When Doris Kartinyeri was a month old, her mother died. The family gathered to mourn their loss and welcome the new baby home. But Doris never arrived to live with her family – she was stolen from the hospital and placed in Colebrook Home, where she stayed for the next fourteen years.
The legacy of being a member of the Stolen Generations continued for Doris as she was placed in white homes as a virtual slave, struggled through relationships and suffered with anxiety and mental illness.
‘Kick the tin’ was a game Doris Kartinyeri played in the Colebrook Home. This is a life that has been kicked around. It is the compelling and sometimes witty memoir of a courageous journey, a journey into the soul of an individual to find meaning and substance after the loss of everything the rest of us take for granted.
‘[Kick the Tin] is a story of courage and survival, powerfully demonstrating how the human spirit can soar despite all the injuries and injustices which threaten to drag it down.’ —Lowitja O’Donoghue