Aboriginal Mourning Day and Colonialism: An Activism Analysis

This essay delves into the historical context of Aboriginal Australia, focusing on the impact of British colonization and the subsequent struggles for indigenous rights. It examines the arrival of British settlers in 1788, the displacement of Aboriginal communities, and the resistance they mounted against colonial rule, including instances of violence and disease. The essay highlights the significance of the Aboriginal Mourning Day in 1938, a pivotal event that marked a turning point in activism. It analyzes the role of key activists, the strategies employed, and the outcomes, including the 1967 referendum and the ongoing fight for social justice and recognition. The essay also explores the importance of the Mourning Day as a catalyst for activism, emphasizing the need for awareness, resistance, and reform in the face of oppression. Ultimately, the essay underscores the lasting impact of colonialism and the continued pursuit of sovereignty and justice for Aboriginal Australians.

Running head: ACTIVISM; ABORIGINAL MOURNING DAY 1
Activism; Aboriginal History and Mourning Day
Students Name
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Introduction
Sovereignty, the primary ideology of sole responsibility and governance of a group of
people without external interference, is the basic desire of any particular state. Moreover, the
communities who are inhabitants of the state are also regarded as essential fragments of the state.
Besides, the contemporary existence of the society indicates that these communities are supposed
to exhibit connection, evolve in their knowledge, abilities, welfare, and even livelihood. This
contemporary existence objectively aims to ensure the appreciation of various communities and
their respective cultures. (Edge and Harvey, 2017).
However, historical accounts have been noted to record some adverse cases of
infringement of these aspects of the mutual existence of the community. In history, acts of
oppression, slavery, and denial of equal opportunities to existing mutually in the society are
significant issues that hindered social existence. Most of these atrocities were practiced during
colonial eras, which were also characterized by cultural degradation and land grabbing or
resettlement of local communities. However, these practices were also met with resistance; the
resistance emerged from activist groups that objectively sought to push for reforms in the
political and economic domains to meet the desired changes by the people. In this paper,
therefore, we seek to understand the historical accounts of the colonial era in Australia. It is
notably profound that the British colonial rule in Australia since the year 1788 affected the
country, mainly, the multiple aspects of the cultural denominations living in Australian people
(Malaspinas, Westaway, Muller, Sousa, Lao, Alves, and Heupink, 2016).
Regarding this impact on the culture of the people of Australia, this sociological analysis
also seeks to determine the emergence of the eventful mourning day by the aboriginal indigenous

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community. Particularly the significance of mourning day as an activism activity on the quest for
sovereign existence and being identified with a state or nation, we also depict the significant
steps made by the aboriginal people during the fight for freedom against Britons.
The Aboriginal history, Colonization and Day of mourning
The entire invasion, an ideology which was invented during the incoming of British
settlers in Australia, happened in the year 1788. For instance, it is during the year that the British
fleets docked at shores in Sydney, New eland. During this invasion, the Aboriginal societies
which had inhibited the Australian lands for as long as 30,000 years back, were the dominant
settlers in Australia during the time. The arrival of the British settlers was at first mixed,
however, in the long-term as colonial intentions intensified, the British settler started displacing
aboriginal communities, the competition of resources from the new inhabitant of the land,
Britons, was also high (Tobler, Rohrlach, Soubrier, Bover, Llamas, Tuke and O’Loughlin,
2017).
Therefore, such practices culminated in incidences of hostility and resistance by the
aborigines. According to historians like Geoffrey Blainey, the sovereignty of the original
aborigines who were the inhabitants of the country was also greatly jeopardized not only by the
invasion but also the strange diseases the Europeans came with at the time. The diseases referred
to by Geoffrey are smallpox, measles, and influenza that also diminished the population of the
Aboriginal people (Grant and Greenop, 2018).
However, there was also massive and intensive resistance by the aborigines. For
instance, some early settlers in the 19th century account for the fierce encounters that led to the
destruction of European property and lives as well. In 1847, E. W, Landor who administered the

