Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples prior to 1945

day of mourning

One of the most famous protests prior to 1965
was the Day of Mourning. To coincide with the
150th anniversary of European colonisation on
26 January 1938, Aboriginal leaders including
Jack Patten, William Cooper, William Ferguson
and Doug Nicholls organised a protest to stand
as a contrast with Australia Day celebrations.
The Day of Mourning began with a march from
Sydney Town Hall through the streets of Sydney,
attended by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
people, and concluded at the Day of Mourning
Congress, attended by Aboriginal people only.

assimilation policies

The Assimilation policy was a policy of absorbing Aboriginal people into white society through the process of removing children from their families. The ultimate intent of this policy was the destruction of Aboriginal society

cummeragunja walk-off

The Cummeragunja Walk-off was a famous
protest in 1939, in which Aboriginal people
living at the Cummeragunja Mission staged a
walk-off in protest at their living conditions. The
Cummeragunja Mission, situated on the banks
of the Murray River in NSW, was home mostly to
Yorta Yorta people, who lived in the area and had
been forced to move there.
In 1938, however, people became unhappy
with the management of the mission, and
their treatment – living conditions were poor
and there were tight restrictions on daily
movements. On 4 February, Jack Patten was
arrested and removed from the mission for
trying to address the people living there, as he
was hoping to get their point of view across to the
NSW Aborigines Protection Board.
In response, around 200 people crossed the
Murray River into Victoria, contravening laws
set out by the NSW Protection Board restricting
the movement of Aboriginal people. Many of the
people from Cummeragunja had been involved
with the Aborigines Advancement League,
including Doug Nicholls, William Cooper, Eric
Onus, Bill Onus, Kaleb Morgan, Shadrach and
Thomas James, Marge Tucker and Ebenezer
Lovett.
Although some residents returned to the mission
after the walk-off, most never returned, instead
moving to places such as Barmah, Echuca,
Shepparton, Mooroopna and Fitzroy. In 1953
the NSW Protection Board decided to close the
mission due to the low number of people living
there.