Amy McQuire in The Guardian talks about what today means for indigenous Australians:
My preferred name for 26 January, however, was one of its earliest – the day of mourning. On this day, First Nations peoples mourn the loss of land, of their children, of their wages, of their remains. They mourn the loss of control over their own future. Australians may want us to “get over it”, to stop being so “sensitive”. But then, why do we still set aside a day of remembrance on ANZAC day to commemorate those who risked their lives at war? And why don’t we acknowledge the brave Aboriginal fighters who sacrificed everything in the frontier wars?
Our own national day of competing origin stories is coming up, and although our history is very different to Australia’s it seems we have the exact same arguments every year.
Stephanie Rodgers 