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On 13 May 1787, eleven ships set sail from Great Britain, containing 1044 people. On board were 10 civil officers of the British Empire, 212 British Marines with 28 wives and 17 children, 81 free settlers, 504 male convicts and 192 female convicts. Under the orders of the Empire, they set out to colonise the land that Captain James Cook had called New South Wales.
What ensued was what some people call an attempted ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people of Australia. This has led to some groups, especially Aboriginal rights groups, labelling the day Invasion Day, whilst others call it Survival Day. In 1938, the national holiday was countered with an Aboriginal Day of Mourning.
Most of us are aware of the policies that the subsequent Australian government inflicted. The White-Australian policy was an example of the contempt the colonialists had for the indigenous, which included forced-interbreeding.
However, the national holiday that is Australian Day is not like the typical national holiday you would find elsewhere in the 'western' world (4th of July in the U.S.A. being an exception of course). Having lived there and witnessed the ignorance displayed by some of the celebrants, I often wonder is it time that Australia truly reconciles with the people of it's land?
Kevin Rudd, the then Prime Minister, issued an unprecedented apology to the Aboriginal people, "the oldest continuing culture in human history", for the abhorrent kidnapping of children from Aboriginal families, known as The Stolen Generation, which was still continuing up until 1977.
This has healed some wounds, but the flag-waving and immigrant bashing that occurs on January 26th each year tells a different story. As a musician, I performed at the Australia Day Festival in Cairns, Queensland in 2010, to about 800 people, predominantly white. I finished my set with the Damien Dempsey song 'Colony'. I asked the crowd to listen to the lyrics and remember the people who "own" this land.
After the gig I was approached by about ten people. All, apart from three people, told me that they felt my song was inappropriate. Those three people were Aboriginal and they shook my hand and kissed me and said "Thanks brother".
I'm genuinely not sure why I started this thread. I expect people to label it lazy, irrelevant and self-righteous. If that's the case, then so be it. Celebrating colonialism is just something I find bizzare, especially when thousands of indigenous are homeless, involved in petty crime and engulfed in alcoholism due to being turfed to the side of the road.
Good night!
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Originally Posted by momentimori