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British rule in Western Australia, declared complete submission of the original inhabitants of the
land. However, the most notable historical fighters of the brutal colonial rule in Australia
included; Yagan and Pemulwuy, also significant damage was undertaken on the aboriginal
population in a massacre like the Pinjarra, Myall creek, and Rufus River massacre (Rickard,
2017).
Day of mourning
During the 150th anniversary of British rule in Australia, the aboriginal Australians who
had suffered most of the negative impacts of colonialization represented by up to 100 aborigines
put up mourning in the Australian Hall in Sydney.1938, January 28th. The day is celebrated
every year alongside the national Australian people from 1938 up to the current existence of
Australia. For instance, it was primarily a commemoration of the brutal treatment by the Britons
and its consequences like the dominant existence of European people in the country afterward
since then, marginalization of the original aborigines to rural lands due to colonial land grabbing,
and also the degradation of culture (Treloyn, 2016).
Resistance and activism
During the early settlement of British invaders, according to historians, the most of
resistance methods forms were brutal and included force, as discussed in the history above.
However, the celebration of sesquicentenaries’ existence in 1938 changed the way of resistance
and activism activities. Moreover, after 1938, the indigenous aborigines sought freedom and
equal inclusion in the citizenship and governance system (Burke, Roberts, Morrison, Sullivan,
and River Murray Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC), 2016).

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Significant activism practices can also be detected in the year 1938 in the mourning day
event organized by indigenous Australians. Moreover, the primary organizers of the event sought
to create and spread awareness on their issues to non-indigenous people. This action was to ramp
up support from as many people as possible to dismantle the operations of the so-called
protection boards. By dismantling the protection board, the system would outspread citizen rights
to the indigenous Australian people. Notably, historical accounts remark the day and meeting in
1938 as being the first significant step to fighting for the social issues in the aboriginal society,
most importantly it was also the onset of the contemporary political movement that resented the
interest, social issues, and civil rights(Bolton, 2017).
The major activists present during the mourning day according to Dictionary of Sydney
included personalities like; Bill Ferguson, and Jack Patten, In addition, other members of the
aboriginal progressive association, which championed for rights of indigenous groups, like
William cooper was also there among Margaret Tucker, Tom Foster, and pastor Doug Nicholas
besides many others. From the vents of the day, the prime minister at the time agreed to meet
representatives from the indigenous in order to discuss their social issues and concerns (Tan,
2017).
The meeting with the Australian Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, is also historically
regarded as a significant impetus step in the outcomes of the 1967 referendum. Notably, the
events of the 1967 referendum, which was massively voted “Yes,” led to a turn in the fight for
civil rights and social issues affecting the indigenous group. Some of the significant reforms
were done on the protection board. The changes allowed for the inclusion of the aboriginal
people in the national census, this was approval that their citizenship rights been approved.

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Furthermore, the plights of the aborigines would also be legislated by the commonwealth
(O'Connor, 2017).
The rights of the aborigine members of the Australian society were wholly unlocked
since 1967. However, various racial issues have also emerged towards the indigenous
community even in modern Australia; various reports citing bias in service delivery towards
members of the society are also there. However, the community has greatly developed even in
addressing the major social concerns among members of society like crime, suicide, and drug
abuse. Such issues among the indigenous people have been solved diversely with alternative
culture- based criminal justice systems like the Yiriman project.
Importance of the Aboriginals mourning day
In the historical analysis of Australia earlier in the paper, it is evident that among the
significant events that cloud the current existence of the country besides the colonial rule and its
verse impacts is the 1938 Mourning day. The event by the indigenous Australian community,
mostly the aborigines, is unforgettable as it indicates where the journey to civil rights for
indigenous Australians began. Nevertheless, the firm front taken by the founding activists of the
day to generate civil rights awareness and push for reforms epitomizes the importance of
activism in society. Some of the essential attributes form the activist role played by the activities
during the time can also be recollected in universal activism practices globally (Perry and Perry,
2015).
Notably, the Mourning day signifies that, besides the undeniable fact of the existence of
oppression in the society, the comprehension of people’s rights and its awareness enables the
ability to form resistance and take up activism roles. The objective outcome of such practices

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entailed in activism is to ensure reforms are put in place. The resulting reforms are important in
ensuring that the policies and law frameworks are desirable in terms of their impacts on the well-
being of the people subjected to them.
Conclusion
Finally, from the above accounts of the aboriginal history, resistance and activism, we
can derive that, some of the significant impacts that jeopardize the entire applicability of
sovereignty to a state or a particular group of people can include acts like aggressions that are
associated with colonial rule. The external intrusions and undesirable acts, like in the case of the
aboriginal people, affect the aspect of self-governance. The resulting outcomes are often diverse
and form the basis for political, social, economic, and even cultural degradation on the
community under colonial subjection. Therefore, forms of resistance and activism are the
significant counter actions used by the society whose rights have been dejected to create
desirable reforms. Furthermore, through activism like the indigenous Australians, the
consequences are justice.

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