Australia/invasion day

@avant-garde I think the concept of Australia Day has now raised so many conversations, and we need to keep having them to resolve the issues of the past. I am glad you spoke out about your beliefs regarding the day. It's a shame you just received a look, rather than the other person trying to engage in further conversation about the meaning and history behind it. But sometimes people aren't ready for this. And that's their journey.

All the best to you! Keep the education going!

The dates are all messed up people.... the fleet actually arrived in Botany Bay on January 18th, 1788, and relocated to Port Jackson. This move was actually completed on January 27th, 1788 and also stopped a French crew from trying to also claim New Holland as their own. So, to be accurate the INVASION DAY should be the 18th of January.

The AUSTRALIAN NATIONALITY AND CITIZENSHIP ACT 1948 was passed into law on January 26th, 1949. It was at this time every Australian resident became a Citizen of the Australian Commonwealth. The ACT has been amended about 30 times in its history and still fails to properly address the situation of First Nations peoples.

But if we also look at the Dutch exploration of our nation, you will find they in fact launched 29 trips to Australia in the 17th century. These expeditions even set up settlements on the Western Australian coast. As for Captain Cook, wasn't even the first Englishman on our nations soil. That honor belongs to William Dampier, who landed on the Peninsula near Broome that now bears his name.

There are also cave paintings in remote parts of Western Australia which visibly portray European settlers as part of the national fabric. Co-existence and co-habitation started well before the arrival of the First Fleet, and it seems that the media and a small group of people wish to continually corrupt the lessons that were learned long ago.

it is that continued misinformation and misrepresentation that tends to irk me about all this debate. There is even a debate now as to if the First Nations people were in fact the original inhabitants as there has been conjecture over the genetics of some which point to a potential earlier invasion and removal of a previous inhabitants.

@ArraDreaming a lot of this information is readily available if you look for it.

Honestly, I think some of the claims like that of the First Nations removing others would be pretty far-fetched. Mainly because there is no credible physical evidence of this happening, and the genetic differences can be attributed to 2 separate migrations that combined to create a unique culture and people. This can also be evidenced in the differences between mainland and Tasmanian groups due to the isolation of one from the other over about 16,000 years.

There is rock art in the Kimberley region that depicts white settlers living with indigenous tribes, these images are believed to be related to the Dutch expeditions from the 17th century. There is conjecture that some of the people were in fact those missing from the Batavia (a Dutch ship that was involved in a mutiny in the 1600's)

@ArraDreaming I have spoken with a wide array of Uncles and Aunts about it to be honest.

Like I said before but not too clearly, I guess, (as sometimes my mind moves too fast, and my messages get muddled). I think there was no invasion BEFORE the white fellas came here. The differences they speak of are due to evolution over time a bit like the differences between Scandinavians and Italians.