Did you know that NAIDOC week was born out of the spirit of protest?
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this article contains images of deceased persons.
Prior to the 1920s, First Nations People boycotted Australia Day due to the unjust treatment of their people. This was partly due to their lesser form of citizenship status with no voting rights until 1962. During the 1920’s, they changed tack and became more active to get their message out to the wider Australian Community. In 1924, the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) was founded by Fred Maynard. It is recognised as the first organised politically active and united First Nations People activist group. The AAPA’s opposition to the Protection Board was very public and drew increased political and police scrutiny of the Association and its members. The Inspector General of the NSW police, who was the Chair of the Protection Board, sanctioned police intimidation of AAPA members, including threats to jail AAPA members or remove their children. The group was forced to end all public activity in 1927. 
Fred Maynard
In 1932, William Cooper founded the Australian Aborigines League (AAL). In 1935, he drafted a petition seeking a direct representation in Parliament, enfranchisement and land rights. He wanted First Nations People to have a Voice in Parliament. The petition argued that all First Nations People were British subjects. The Australian Government ignored the petition and decided it fell outside its constitutional responsibilities. The Government met often with William Cooper but always rejected his requests. The inability to get results through the democratic process resulted in the AAL joining forces with the Aborigines Progressive Association (APA).
William Cooper
In 1938, after 150 years of colonisation, the APA arranged a Day of Mourning on Australia Day. One of the events organised for this Australia Day was a re-enactment of the landing of Captain Arthur Phillip. First Nations People living in Sydney refused to participate so men were brought in from Menindee in western NSW. These men were locked up at Redfern Police Barracks until they were needed in the ‘celebrations’. This re-enactment produced a false account of the Eora people running away from the British.
Meanwhile, a conference was being held at Australian Hall in Elizabeth Street, Sydney. It was the first combined interstate protest by the First Nations People of this land and was only for First Nations People. It declared the 26th January to be a Day of Mourning. The people mourned the loss of their country, their freedom and self-determination, and the deaths of so many of their kin. They requested that the nation make new laws for the education and care of First Nations People. They asked that their people be given full citizen status and equality within the community. Following the protest, Prime Minister Joseph Lyons met with organisers. They spent two hours together, but nothing practical resulted.
Left to right: William (Bill) Ferguson, Jack Kinchela, Isaac Ingram, Doris Williams, Esther Ingram, Arthur Williams Jr, Phillip Ingram, unknown, Louisa Agnes Ingram holding daughter Olive, Jack Patten. 26th January, 1938. First Day of Mourning. AIATSIS Collection HORNER2.J03.BW.
The AAL had been able to persuade many religious denominations to declare the Sunday before Australia Day as ‘Aboriginal Sunday’, the first being held in 1940. The day was to serve as a reminder of the unjust treatment of First Nations People. It became an annual event being held on the Sunday before Australia Day until 1955 when a decision was made that the day should not only be about protest but also a celebration of the oldest culture in the world, and the date was changed to the first Sunday in July.
The National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) was formed in 1957. It decided that the second Sunday in July would become a day of remembrance for First Nations People and their heritage. The first National Aborigine Day organised by NADOC was held on Friday 12 July 1957, with church services held on the following Sunday.
NADOC began to provide a platform for prominent First Nations People to deliver powerful speeches about the mistreatment of their people. The speeches addressed full citizenship and racial discrimination bringing their fight under the scope of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It was not until 1974 that the membership of the Committee consisted entirely of First Nations People. In 1975 it was decided that a week of celebration would occur, from the first Sunday to the second Sunday in July. In 1984 NADOC asked that National Aborigines Day be made a public holiday. This request continues to be ignored by the Federal Government.
In 1991, NADOC was expanded to acknowledge Torres Strait Islander people, and the committee became known as the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee or NAIDOC. NAIDOC is now the title for the whole week where the history, culture and achievements of this land’s First Nations People are celebrated.
Copyright Attribution: Photographs accessed from the National Museum of Australia.
