First Fleet: Australia Day & Invasion Day

Australia Day is a contentious event.  It marks the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and the declaration of British Sovereignty.  It is the last public holiday of summer and for many signifies the end of the summer break and the return to work and school. Events such as Australian Honours and Citizenship ceremonies are routinely held on this day. Australian Flags are everywhere.
DAY OF MOURNING
For First Nations people this event is a day of great sadness.  It symbolises pain and grief; the loss of people, culture, land.  Invasion Day. Survival day.  In 1938 the first protest was held by Aboriginal people in Sydney and Australia Day was declared a Day of Mourning.

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The conference was chaired by Jack Patten (right). Image: Mitchell Library Printed Books Collection, State Library of New South Wales.

BLACK LIVES MATTER
 The Black Lives Matter movement which began in America with the brutal death of George Floyd, had strong reverberations in Australia highlighting the ongoing effects of Colonisation: the number of indigenous people who have died in police custody and the high rates of incarceration, reduced life-expectancy, infant mortality, poverty and other massive injustices they continue to suffer.  It had the added effect of propelling many white Australians to reflect more deeply on their privilege and ingrained racism. 
DECOLONISING LANDSCAPE
For me personally the Black Lives Matter Movement caused me to think about my own experiences, attitudes and ignorance to First Nation People, land and culture.  I realised how many different places I had lived in Australia, often not giving any thought to the history and people on whose land I was living, playing and working on.   There is growing momentum to reclaim the Indigenous names for Australian places.  We have all forgotten Uluru was ever Ayers Rock.  I decided I would examine my own place history through an indigenous lens.  It was a process that made me realise both how ignorant I was (am) and how fortunate I have been to have so many experiences of aboriginal people and culture both as a child and adult.