The Phenomenon of National Identity in Rabbit Proof Fence and Ceremony

Ceremony/Rabbit Proof Fence

Rabbit Proof Fence and Ceremony are both stories about native identity, the former in Australia and the latter in America. They both have to do with half natives and declining splendor of native populations. Rabbit Proof Fence being about the people of Jigalong and a few girls, Ceremony being about 20 something Tayo and the Laguna Pueblo people. The two works are similar in setting, but differ in execution and some specific themes.

Both Tayo and the girls from Rabbit Proof Fence are half native and half white, which characterizes their identities (it’s more important in Ceremony though). Tayo thinks about it a lot but the girls mostly just consider themselves as being of Jigalong. White America largely doesn’t care about Tayo, but from the perspective of the white Australians, however, the girls are half breeds who need to be saved. In Ceremony, the split identity of Tayo means he is not fully a part of either culture, but in Rabbit Proof Fence the girls are considered to be a part of the Jigalong culture and when they are taken to what is essentially a white brainwashing camp they do not accept that part of their heritage and try to get back to Jigalong.

The works differ in some thematic elements. There is a core violent streak running through Ceremony that is absent from Rabbit Proof Fence. From the death of Rocky in the POW camp to pretty much anything involving Emo, violence is a thing that is a part of Tayo’s life. This isn’t really the case in RPF. The girls are forcibly taken from their homes, yes, but they are not in any physical danger. Rather, they are in danger of losing their identities. The white Australians in RPF disguise their cultural genocide by pretending they are educating the children. So Ceremony has a fair amount of physical violence, while RPF has what appears to be softer but perhaps no less damaging emotional violence.

The two works have a lot in common. They are both about native populations in areas that were taken over by white people and how they are negatively affected by the white people. But they differ in exactly how they are affected by white people. The Laguna Pueblo people are simply left out in the desert to die, while the people of Jigalong are actively worked against to stamp out their culture.