Molly Kelly (Australian Aboriginal)

Molly Kelly (née Craig 1917–2004) was an Australian Martu Aboriginal woman, known for her escape from the Moore River Native Settlement in 1931 and subsequent 1,600 km (990 mi) trek home with her half-sister Daisy Kadibil (née Burungu) and cousin Gracie (née Fields).[1][2][3] She was a member of the Stolen Generations, which were part-white, part-Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families by the Australian government.[4] Her story was the inspiration for the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, and the film Rabbit-Proof Fence.

Early life

Molly Craig was born in Jigalong, Western Australia circa 1917. Her mother, Maude was a Martu Aboriginal woman, and her father was Thomas Craig, a white Australian fence inspector.[1] The Martu people (Mardudjara) had moved from the nearby Sandy Desert. Jigalong was established in the far north west of Australia in 1907, as the location for a maintenance and rations store for workmen constructing the rabbit-proof fence. The rabbit-proof fence is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits and other agricultural pests, from the east, out of Western Australian pastoral areas.[5]

In the first part of the 20th century, children of mixed Indigenous and white parentage were frequently removed from their families and placed in institutions or with white families as domestic servants.

In 1931, Molly (probably 14), her half-sister Daisy (aged about 11) and her cousin Gracie (aged about 8) were taken from their families and transported over 1600kms to the Moore River Native Settlement, north of Perth.[2] The next day, the three girls escaped on foot, and walked to find the rabbit-proof fence and then follow it north back to Jigalong. Molly 'piggy-backed' the younger girls in turn.[2] The journey was described in the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Molly's daughter Doris Pilkington Garimara. In 2002, the book was made into a film, Rabbit-Proof Fence, directed by Phillip Noyce.

Later life

Molly married Toby Kelly, an Aboriginal stockman, and the couple worked on Balfour Downs station.[2] Molly gave birth to her first daughter, Nugi Garimara (Doris), in 1936 under a wintamarra (mulga) tree and cut the umbilical cord with a butcher's knife. In 1937, her second daughter Annabelle was born.

Molly was taken to the Moore River settlement again in 1940 with her daughters.[2] She ran away in 1941, carrying 18-month-old Annabelle. She left Doris (4) with a relative. In 1943, Annabelle (Anna Wyld) was taken away from Molly and told she was an orphan. She would never see her mother again, although they were able to exchange gifts before Molly's death.[2]

Doris was reunited with her mother 21 years later which led to her internationally acclaimed and award-winning trilogy, Caprice, A Stockman's Daughter, (UQP, 1991), Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, (UQP, 1996), and Under the Wintamarra Tree, (UQP, 2002). The children's edition of Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence was Home to Mother, (UQP, 2006).

Molly died in her sleep in January 2004, at Jigalong, Western Australia, at about 87 years old.[2]

Bibliography
  • Caprice, A Stockman's Daughter, (UQP, 1991) ISBN 0702224006
  • Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, (UQP, 1996) ISBN 0702227099
  • Under the Wintamarra Tree, (UQP, 2002) ISBN 0702233080
  • Home to Mother, (UQP, 2006)

See also

References
  1. Olsen, Christine (January 20, 2004). "For Molly, the fence was a lifeline". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  2. Stephens, Tony (January 15, 2004). "Daughter dies with her story still incomplete". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  3. "Molly Kelly, 87, Australian Aborigine Who Walked 1,000 Miles to Her Home". The New York Times. January 16, 2004. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  4. "Daughter dies with her story still incomplete". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-01-15. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  5. "State Barrier Fence overview". www.agric.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-09-06.


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