The Rabbit proof fence

Analyze the Rabbit Proof Fence: vocab, comprehension, and historical context worksheet.

PART A - MATCHING KEY VOCABULARY Match up the key terms with the correct definition Aboriginal Australian a person belonging to the native communities of Australia who lived there before Europeans arrived colonisation when one country sends a group of people to take political control of another place assimilation when a minority group adapts to the culture of the majority group and loses parts of its own culture in the process discrimination treating people differently because of their membership of categories, such as sex, religion, nationality, skin colour or age mixed-race a name for a person of mixed racial background. In Australia, it meant someone who was part Aboriginal and part European racism the belief that some races are better than others PART B - TRUE OR FALSE1. A ‘half-caste’ was the name for someone who had 100% Aboriginal Australian blood. True False 2. When people adopt another culture and lose part of their own, we say they have ‘assimilated’. True False 3. Discrimination is when people treat other people unfairly based on their age, sex, skin colour or nationality. True False 4. Indigenous people are people who move to a country to take control of it True False 5. A racist believes that all races are equal. True False PART CFill in the blanks below Molly and Daisy are sisters and Gracieis their cousin. The Jigalongtribe is a desert people. The Australian government gives the Jigalong tribe rations including flour, tobacco and tea. Molly’s mother tells her that the spirit bird will always look after her. Mr. Neville is the legal guardian of all Aboriginals in Western Australia. He has the power to remove any Aboriginal child from their home. His office is in Perth. PART D 1. What are the girls doing at the beginning of the film and what does this tell us about their culture and way of life? 2. Who are the fathers of Molly, Gracie and Daisy and where have they gone? 3. Why does Molly’s mother tell the children to hide when she sees the policemen? 4. What three things do Aboriginal people need to ask Mr. Neville’s permission to do? PART E - TRUE OR FALSE1. The rabbit-proof fence is the longest fence in the world and goes all the way to the sea True False 2. Constable Riggs threatens that if Gracie moves from the car, he will lock her mother up. True False 3. The girls go to Moore River in a car. True False 4. The Moore River Native Settlement was established to train Aboriginal children to go to university. True False 5. The children at Moore River are all six years old and older. True False 6. Children with the lightest skin are removed from Moore River and sent back to their families. True False PART F1. What are some of the rules at Moore River that the children must follow? 2. Who is Moodoo? PART GRead the following quote and answer the questions about it:“For if we are to fit and train such children for the future, they cannot be left as they are, and in spite of himself, the native must be helped.” - A.O. Neville1. What was Mr Neville’s plan to ‘help’ Aboriginal children? 2. What did Mr Neville believe would happen to ‘mixed blood’ and ‘full blood’ Aboriginal people once his plan was implemented? 3. What did he mean by “in spite of himself, the native must be helped”? PART H - Match the quote with the person who said it “We don’t know this place. How we gonna eat?” Daisy “Those three girls. They’ve run off. Maybe the older one, I wondered when I saw her, too much of their mind. Unfathomable. The tracker’s onto it. In the meantime, it must be kept out of the papers.” Mr Neville “And watch out for those boys further along, they go hunting rabbits along the fence… Yes, the rabbit-proof fence.” the woman from the house “We like it here.” Gracie “You know what you’re doing? That tracker from Moore River, he pretty good. I heard he get them runaways all the time. Gotta be good to beat him. He’ll take you back to that place.” the Hunter “Make me sick, these people. Sick.” Molly PART I 1. What is the trap that Neville sets for the girls? 2. At the train station, why does Gracie turn around and run away from Molly and Daisy and what do you think will happen to Gracie now? 3. Why do you think Modoo works as a tracker? What does he think about Molly, Gracie and Daisy? Is he really unable to catch them? 4. What are Molly and Daisy’s mother and other women from their community doing before the girls arrive and why? 5. What do Molly and Daisy do when they reach Jigalong? What happens to them into the future?