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Clip description
Police troopers bring Maydina (Mawuyul Yanthalawuy) and the children back to Mrs McPhee’s property. Mrs McPhee (Julia Blake) asks to keep the children on the property but the decision is made to remove them to institutional children’s homes. Maydina protests fiercely and incessantly, running screaming after her daughter as she is driven away from the property in a buggy.
Curator’s notes
The forced assimilation of Aboriginal people into white society in Australia included the removal of their children to state-sanctioned institutions. This clip, set in 1895, highlights this horrendous act in a most profound and compelling way. Maydina, while running, unleashes a chilling, harrowing scream as her daughter is taken away by the government Protector of Aborigines. The reverberation of this sound, coupled with the desperate image of Maydina’s terror, stays with you long after the film ends.
