The Stolen Generations and National Sorry Day
In the 20th century the Australian government wanted to integrate Aboriginal people into white society.
They decided to take Aboriginal children away from their parents and try to make them members of Australian society.
From about 1910 to 1970 mostly mixed-race Aboriginal children (for example from a white father and an Aboriginal mother)
were taken away from their families and brought to special homes or camps.
This happened to one fourth of all Aboriginal children.
They’re called the Stolen Generations. Often they were told that their parents were dead or didn’t want them.
This breaking up of families has led to problems for many Aboriginal people.
When these children were adults, lots of them tried to find their families.
And they wanted the government to say sorry. Since 1998 there has been an unofficial
national holiday on the 26th of May called National Sorry Day. But it was only in 2008 that the
Australian government officially said “sorry” to the Stolen Generations.