Australia Day or Invasion Day?
Captain James Cook raised the Union Jack on what is now called Possession Island on 22 August 1770 to claim the eastern half of the continent as New South Wales for Great Britain. Apparently, they have invented this country, even though there were people living in this land. Aboriginal peoples had been living for more than 60 000 years on the continent we now know as Australia. At least 1600 generations of these peoples had lived and died here.
Also, Europeans from the thirteenth century became interested in details from Asia about this land to the south. From the sixteenth century European cartographers and navigators gave the continent various names, including Terra Australis (Southern Land) and New Holland.
Captain Arthur Phillip, commander of the First Fleet of eleven convict ships from Great Britain, and the first Governor of New South Wales, arrived at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788 and raised the Union Jack to signal the beginning of the colony.
Few days ago, I was listening to the ABC radio, some said that when British arrived Aborigines welcomed them, some said that there was nobody there when the British arrived so they decided to occupy as there were nobody living on this land. There are different versions of this.
However when you ask the aborigines, they tell you what happened to their ancestors and how they were killed, raped, and their lands were taken away from them. How they were not allowed to speak their mother language and how Aboriginal children were taken away from their family, known as the ‘stolen generation’.
I believe it is time that we reconcile that. For us to be able to do that, we need to acknowledge what happened to them and move forward. Without acknowledging what happened, and turning a blind eye or deny or totally refusing to talk about it not going to bring any reconciliation. There won’t be inclusiveness.
I arrived in Australia in 1996. I was so grateful for what Australia has given me; safety, freedom, home, education, career, and many other things that lots of people take it for granted here. I became a person who was getting irritated and angry with those who take Australia for granted. She became my home. For me, Australia is my adopted mother-land.
After I came to Australia, I wanted to learn more about the indigenous people of this land. I read few things here and there, but that was it. Even at university, I haven’t really learnt much about them. Those things that I learnt about aborigines were more generalised opinions and views of different people. There were not much awareness about their culture, history and their way of life.
In 2015, I worked in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory.Which is approximately 1,000 kilometers south of the Territory capital, Darwin, and 500 kilometers north of Alice Springs. It helped me to open up to the REAL AUSTRALIA. I was shocked by the living conditions of Aborigines. Their living condition is much worse than some of the 3rd world countries that I’ve been to. I felt, as if people struggle this way either in Melbourne or Sydney it would be a different story. Medias would’ve made a big story out of it and the politicians would somehow involve themselves to do something and these people would get REAL help.
I also manage to make some friends and learnt about their culture and how they lived and how their life was destroyed. Some of them have accepted me into their family. Most people that I saw were traumatised in many ways and affected by intergenerational trauma. Intergenerational trauma is trauma that is transferred from the first generation of trauma survivors to the second and further generations of offspring of the survivors. It is evident that they are suffering from complex intergenerational trauma by seeing their behaviours, emotional states and body language. It is much easier for them to drink and suppress their emotions.
For me, 26 January is an invasion day. The day Union Jack was raised to signal the beginning of the colony. For Aborigines, and anyone with sense and humanity, they will know that it is the day that thousands of Aborigines have got killed.
Australia Day supposed to involve and include ALL AUSTRALIANS. Even thought, I feel that I’m a proud Australian, I don’t feel that 26 January should be Australia Day. Because it is the day that reminds many thousands of aboriginal people getting killed, raped and wiped off from their countries. It is the day of the beginning of Genocide.
I hear many Australian people say “Get over it”. I wonder if I go to their house, and say I invented this house. Kill and rape few of them in the house, and then bring all my relatives and friends to live there and claim it’s my house. Then after so many years I say since you’re here, now you’re part of us as well. Let’s celebrate the day that we arrived in this house. Would you accept it?
I still hear some people say it’s not them who have done it, it’s their ancestors fault so why they have to be sorry about it and why they have to change the date…. “Get over it”. I belief, at least if we don’t make it right now, when is the right time? I wonder if we say the same thing about Gallipoli, would they accept it. If we say it happed so many years ago, why are you still remembering that day “Get over it”, would they accept it? I see double standards and hypocrisy.
I belief people are waking up to this, especially the younger generation.
I’m a proud Australian, and I don’t like 26 January as the Australian Day. It is one of the Darkest Day in Australian history. Let’s find a day that include EVERY Australian.
posted by Haran @ 23:38
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