Daisy Kadibil

Daisy Kadibil (née Burungu; 1923 – 30 March 2018) was an Aboriginal Australian woman whose experiences shaped the 1996 book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, written by her niece Doris Pilkington Garimara and the subsequent 2002 film Rabbit-Proof Fence.

Kadibil was a member of the Stolen Generations, who were Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families by the Australian government.

Early life

Kadibil was born in 1923. Her mother was of the Martu people and her father Thomas Craig was of English descent, making her "half-caste" in the eyes of the Australian government. In 1931 when Kadibil was about 8 years old, she was removed from her family in the Jigalong Community by the Australian government and sent to the Moore River Native Settlement.

Her sister Molly Craig and cousin Gracie, whose mother was Daisy's aunt, were also taken from home and sent to Moore River as well.

The girls stayed only one night in the internment camp before making their escape to travel home. Estimates of their journey range from long. The trip took the girls 8 weeks to complete; they used Australia's rabbit-proof fence as a guide to travel north. Members of her family established and still head the Parnngurr Community.

She died in a nursing home in South Hedland, Western Australia on 30 March 2018.