Proclamation of the Day of Mourning.

The Day of Mourning was a day of protest held by Aboriginal Australians on 26 January 1938, the sesquicentenary of British colonisation of Australia. It was declared to be a celebration of 150 years of "theft and genocide", and was designed to stand in contrast to the Australia Day celebrations held by the European population on the same day. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (420x797, 53 KB) Summary Public domain, as a published edition produced in Australia, copyright expires after 25 years [1]. Produced in 1938, copyright expired midnight 31 December 1963. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (420x797, 53 KB) Summary Public domain, as a published edition produced in Australia, copyright expires after 25 years [1]. Produced in 1938, copyright expired midnight 31 December 1963. ... Australian Aborigines are the indigenous peoples of Australia. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... For the historic phenomenon of colonization and imperialism, see main article colonialism (and also decolonisation). ... Australia Day is Australias official national day, 26 January. ...

Organisation

The Day of Mourning protests were organised by the Australian Aborigines League (AAL) and Alison, based in Victoria and led by William Cooper, and the Aborigines Progressive Association (APA), based in New South Wales and led by Jack Patten. In 1888, the centenary of British colonisation, Aboriginal leaders had simply boycotted the Australia Day celebrations. However, this had been ignored by the media. These groups had also sent petitions to the Government of Australia and the Government of the United Kingdom, in the early 1930s, for the recognition of Aboriginal civil rights (including Aboriginal representation in the Parliament of Australia), but they had been ignored or dismissed without serious attention, and each had refused to pass the petitions on to King George V. As a result, a more proactive event was planned for the sesquicentenary, which the media and governments could not ignore. This was despite recent experience of the New South Wales Police engaging in general intimidation of public meetings of such political organisations. Alison is a given name for a female. ... Capital Melbourne Government Const. ... Proclamation of the Day of Mourning. ... Capital Sydney Government Const. ... Jack Patten (1904 - 1957) was an Australian Aboriginal leader and activist. ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... The agencies responsible for the government of the United Kingdom consist of a number of ministerial departments (usually headed by a Secretary of State) and non-ministerial departments headed by senior civil servants. ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Parliament House Canberra: The main entrance and the flag The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of Australia. ... George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 - 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, as a result of his creating it from the British branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ... The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously New South Wales Police Service & New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency in the State of New South Wales, Australia. ...

Despite having rejected the APA's petition, Prime Minister Joseph Lyons did agree to meet with the Day of Mourning leaders on the 25 January, without any other government officials or media present. However, some media reports at the time attributed this more to Lyons' desire to meet Pastor Doug Nicholls, who was an Australian rules football player for Fitzroy Football Club at the time, than to any desire to constructively negotiate. ^[1] Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939), Australian politician, tenth Prime Minister of Australia. ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir Douglas Doug Ralph Nicholls, KCVO, OBE (1906–1988) was an Australian Aborigine from the Yorta Yorta people of the Murray river region of New South Wales and Victoria. ... The Big Men Fly - high marking is a key skill and spectator attribute of Aussie Rules Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the most important skill in Aussie Rules Footy Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy... The Fitzroy Football Club, latterly known as the Lions, was formed in 1883 and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897. ...

The day began with a march through the streets of Sydney, which was attended by both Aboriginal people and non-Indigenous supporters. The march began at the Sydney Town Hall, and concluded at the major event on the day, the Day of Mourning Congress, a political meeting for Aboriginal people only. It attracted many major Aboriginal leaders, including Pearl Gibbs and Margaret Tucker. The protesters had originally intended to hold the Congress in the Sydney Town Hall, but they were refused access, and instead held it at the nearby Australian Hall in Elizabeth Street. The Congress was open to all Aboriginal people, and about 1,000 people attended, making it one of the first mass civil rights gatherings. The APA and AAL distributed a manifesto at the meeting, Aborigines Claim Citizens' Rights, produced by Patten and APA secretary William Fergusen. The manifesto opened with a declaration that "This festival of 150 years' so-called 'progress' in Australia commemorates also 150 years of misery and degradation imposed on the original native inhabitants by white invaders of this country." The Sydney Town Hall The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. ... Pearl Gibbs (1901 — 1983) was an Aboriginal Australian activist, and the most prominent female activist within the Aboriginal movement in the early 20th century. ...

