal Australian preacher, inventor, and author. A Ngarrindjeri man, his contribution to Australian society helped to break many stereotypes of Abo ...

Award. She was appointed co-patron of Australia's State and Federal Sorry Day committee's Journey of Healing in 2002. In May 2008, she was awarded the $50,000

Red Ochre Award The Red Ochre Award is an annual art award for Indigenous Australian artists. Background and description The Red Ochre Award was established in 1993 by the Australia Council for the Arts. It is awarded annually to an outstanding Indigenous A ...

which is made to an indigenous artist for their outstanding, lifelong contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts at home and abroad.

Death

Pilkington Garimara died of

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

at age 76 on 10 April 2014 in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Awards

Pilkington Garimara was posthumously inducted into the Western Australian Writers Hall of Fame in 2022.

Australia Council for the Arts

The

Australia Council for the Arts Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. Since 1993, it has awarded a

. It is presented to an outstanding Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander) artist for lifetime achievement. , - ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Herself , Red Ochre Award , , -

Bibliography

* ''Caprice, A Stockman's Daughter'', (UQP, 1991) * '' Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence'', (UQP, 1996) * ''Under the Wintamarra Tree'', (UQP, 2002) * ''Home to Mother'', (UQP, 2006)

References

External links

*
ABC Australia biography

Intermix Positive Contribution Award

The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 January 2004

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilkington Garimara, Doris 1937 births 2014 deaths Indigenous Australian writers Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Stolen Generations People from the Pilbara Deaths from ovarian cancer in Australia Deaths from cancer in Western Australia Australian women novelists