Reviewed by Gayle Williams
Eileen Cummings’ I Am the Daughter They Stole is a first‑person account of an extraordinarily brave and resilient woman. As the title suggests, Aunty Eileen is a member of the Stolen Generations. Born in 1943 on a cattle station in Arnhem Land, where her mother worked as a domestic servant, she enjoyed a loving early childhood. But at four and a half, her life was violently upended. Delighted to be invited for a ride in a red truck, she waved to her mother—unaware it would be fifteen years before she saw her again.
The book unfolds chronologically, beginning with those joyful early years on Mainoru Station. But government policy at the time mandated the removal of so‑called “half‑caste” children from their Indigenous mothers, sending them to missions and institutions to be assimilated into the “white system.” Cummings recounts the trauma of her forced removal and the long, painful years she spent growing up on Croker Island.
After finishing high school on Croker Island, Eileen moved to Brisbane, where she trained to become the first Aboriginal pre‑school teacher in the Northern Territory. She found the work deeply fulfilling, unaware at the time that the barriers she would soon face had a name: racism.
One of the most challenging parts of returning to the Territory was reconnecting with her family and Country—especially rebuilding a relationship with her mother. Like so many members of the Stolen Generations, Eileen had lost not only her family and homeland but also her language, customs, and cultural identity. Yet one of the book’s most powerful messages is her insistence that, despite the deliberate severing of thousands of children from their Aboriginality, reconnection is always possible.
The reader also follows Eileen through other chapters of her life—marriage, motherhood, and her distinguished career in the Northern Territory Government, where she became a respected Ambassador for Aboriginal Affairs and an advisor to numerous ministers.
She worked tirelessly for justice for the stolen generations of the Northern Territory and was instrumental in the Stolen Generations receiving an apology from Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. She also worked with lawyers to seek reparations for those who suffered abuse at the hands of the missionaries in various parts of the Northern Territory. Since retiring, Eileen has lived a life of advocacy. She has travelled to many parts of the globe and has been awarded an honorary Doctorate from the Charles Darwin University.
Above all, this is a book about family and community. Now a great grandmother, Eileen, a proud Rembarrnga/Ngalakan woman of Central Arnhem Land talks about her family with affection. She believes she has had an “interesting life” and “a fortunate one.” She dreams that “we can move forward in true reconciliation, acknowledging the dark history of our nation.”
Interspersed throughout the narrative are three sections of colour photographs that allow the reader to visualise the people and places that shaped Eileen’s life. These images deepen the emotional impact of her story, grounding her memories in faces, landscapes, and moments that might otherwise feel almost unimaginable.
The book also includes the lyrics to “Brown Skin Baby,” the 1963 song written by Bob Randall, an immensely important figure in Eileen’s life. The song stands as a lament for the countless Aboriginal mothers whose babies and young children were taken from them — a haunting reminder of the grief and injustice at the heart of the Stolen Generations.
Eileen dedicates the book to her parents and to one of her daughters, who sadly passed away in 2025. A book accessible to readers of all ages, it offers both a lesson in the history of a nation and an intimate portrait of a strong, resilient woman determined to tell her story without bitterness. In doing so, she invites readers to reflect on the enduring impact of the Stolen Generations and the courage of those who survived.
I Am the Daughter They Stole
by Eileen Cummings with Jane Anvari and Claire Smith
Wakefield Press
Paperback
ISBN: 978 1 923388 18 5
$29.95; 237pp