Day of Mourning

• Context: 

  • On January 26 1938 Australia was preparing to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the British arrival in Australia. 
  • The indigenous populations of Australia perceived this day differently.
  • They saw it as a day to mourn the losses and injustices they had faced since British settlement.
• Aims:

  • Indigenous representation in federal parliament
  • The creation of both federal and state bodies to advise on Aboriginal issues 
  • A reform of the NSW Aborigines Protection Board
• Outcomes - Short term: 

  • 5 days after the protest, Prime Minister Joe Lyons met with an Aboriginal delegation to listen to the protestors' suggestions as to how the federal government could support Indigenous people
  • The Prime Minister declined their suggestions, saying that Indigenous affairs are under control of the state government
  • Therefore, the goals of the protest were not achieved 
• Outcomes - Long term:

  • The 1938 Day of Mourning protest united Indigenous Australians.
  • It was the first time Aboriginal
  • Australians got together to demand rights and equality. Therefore, it could be seen as the beginning of the Indigenous civil rights movement in Australia
  • Australians began to start thinking about the appropriateness of January 26th as a national celebratory holiday. 
• • Prominent Aboriginal leaders, William Cooper, William Ferguson and John Patten decided to bring Aboriginal people together in a Day of Mourning and Protest
  • They had previously petitioned about recognising Aboriginal rights to the governments of Australia and Great Britain who refused to pass them on to King George V
  • Prime Minister Joe Lyons did agree to meet with the Day of Mourning leaders the day before the protest (some media reports attributed this more to Lyons' desire to meet Pastor Doug Nicholls, an AFL player for Fitzroy at the time, than to any desire to constructively negotiate)
• • It began with a protest march from Sydney Town Hall to the Australian Hall in Elizabeth Street
  • At Australian Hall there was a meeting of 1000 people where the plight of Aboriginals was discussed
  • They voted on a resolution that demanded full citizenship status and equality for all Aboriginals
  • A manifesto was also published called which described the situation of Aboriginal people and their expectations of the Australian government.