At the Congress, the following resolution was passed unanimously:

"WE, representing THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA, assembled in Conference at the Australian Hall, Sydney, on the 26th day of January, 1938, this being the 150th anniversary of the whitemen's seizure of our country, HEREBY MAKE PROTEST against the callous treatment of our people by the whitemen in the past 150 years, AND WE APPEAL to the Australian Nation to make new laws for the education and care of Aborigines, and for a new policy which will raise our people to FULL CITIZEN STATUS and EQUALITY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY."

Official celebrations

In order to celebrate Australia Day, the Government of New South Wales had planned to reenact the arrival of the First Fleet in Port Jackson. However, all the Aboriginal political organisations in Sydney refused to participate. In response, the Government removed a group of Aboriginal men from an Aboriginal reserve in the west of the state, and brought them to Sydney. The men were kept overnight in the stables at the police barracks in Redfern. On Australia Day, they were taken to a beach at Farm Cove, where they were told to run up the beach, to convey the impression that they were fleeing in fear from the glorious British. The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ... The First Fleet is the name given to the 11 ships which sailed from Great Britain in May 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales. ... Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge located on Port Jackson Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. ... Leland Stanfords horse stable, still in use Horse kept in stable A stable is a building in which livestock, usually horses, are kept. ... Redfern railway station Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ... Farm Cove is a tidal inlet and shallow bay in Sydney Harbour, separated from Sydney Cove by Bennelong Point (site of the Sydney Opera House). ...

The reenactments attracted heavy criticism from the Day of Mourning protesters, who were not allowed to visit the men from the reserve when they were staying at Redfern. However, the Sydney media focused more on the fact that convicts had been excised from the reenactment.

Subsequent Days of Mourning

Day of Mourning protests have been held on Australia Day ever since 1938. However, in recent years, other counter-protests held on 26 January, such as Invasion Day and Survival Day, have been more prominent. Australia Day is Australias official national day, 26 January. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1998, a reenactment of the original Day of Mourning was held to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the protest. About four hundred protesters marched in silence along the original route of the march. Descendants of the original protesters read their speeches, and the ten main grievances in the Congress' manifesto were re-affirmed. The reenactment was accompanied by a campaign to protect the Australian Hall, the location of the 1938 Congress. The Government of New South Wales had placed a conservation order on it, but exceptions to the order allowed everything but the façade to be demolished. The building is now permanently protected. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ...

Cook bicentenary

In 1970, to commemorate the bicentenary of Captain James Cook's exploration of the east coast of Australia, the federal government planned to hold celebrations on 29 April. This was the anniversary of Cook's landing at Kurnell, on the south side of Botany Bay. 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... Kurnell is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. ... For other Botany Bays see Botany Bay (disambiguation) Bicentennial Monument at Botany Bay Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, a few kilometers south of the central business district. ...

In response, the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) organised a protest to be held at La Perouse, on the north side of the bay. There was a forum on the land rights movement on 28 April, and a vigil was held that night in La Perouse. A corresponding vigil was held by Australian National University students outside Parliament House in Canberra. There were also a range of protests surrounding the visit to Australia of Queen Elizabeth II, who was in the country to attend the Cook celebrations. La Perouse is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. ... Because land is a limited resource and property rights include the right to exclude others, land rights are a form of monopoly. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... The Australian National University, or ANU, is a public university located in Canberra, the national capital of Australia. ... The original parliament house of Australia, now referred to as Old Parliament House, or OPH, served as the official Parliament House of the Commonwealth of Australia from 1927 to 1988. ... For other uses, see Canberra (disambiguation). ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ...

This protest has been referred to as the Day of Mourning 1970.

References

1. ↑  Mr Lyons Only White Man At Blacks' Deputation. The Koori History Website. Retrieved on September 30, 2005.

• Burgmann, Verity (2003). Power, Profit and Protest. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-74114-016-1. 
• Australia Day - History. Australia Day Council New South Wales. Retrieved on September 30, 2005.
• Proclamation of the Day of Mourning. The Koori History Website. Retrieved on September 30, 2005.