Loss of Aboriginal Cultural Identities: A Study of the Fringe Dwellers and Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence

Abstract

It is recorded that the first group of Aboriginals arrived in Australia between 40,000 and 80,000 years ago. From then on, they have been forming their own identities. European settlers first came here in 1788 from England, but they changed the Aboriginal society quickly and greatly. Together with the changes were the Aboriginal identities they owned. In order to find out “who I am”, the Aboriginals really exert a lot of efforts.

In this thesis, we are to discuss the loss of Aboriginal cultural identities in colonized times and new age based on two writers’ works. One is Nene Gare’s The Fringe Dwellers, and the other is Doris Pilkington’s Follow the Rabbit-proof Fence. The former is written by a white woman who shows sympathy for the black Aboriginals, while the latter was recorded by an indigenous woman.