X is for………..

So Cat Balou in India issued a Challenge. 

“Mo, bet you a bottle of Peter Rumble Sparkling Shiraz that you can’t come up with something for the letter X”.

Darling girl of little faith, submit your order to Dan Murphy’s now.

For Australian trivia purposes X is for XANTIPPE, a small rural locality in Western Australia’s wheat belt. It is located 220 kms north east of the city of Perth and according to the 2016 Census has a population of 20.

It is the only locality name in Australia that begins with X.

Never heard of it. 

Established in 1925 it once was a thriving farming community. A school opened in 1930 on Struggle Street to cater to the needs of children, though closed in 1940. ( Anyone else getting Tim Winton vibes?)

The locality’s big feature was the water tank built in 1927, designed to pump water to nearby Dalwallinu, but there were major issues pumping the water uphill. It doesn’t even have its own postcode.

It has been suggested that the name means “looking for water from a deeper well” which ties in with the proliferation of Gnamma holes in the area. 

What is a Gnamma hole? According to the Merriam -Webster Dictionary , “a hollow or hole eroded or indented in solid rock of Australian deserts that sometimes contains water.” Apparently these water holes are featured in the 2002 Australian movie, “Rabbit- Proof Fence”  which I will now source for the weekend’s *entertainment.

Western Australia extends across a massive area, at least one third of Australia. Honestly, I am familiar only with the Margaret River area and have no  enthusiasm to explore Xantippe and its environs. However, if anyone can shed any further light I’de be pleased to hear.

*Entertainment is a poor choice of word for this movie. Based on the book of the same name it is the true story of several young Indigenous girls taken away from their parents who escape the mission to return to their families. The Stolen Generation should not equate to entertainment.

#A-ZChallenge 2024

Australian Trivia

Rabbit Proof Fence

Indigenous Author Doris Pilkington was born Nugi Garimara under a Wintamarra tree in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. At four years of age Doris, her mother Molly, and her baby sister were taken against their will to the Moore River Native Settlement in Western Australia. This is where many children of mixed race families were interred in the early 20th Century to be trained as domestic staff and which we now know as the Stolen Generation.

It wasn’t long before Molly escaped the Settlement with her baby, though Doris remained incarcerated until she was twelve years of age at which time she  was transferred to a nearby mission. Conditions at the mission were worse though she was given the opportunity to train as a nursing assistant in Perth. 

It took 21 years before Doris was reunited with her mother and some time after her Aunt Daisy shared the story of how her mother Molly had previously been a captive of the Settlement as a child and had escaped with her half sister, Daisy, and cousin Grace. These three little aboriginal girls trekked over 1600 klms following the rabit proof fence, a massive pest-exclusion fence which crossed WA from north to south, in order to return home.

Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence, released in 1996, is the true story of Doris’ mother and her Aunties. Three little girls pulled from their families, desperate to return to the only world they knew, walking across rugged outback terrain, often eating off the land and chased down by black trackers. The book includes copies of Government documentation and newspaper clippings from the 1930’s which confirm the story of these three brave children. It’s a confronting, shameful story and one which should be shared.

The film, Rabbit Proof Fence, directed by Hollywood-based Australian, Philip Noyce, was released in 2002 and is based on the book. Both the book and movie are worth while visiting – just ensure there is a box of Kleenex handy.

Interestingly, after having raised her family, Pilkington completed secondary education, going on to complete a Degree in Journalism. She was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia in 2006 for her services to the arts in the area of Indigenous literature, particularly through the genre of life-storytelling to raise awareness of Indigenous history, culture and social conditions.

TRIVIA:

Rabbits were an introduced species and were both devastating and destructive. The Australian Government decided to build a barrier fence from a point on the south coast through to a location on the north coast which became known as the No.1 Rabbit-Proof Fence. Completed in 1907, the Rabbit-Proof Fence was the longest unbroken line of fence in the world. Today, long sections of the original fence are still maintained as a barrier against wild animals, particularly the Emu.

Screenwriter Christine Olsen felt that the fence was very symbolic in that “the fence is always such an amazing symbol for the Europeans’ attempt to tame the land: to draw a line in it to keep out rabbits, the pests they had introduced. It is such a magnificent symbol for a lot of what’s happened to Australia.”

Rachael Maza , drama coach, said the three central young Aboriginal (untrained) actresses had an innate understanding of the story. “That’s one thing I don’t have to teach them. I don’t think there’s an Aboriginal in this country who doesn’t understand this story, if not them personally, their parents or their very immediate family. It’s something we all share.”