January 26 marks the colonisation of Australia and the grief, heartache and pain that this has inflicted on First Nations people for generations. It is also a moment to recognise the ongoing survival of the oldest existing culture in the world today.
On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip raised the British flag at Warrane, marking the beginning of British colonial rule on Gadigal land. This date, originally commemorated as Foundation Day, has evolved into Australia Day. However, this day also represents the start of the invasion, suffering, and dispossession for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The true history of these lands spans over 60,000 years, far preceding colonial times.
When British settlers began colonizing Australia in 1788, between 750,000 and 1.25 Aboriginal Australians are estimated to have lived there. Soon, epidemics ravaged the island’s indigenous people, and British settlers seized Aboriginal lands.
Though some Aboriginal Australians did resist—up to 20,000 indigenous people died in violent conflict on the colony’s frontiers—most were subjugated by massacres and the impoverishment of their communities as British settlers seized their lands.
Between 1910 and 1970, government policies of assimilation led to between 10 and 33 percent of Aboriginal Australian children being forcibly removed from their homes. These “Stolen Generations” were put in adoptive families and institutions and forbidden from speaking their native languages. Their names were often changed.
For many Aboriginal and Torres Trait Islanders, January 26 is a day of mourning, symbolising the loss of their ancestors, their land, and their rights. It recalls the devastating impact of the Frontier Wars, the ongoing trauma, and the systemic injustices that continue to this day, including disproportionate rates of Black deaths in custody, health inequities, and the desecration of sacred sites. Celebrating on this day overlooks these painful realities and the resilience of First Nations peoples in the face of ongoing colonisation.
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The truth about white Australia: The genocide few talk about
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The killing times: the massacres of Aboriginal people Australia must confront
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Indigenous kids are still being removed from their families, more than ever before
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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
Theory:
oh my god, if I have to hear my dad talk about how "no one wants to walk anymore" for like the 500th time now. and no matter how many times I argue with him, it's like he doesn't care what I say and we constantly loop and loop and loop over this same conversation over and over and over again because nothing I say matters.
He’s right. Frame of reference: me (I don’t like walking)
Is that wrong? That's definitely my read of North Americans
Kind of? the statement not entirely wrong, but it's more like. With my dad instead of being like no one wants to work because there no future here and no one wants to work for awful pay while being treated poorly along with a whole other slew of things. instead it's more like with him, that no one wants to work because everyone just lazy and everyone needs to work harder, despite people already working hard just to get by.
Oh haha you wrote "walk" not "work" in your post
oh I didn't notice, kind of makes it funny and makes me less upset
shit i was thinking your dad was based for standing up to Big Car
I wish, cars can go to hell