so today, january 26th, is australia’s national day. but actually, it’s better known to indigenous or aboriginal australians- australia’s first peoples- as invasion day. and here’s why:



january 26th 1788 was the day britain first claimed australia for the british king with no regard for the people already living on the land. what followed were the frontier wars, containing a series of massacres of indigenous australians by white settlers.

did it get worse? yeah, obviously. the australian government implemented a series of policies over a decade that aimed to literally turn aboriginal people white and “breed out” their colour until their cultures died out. in addition to this, thousands of children were taken from their loving families and put on white christian missions where they were disconnected from their culture and in most cases abused. many still haven’t come home.

and this bullshit continues today. indigenous australians form a large percentage of our prison population and are often abused in custody. just today, I was at an invasion day protest where indigenous people and supporters were shoved and sprayed with fire extinguishers by riot police- all because one indigenous guy was burning an australian flag in hurt and anger, which is NOT a criminal offence here.

a lot of people in australia want to move on from this and use australia day to celebrate unity- but we just can’t when the very day marks division and aboriginal australians are STILL not being respected in australian law.

this day, january 26th, marks the beginning of genocide, and australians celebrate it.

I’m white, but I recognise that I live on the land of the dharawal people of new south wales. one of my ancestors was a proud wiradjuri woman of western nsw. they take care of this land.

australian land is, was, and always will be aboriginal land.

this is the australian aboriginal flag, and below it is the torres strait islander flag. don’t forget them.

“POC” is a popular term thrown around on tumblr but you guys are really happy to use it to make everything about america and group all ~people of colour~ together when they have different experiences and cultures. keep this day in mind, and speak out with people in australia.

don’t let the australian government get away with invasion day.

