Day+of+Mourning

. The Day of Mourning, aimed to publicise the plight of Australian Aborigines to the Australian people, and put pressure on the Commonwealth and State governments to consult with Aboriginal people in order to formulate unified policies for Aborigines. The following resolution was passed:  We, representing the ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA, assembled in Conference ... on the 26th day of January, 1938, this being the 150th Anniversary of the whitemen's seizure of our country, HEREBY MAKE PROTEST against the callous treatment of our people by the whitemen during the past 150 years, AND WE APPEAL to the Australian Nation of today to make new laws for the education and care of Aborigines, and we ask for a new policy which will raise our people to FULL CITIZEN STATUS and EQUALITY WITHIN THE COMMUNIT **Y**.

(Leaflet produced by the Aborigines Progressive Association on the Day of Mourning and Protest, 26/1/1938. cited in //Discovering Democracy Lower Secondary// //Units//, page 93)

The AAL issues a manifesto which read: // You are the new Australians, but we are the old Australians. You have almost exterminated our people, but there are enough of us remaining to expose the humbug of your claims as white Australians to be a civilized, progressive, kindly and humane nation…We do not wish to be regarded with sentimental sympathy or ‘preserved’ like the koala bear as exhibits, but we do ask for your real sympathy and understanding. //  (//Victims or Victors?// page 35).

**How would Australia look today if there had been no white settlement?**
I think the European’s took control of the indigenous aboriginals’ and stole a lot of there land and change there whole future. Also Australia had animals that were never endangered because of the way of the aboriginals of living. They lived by the land and look after the land and cherished it that is why there was no harm done to Australia’s native wild life. Now many of the native Australian animals are endangered or extinct. If Australia was never invaded from the English man I really think the aboriginals would still be living the way they (had) be living thousands of years ago. **Mark S**

If there had been no settlement the aboriginals would have been left alone and possibly not even known of. Australia would not have even been called Australia and there would be less endangered animals from land clearing life would be more basic and would have no big buildings unless the aboriginals built some in the far future. The Aboriginals would have been left to have Australia the way that they wanted it to be and live the way they wanted to and wear whatever they wanted. But who is to say they would have been better off if white settlement never happened because it was true they were fine to begin with but some good things can go bad. **(Annette)**