The Outlook Podcast Archive - Becoming an elder in the community I was stolen from as a baby

Download Becoming an elder in the community I was stolen from as a baby

Dianne O'Brien was born in the 1940s and grew up in an Irish-Australian family near Sydney. But when she was just 14, her world was torn apart: her beloved mother died, her father abandoned her and she discovered she was adopted. She was sent to a notorious children's home, where she gave birth to her first child, the result of a sexual assault.  Years later, she went in search of her birth family and discovered she was Indigenous, part of the Stolen Generation and a descendant of celebrated Indigenous Australian politicians. Dianne eventually went on to become a leader in her own right in the community she was taken from so many decades before.   
 
Dianne has written a book about her life, Daughter of the River Country. 
 
A warning that this episode contains descriptions of physical and sexual violence. 

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Zoe Gelber

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

(Photo: Dianne O'Brien with her mother, aged two. Credit: Courtesy of Dianne O'Brien)

Published on Thursday, 3rd March 2022.

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