Cummeragunja walk-off
Cummeragunja Walk-off in 1939 was the first massive Aboriginal resistance in Australia . Over 150 residents of the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Station protested against the bad treatment and exploitation of the Aborigines there with an extract from the Cummeragunja mission. The mission station was on the New South Wales border on the Murray River and on the Victoria border at Barmah .
It was the first strike in which aborigines took part in massive numbers.
Cummeragunja Mission Station
The Cummeragunja mission station, which was founded in 1881, was mostly inhabited by the Yorta-Yorta aborigines, and was self - sufficient by growing and selling agricultural products. Many of the Aborigines living there came from the nearby Maloga mission, which was organized in a strictly religious manner. When the New South Wales Aboriginal Protection Board took control of the mission and residents in 1915 , the situation worsened. The economic proceeds went to the New South Wales Board and no funds were reinvested. In the 1930s, because of this situation, many residents left the station or their relatives migrated.
Living conditions and strike
On the orders of the new head of the mission, McQuiggan, they cut down on food and supplies; they had to sleep with blankets on the floor and were dressed in rags. Due to the poor conditions, there have been cases of tuberculosis and whooping cough ; the health of the Aborigines living there deteriorated. Jack Patten came to Cummeragunja in late January 1939 and wanted to speak to the protesters and asked for the release of McQuiggan, the mission's manager, and the manager called the police, who took him and his brother into custody. In protest against these conditions, 150 people from Cummeragunja moved across the border from New South Wales to Barmah in Victoria and set up camp there. Every change of location by Aborigines was ordered or had to be approved by the Aboriginal Protection Board .
The official authorities were completely surprised by this rebellion and the measure found numerous sympathizers who supported the strike. They collected food and funds and made them available to protesters on the Murray River. As the press covered the mistreatment, a discussion about the living conditions and treatment of Aborigines began, which sparked political change that was later reflected in the Aboriginal Act of New South Wales .
Memorial days
In 1988, 200 years after the British colonizers began taking the land, 100 people took part in the so-called Cummeragunja Walk On to commemorate the 1939 protest; and in 2004 the Yorta-Yorta Aborigines received the right to manage parts of their original land and the Barmah Millewa Forest in cooperation with the state.
On February 3rd and 4th, 2009, to mark the 70th anniversary, a memorial march was held over 81 kilometers from Cummeragunja Church to the Yorta Yorta National Office Barmah .
Personalities from Cummeragunja
- Sir Douglas Nicholls , Governor of South Australia .
- William Cooper , founder of the Australian Aborigines League and main initiator of the Aboriginal Day of Mourning , which takes place parallel to Australia Day .
- Jack Patten , founder of the Aboriginal Progressive Association and organizer of the Day of Mourning.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Cummeragunja Strike, 1939 , accessed May 10, 2015.
- ↑ The Cummera Walk Off and the return to Base Camp Politics
- ^ Page www.kooriweb.org , accessed on June 6, 2009
- ↑ Page www.abc.net.au ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 6, 2009
- ↑ Page on www.greatersheppartion.com ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 6, 2009
