Who is Doris Pilkington Garimara? Australian Author(1937 – 2014)
Doris Pilkington Garimara AM, previously known as Nugi Garimara, is renowned for her book “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence,” published in 1996. The book tells the remarkable story of her mother, Molly Craig, and two other Aboriginal girls who fled from the Moore River Native Settlement in Western Australia and walked for nine weeks to return to their family. The book was adapted into a successful film directed by Phillip Noyce in 2002.
Pilkington Garimara also wrote “Under the Wintamarra Tree,” which details her own escape from the same settlement, and “Home to Mother,” a children’s edition of “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence.” Through her four books, including “Caprice, a Stockman’s Daughter,” she documents three generations of women in her family.
Table of Contents
Who is Doris Pilkington Garimara?
Doris Pilkington Garimara (1937-2014) was an Australian author and member of the Stolen Generations, a group of Indigenous Australian children who were forcibly removed from their families by the Australian government between 1910 and 1970. Garimara was born in Western Australia and was taken from her family when she was four years old. She was sent to the Moore River Native Settlement, where she and other Aboriginal children were mistreated and separated from their culture.
Garimara later wrote about her experiences and those of her mother and aunt in the book “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence,” which was published in 1996. The book tells the story of Garimara’s mother, Molly, and her sister, Daisy, who escaped from the Moore River Native Settlement and walked more than 1,600 kilometers along the rabbit-proof fence that ran through Western Australia to return to their family’s traditional land. The book was adapted into a film, “Rabbit-Proof Fence,” in 2002.
RELATED: Who is Stefan Banach? Polish mathematician (1892-1945)
Most Referenced Books
Doris Pilkington Garimara wrote several books during her career. Here are the titles of her published works:
- “Caprice: A Stockman’s Daughter” (1991)
- “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence” (1996)
- “Under the Wintamarra Tree” (2002)
- “Home to Mother” (2006)
She also contributed to various anthologies and journals throughout her career.
Her Early Life, Education Background, and Career Journey
Doris Pilkington Garimara was born Nugi Garimara in the Balfour Downs Station in Western Australia in 1937. She was a member of the Martu people, who are part of the wider Western Desert cultural bloc. When she was four years old, she was taken away from her family by the government and sent to the Moore River Native Settlement, where she was forced to assimilate into Western culture and was separated from her indigenous culture.
Garimara ran away from the settlement when she was sixteen and eventually settled in Perth, Western Australia. She started her working life in a variety of jobs, including as a maid, waitress, and nursing aide. In the 1960s, she became involved in Indigenous activism and worked as a research officer at the Aboriginal Legal Service in Perth.
Garimara began her writing career in her fifties, inspired by her mother’s story of escape from the Moore River Native Settlement. Her first book, “Caprice: A Stockman’s Daughter,” was a biography of her mother, and it was published in 1991. Her second book, “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence,” published in 1996, brought her international acclaim and was adapted into a successful film.
Garimara continued to write about Indigenous Australian experiences and issues in her subsequent works, including “Under the Wintamarra Tree” (2002) and “Home to Mother” (2006). She was a member of the Western Australian Aboriginal Advisory Council and was awarded the inaugural David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writers in 1988. Garimara passed away in 2014 in Perth, Western Australia.
Awards
Doris Pilkington Garimara received several awards and honors throughout her career, including:
- The inaugural David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writers in 1988 for her unpublished manuscript “Caprice: A Stockman’s Daughter”
- The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 1997, Community Relations Commission Award, for “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence”
- The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Bringing Them Home Award in 1997 for “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence”
- The Australian Publishers Association’s Book of the Year Award (Non-fiction) in 1997 for “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence”
- The Western Australian Premier’s Book Award for Non-Fiction in 2007 for “Home to Mother”
She was also appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006 for her services to the arts, particularly Indigenous literature, and to the Indigenous community.
RELATED: Who is Malti Devi? Everything you want to know
Death
Doris Pilkington Garimara passed away on 10th April 2014 at the age of 76 in Perth, Western Australia. Her cause of death was not publicly disclosed. Her death was widely mourned by the Indigenous Australian community and the literary world, as she was regarded as an important voice in Indigenous literature and an advocate for Indigenous rights.
