Rabbit Proof Fence

“When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries, you don't just turn it off one day” (Chinua Achebe). As seen though this quote, once the colonizers impede on the natives way of life, it is very difficult for the natives to maintain their cultural identity. Throughout the world's history native cultures have drifted away repeatedly due to the encroachment of various settlers, whom enforce their traditions onto the indigenous peoples. In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Christian missionaries came to Nigeria- specifically where the Igbo tribe was located, and imposed their religion and culture upon them. Similarly, in the film Rabbit Proof Fence directed by Philip Noyce, the colonial government of Australia put in
The settlers believed that they were superior to all, and that in order to be civilized one must follow the same traditions as them, including being a Christian. In response, the settlers decided to rid the country of aboriginal culture by sending “half-caste” children, children with an indigenous mother and European father, off to Christian boarding schools. As the “Chief Protector of Aborigines”, Mr Neville believed that aboriginals must be “bred out”(Noyce). His way of doing this was to tear the native children away from their families and traditions. By doing so, the culture of the indigenous Australians would disappear as the new generation would learn European traditions. While living at the boarding schools, the children were given no choice but to follow Christian traditions; before eating they all had to recite prayers, in the mornings they would go to church, and everyday they were taught by members of the Christian community such as nuns. By surrounding the aboriginals with this faith and way of life, the colonizers destroyed any chance that the native culture could strive and carry
They started with stealing their land and shoving them onto reservations, and then moved to rid them of their culture by taking their children and sending them off to boarding school where they would be taught the lifestyle of the settlers. At the boarding school they had no choice but to dump their previous customs; instead they dressed in American clothes and practiced the religion of the settlers. Additionally, a horrendous atrocity was committed with the aim of removing indigenous culture from the land. On Dec. 26, 1862, 38 Dakota men were hung in Mankato, Minnesota, which is the largest mass execution in US history. The Dakota people still suffer from this event emotionally and struggle with poverty due to the harsh circumstances they were put under, which makes it very difficult for their culture to prosper. As a result, very few strains of Dakota culture is seen today, compared to when Minnesota was composed solely of their customs. To say the least, the Dakota people’s culture was dismantled by the colonizers, and replaced with the settlers’ customs; more specifically the settlers enforced Christianity upon the Dakota, which replaced their native