Rachael Hocking is a NITV Indigenous Affairs reporter and a Warlpiri woman. She writes that the story of Australia does not begin on 26 January 232 years ago. It goes back 60 million years and about 21 million sunsets.
I’ll have experienced 27 January 26s by the end of this coming week: a day that is often referred to as Australia Day.
Many First Nations had made the actual events that took place on this day in 1788 when Governor Arthur Phillip raised a British flag over a location now called Sydney Cove, a symbol of Invasion and survivability. Others celebrate the anniversary as the birthplace of modern Australia.
In 1994, I celebrated my first January 26 – this was also when the Australian government officially declared the date the “national day” of the country. As a Warlpiri and Indigenous Affairs reporter who grew up with Australia Day in Australia, I’ve seen a change in the collective memory.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, January 26 became “our” day in schools. The Southern Cross was taught to students, but they didn’t know that it is a constellation that guided my ancestors over millennia.
The ANZACs were taught, and we reenacted the First Fleet. But these lessons conveniently omitted stories of Indigenous Resistance. We were told that the first wars fought by this country were for the Crown, and none took place on our soil. We were told that Captain James Cook was a lieutenant, but we didn’t know about Bennelong Pemulwuy and Barangaroo, our first diplomats, warriors, and soldiers.
Sydney hosts re-enactments and has been hosting annual tall ship regattas for over a century to commemorate the date. In 1938, Sydney decided to recreate Phillip’s landing. They brought in Aboriginal men from regional towns and locked them up in the barracks stables. The men were dressed up to portray “natives fleeing from the British musket.”
On the same day, one of the earliest Aboriginal protests documented took place. The group claimed that the 150th anniversary of Colonialisation should be a “Day of Mourning” rather than a celebration. They demanded justice through equal citizenship rights.
Next up was the bicentenary. Sydney hosted the ‘largest protest ever since the Vietnam Moratorium’ as 1988 celebrations swept the city. The protests were about land rights and the retelling of 1788 through the eyes of First Nations: they called it Invasion.
I spent a lot of time on the road, traveling to many different places across the continent. Some of them were in my grandfather’s traditional Warlpiri land, southwest of Katherine, at an outstation named Parnta. Some were spent on Larrakia land in the beautiful northern area where Darwin Harbour meets the Timor Sea.
I spent a lot of time on Kulin Land in Melbourne in 2018. This is where we had the largest Invasion Day demonstrations in Australia to date.
I have seen people use this data to their worst advantage over the past 25 years. Some drink, party, and even exclude those who don’t fit into their narrow-minded view of what it is to be part of this nation.
I have seen First Nations people invite the country to understand our diverse and complex cultures while also holding them accountable. I’ve seen non-Indigenous people genuinely seeking to understand.
In the last few years, I have spent my dates on Gadigal Land, the home of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House that is located nearby.
My day as a journalist for the national Indigenous radio of the country begins just before dawn. We remember the wars and massacres that ravaged our country and people in the 1800s and into the 20th century.
Later, I speak to protestors using megaphones, who demand reparations and shout proudly: “Always Was. Always Will Be Aboriginal Land”. They have started carrying posters in recent years with images of people who the state has killed.
I go to Survival Day Festivals that celebrate Indigenous Cultures: Their resilience and their existence despite efforts to eradicate languages and all children and conquer the land.
I talk to many people who do not relate to January 26th in the same way as the Crocodile Dundee-style advertisements that you may see during the Super Bowl.
As a Warlpiri from the central desert, I have a fraught relationship with dating. Years ago, in my final year at university, I called that feeling “isolation.” Years later, it’s probably more like responsibility.
Many Australians still do not accept the full history of Australia. This is why the calls for a Truth and Justice Commission have become louder. Many First Nations people are actively involved in this activity. They speak the language of the country they’re in and share the stories of the warriors that have not been memorialized by statues but rather passed down orally by their Elders.
Truthfully, the history of this continent does not begin with the 26th of January 232 years ago or even when a lieutenant first sailed up the coast in 1770. It goes back over 60 thousand years to more than 21 million sunsets. Many people will refuse to celebrate Australia Day until this country accepts its history and the trauma it caused.