1. Australian Government policy
2. Biographies
3. Bravery
4. Child /​ parent separation
5. Colonisation
6. Country
7. Culture
8. Domestic work
9. Family
10. Glossaries and vocabularies
11. Great Sandy Desert
12. Home
13. Human rights
14. Jigalong (WA East Pilbara SF51-13)
15. Maduwongga people (A6) (WA SH51-09)
16. Memories
17. Missions
18. Moore River (SW WA SH50-14)
19. Stolen generations

In this book, Doris Pilkington tells the extraordinary story of the 2,400 kilometre, nine-week journey her mother and aunties Grace and Daisy made from the south of Western Australia to Jigalong in their own Country in the north. She also gives the background to the colonial invasion of Western Australia, an invasion which led to loss of land, culture and social structures. This paved the way for large numbers of white men to settle Indigenous Country.

It was one of these men, Thomas Craig, an Englishman and inspector on the rabbit-proof fence, who became Molly’s father. As part of the Australian Government policy for the removal of children with a white parent, when Molly was about 15 years of age, the girls were taken from their home and sent south to the Moore River Native Settlement, located near Mogumber, 115 kilometres from Perth. The removal and subsequent journey by boat was, for children who’d never seen the sea, terrifying and their time at the Settlement, equally disturbing as there were barred windows, locks and, above all, only each other as family.

The girls were part of the Stolen Generations but, unlike so many, they managed to escape and find their way back home by following the rabbit-proof fence, finding food and water along the way, helped by some station owners, pursued by police and hiding from anyone who might betray them and send them back. It is an immensely moving story of enormous courage and determination.

The book has a glossary of Mardujara (Maduwongga) words at the end with occasional Mardujara words appear in the text. In a brief section telling what happened to the girls in later life, Pilkington pays special tribute to Auntie Daisy, whom she says was a wonderful storyteller whose vivid memories made writing the book possible.

Doris Pilkington’s mother Molly Craig was born at Jigalong (circa 1917) the daughter of Maude, a Martu Aboriginal woman, and Thomas Craig, a white Australian fence inspector. The Martu people (Mardudjara) had moved from the nearby Great Sandy Desert to Jigalong.

1. Copyright Agency Reading Australia website with essay by Larissa Behrendt about the book https://readingaustralia.com.au/essays/follow-the-rabbit-proof-fence/
2. Teachers’ Notes on Copyright Agency Reading Australia website https://readingaustralia.com.au/lesson/follow-the-rabbit-proof-fence/
3. Along the Rabbit Proof Fence – The Incredible Journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6akphqg-hsE
4. The Australian Legend blog 8 July 2016 Review ‘Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence’ by Doris Pilkington https://theaustralianlegend.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/follow-the-rabbit-proof-fence/
5. Obituary of Doris Pilkington by Christine Olsen in the Sydney Morning Herald 2014 https://www.smh.com.au/national/doris-pilkington-garimara-a-fearless-storyteller-20140414-zquic.html
6. ‘Aboriginal Life Writing and Globalisation: Doris Pilkington’s ‘Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence’ by Anne Brewster http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2002/03/01/1929/
7. Kanwar, Neelima ‘Writing as Social Activism: Aboriginal Issues in Doris Pilkington’s ‘Follow The Rabbit-Proof Fence’ http://icdeolhpu.org/journal/neelima_kanwar.pdf
8. ‘Meet the Martu’ The Australian Aboriginal nation to which Doris Pilkington’s mother and Aunty belonged https://www.kj.org.au/meet-the-martu
9. ABC News 26 May 2018 Perpitch, Nicholas ‘A Journey into “hell on earth’. Life at the Moore River Native Settlement https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-26/moore-river-aboriginal-settlement-journey-into-hell-on-earth/9790658?nw=0
10. Curriculum Corporation Teachers Notes on ‘Home to Mother‘ (UQP Press, 2006) Junior edition https://www1.curriculum.edu.au/rel/history/book.php?catrelid=1860
11. New York Times, April 20, 2014 ‘Obituary for Doris Pilkington Garimara’ by Douglas Martin https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/21/arts/doris-pilkington-garimara-novelist-is-dead-at-76.html