Day Of Mourning Protest Essay

OVERVIEW ON THE DAY OF MOURNING PROTEST

The Day of Mourning Protest, held in Sydney’s Australian Hall on the 26th of January, 1938, was an event organised by the Aborigines Progressive Organisation (APO) in a call for Aboriginal civil rights. It was held on the symbolic sesquicentenary of the British landing at Sydney Cove, as the day represented 150 years of Aboriginal suffering under the Whitemen. All “Aborigines and Persons of Aboriginal Blood” were invited to attend (APO, 1938 in BGGS, 2017, pg. 23).

The protest began with a “silent protest from the Town Hall to the Australian Hall” (AIATSIS, n.d.), attended by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. However, this march was delayed significantly due to the Australia day celebrations

taking place. Over 100 Aborigines then converged at the Australian Hall for the conference, along with four Non-Indigenous people – policemen and pressmen. The meeting was led by Jack Patten and Bill Ferguson.
The protesters had been denied access of the Sydney Town Hall, and on the day were forced to enter through the Australian Hall’s back door, instead of the main entrance. During the meeting, the Aborigines discussed the conference resolution. The resolution aimed to “make protest against the callous treatment of our people by the Whitemen”, also calling for better education, care and equality for Aboriginals. This resolution was moved unanimously when voted upon.
Five days after the protest, twenty Aborigines met with Joseph Lyons, the Prime Minister at the time, to discuss their propositions. They presented him with their manifesto, which included ten main points that encompassed a “long range policy for Aborigines” (State Library NSW, 2012). These points requested some political reforms, including the need for an Aboriginal national policy and Ministry for Aboriginal affairs. As well as this, the document pursued improved housing and education for Aborigines. They also demanded old age and invalid pensions, and maternity allowances, which non-Indigenous Australians had been granted in 1908 and 1912 respectively. However, after two hours of discussion, nothing was agreed upon.
Related Images from the Day of Mourning Protest can be found on Appendix 1.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DAY OF MOURNING PROTEST
The Day of Mourning protest was one of the most significant events of the Aboriginal civil rights movement of the 20th century.
The protest was extremely momentous as it was the first major Aboriginal protest that took place on a national scale (BGGS, 2017, p. 22), with APO members from various states coming together to organise the conference. The protest “represents the most clearly identifiable beginning of the contemporary Aboriginal political movement” (Dictionary of Sydney, 2008). Although there were other minor protests preceding the Day of Mourning, these protests were state and territory-based, while the 1938 protest was the first to be nationally recognised.
The Day of Mourning protest also gained significant media attention. A reporter and cameraman both attended, recording and discussing the events in “Man” magazine (Australian National University, n.d.). It was also publicized in the APO’s newspaper, the “Abo Call”, a newspaper focused on Indigenous issues (State Library NSW, 2012). This media promotion caused more people to learn about the Aboriginal sufferings. This media exposure caused Prime Minister Joseph Lyons to meet with some of the Aborigines a few days after the protest to discuss their Aboriginal rights propositions (Skwirk, n.d.). To have their propositions heard by such an influential person was very important.
The protest paved the way for future events in the Aboriginal rights movement. After the Aboriginal delegation met with PM Joseph Lyons, major reforms were made of the Protection Boards (Dictionary of Sydney, 2008), and ultimately enough support was gathered in the movement through protests and other events, that in 1967 the Australian people voted “yes” to include the entire Aboriginal population in the census.
Significantly, the protest is memorialised with Day of Mourning events occurring all over Australia every year. The timing of the original protest significantly represents the ingenuity of the APO. By introducing indigenous perspectives on a national scale on this day specifically, Australians see Australia Day in a different light. The Day of Mourning’s impact endures today and has contributed to our understanding of Aboriginal sufferings.
Copies of the newspapers from the Day of Mourning Protest can be found in Appendix 2.

VARYING PERSPECTIVES ON THE DAY OF MOURNING PROTEST
Aboriginal activist Jack Patten vs Aboriginal writer and inventor David Unaipon
President of the Aborigines Progressive Organisation, Jack Patten, believed that Aborigines had “no reason to rejoice on Australia’s 150th birthday” and that they must make themselves heard by protesting against their years of unjust treatment on Australia’s official national day.

In contrast, David Unaipon, an Aboriginal inventor and author, stated that the Day of Mourning Protest was a “huge mistake”, and that instead Aborigines must wait patiently for their rights.

Both men agreed that Aboriginal rights were an important issue that needed to be addressed. This shared opinion was due to their shared experiences as Aborigines and the timing of both opinions, when Aboriginal people were marginalised and forgotten in society.

However, the two men had very different understandings on how positive change would be brought about for Aborigines. This can be explained by the men’s ideals and values. David Unaipon was known for his preference for gradual change. He was also seen by some Aboriginal activists as trying too hard to act like a white man and integrate with white society, especially by activists such as Jack Patten who believed he should be supporting their cause. However, this was Unaipon’s way of trying to create change for Aborigines by being respectful and showing that the whites were not superior to Aborigines. Patten’s protest was peaceful, however he believed that the white people needed to be spoken out against rather than integrated

with.
The varying opinions can also be explained by the men’s personal experience. Unaipon was an inventor and writer who was somewhat respected by the white people for his contributions to society and grew up more privileged than Patten, who was not respected by the white people.
Copies of the two perspectives can be found in Appendix 3.

USEFULNESS OF A SOURCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE DAY OF MOURNING PROTEST
Aboriginal activist Jack Patten’s opening address
Aboriginal activist Jack Patten’s opening address at the Day of Mourning protest is a very useful historical source. The speech was given on the day of the protest, and therefore represents an immediate and on-the-spot perspective of an Aboriginal Australian at the time. The speaker himself, Jack Patten, was an Aboriginal man and therefore had first-hand knowledge of the rights and freedoms denied of the Aborigines, providing a useful perspective of a person well-situated to observe and comment on the events of the rights movement. Furthermore, the fact that his speech was the imperative opening address adds to its usefulness as an important historical source, as the speech took place at a momentous event in our country’s history. Patten was a major spokesperson for the Aboriginal civil rights movement and commented in his speech about how not all Australians can “rejoice on Australia’s 150th birthday”. He went on to explain that the protest aims to make the White people aware of the “frightful conditions” that the Aboriginals live in, further emphasising the perspectives of the Aborigines and highlighting the source’s usefulness. The use of emotive language such as “starved to death” and “we refuse to be pushed into the background” accentuates the struggles of the Aborigines in 1938 and stresses the frustration they experienced when denied their human rights. Finally, Jack Patten asks the White people to “give us a chance”, echoing the cry of many Aborigines at the time, who did not want to be “left behind in Australia’s march to progress”. This statement sums up all that Aborigines sought for, and is useful in determining the situation of the First Peoples during the late 1930s, who just wanted to be heard by the White people. As a historical speech, the opening address of Jack Patten is extremely useful for students of history as it provides valuable insight into the Aboriginal civil rights movement in 1938 Australia.
A copy of Jack Patten’s opening address can be found in Appendix 4