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EDMT5679:

Part A: Resources Analysis

Resource 1: The Abo Call (Newspaper): Our Historic day of Mourning & Protest (April,
1938):

This article published in 1938, gives an insightful overview into the proceedings which

occurred during the 1938 protest by the Aboriginal community now more popularly referred

to as the day of mourning. This article ties into the NSW Education Standards Authority (2017)

syllabus for teaching stage 5 history, specifically the depth 4 study which requires students to

examine the significance of Aboriginal activism during this period which involved many

changes to Aboriginal rights and freedom. The article gives information of the issues that were

raised during this meeting which was inclusively intended for only the attendance of people

with ‘Aboriginal blood’. The article which voices the issues raised at this protest is accurate

regarding the events that were taking place during this period. ‘White’ Australia was

celebrating the progression that country had made throughout the past 150 years, however for

the Aboriginal community it was a reminder of their exclusion from rights and laws which

could improve their way of life (Maynard, 2007). The article gives an Aboriginal perspective

of their exclusion, a perspective which is not romanticized yet simply to understand: Aboriginal

people were not treated fairly to the ‘white’ population, which plays into the issue of racism

from this period. This article details a protest which was conducted under the authority of

mainly Jack T. Patten, an Aboriginal civil rights activist, who was one of the founders and

president of the Aborigines’ Progressive Association (APA). The article states that all

Aboriginal people who fell under the jurisdiction of the Aboriginal Protection Act (1898) were

welcome and that non Aboriginal people were not. Overall the article is a great piece of

evidence, however there as some issues which need to be addressed within the article. Firstly,

the terminology which is used throughout the text is improper now, referring to Aboriginal

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people as Aborigines, which as we have discussed in class attempts to consolidate Aboriginal

culture as one singular culture, which is not case and as such the term is now considered

inappropriate to use when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The other

issue is the actual name of the newspaper, which uses the term ‘Abo’ which is considered racial

offensive within society (Flinders University, n.d.).

Link to Article: http://aiatsis.gov.au/collections/collections-online/digitised-collections/day-

mourning-and-protest-aborigines-conference-75th-anniversary/26th-january-1938

Resource 2: The Policy of Assimilation, January 26th and 27th 1961: Canberra

This resource is a transcript released in 1961 regarding the native welfare conference held in

Canberra by the Commonwealth and State ministers. The article details the decision agreed

upon by all states of Australia regarding the proceedings of the Policy of Assimilation, a law

which had a great impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This resource

also fits into the depth 4 study of the stage 5 syllabus for the history curriculum, expect this

source falls under the expectation which asks students to identify the key impacts that the

assimilation policy had on the rights and freedoms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

people (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2017). Although the policy is presented in a

positive manner to help better the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, what it

ended up causing was a destruction of identity/culture and provided a justifiable law for actions

which were callous. Aboriginal Studies academic, Michael Dodson (1996) said in an interview

that the policy of Assimilation was embedded with a clear ideology of culture inferiority, that

white culture and their way of life was superior to that of Aboriginal culture and in turn the

policy was a means to protect but to extinct Aboriginal people and their culture. The transcript

plays into this popular generalization that the Aboriginal way of life is inferior to the white

way of life, whilst it’s political romantic wording tries to establish the positivity of the policy,

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however the events that followed the commencing of the policy indicate otherwise. The

transcript, as well as the conference lacks Aboriginal support or involvement, in-fact it sought

to oppress the say of Aboriginal people within society. The policy was a manifestation of white

government and their control over the country (West & Murphy, 2010). The source is

extremely ethnocentric, through its assumption that White-European culture is superior, whilst

the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is neglected, rather they are all

combined into one culture.

Link to text: http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/18801.pdf

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Part B: Classroom Use

The resource I have chosen to implement in a classroom lesson when teaching the Depth 4

study of rights and freedom is the newspaper article published by the Abo Call in 1938 about

the event which is now referred to as the Day of Mourning. The aim of implementing this

resource into the classroom is to provide a perspective which comes directly from the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, as too often the resources readily available

are produced without the viewpoint of the group or individuals directly involved. This provides

a deeper and richer understanding not only historical events but also Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander culture (Shipp, 2013). Similarly, from a historical perspective the resource is a

very valuable way of teaching key historical skills, like differentiating between primary and

secondary sources. This will help students to meet one of the key outcomes set by NESA,

which states from students should learn to select and analyse a range of historical sources to

locate information relevant to an historical inquiry (NSW Education Standards Authority,

2017). This a very important resource which requires students to think critically about the

struggles that were occurring within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community as

the time. A positive learning strategy for this task would be to get students in pairs and have

them read over the article and then identify one issue they thought was important and one

concept they didn’t understand and then coming together as a class for a discussion. The

resource directly links to the syllabus produced by NESA, which requires students to learn

about the struggle for rights obtaining rights and freedom within the Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander community, as well as also fitting into the section which requires students to

engage with early about early twentieth-century activism with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander community. This will contribute to student’s other outcome implemented by NESA

includes being able to identify group or individual actions which had an impact on how society

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is now shaped and teaches how to use relevant sources to construct arguments and ideas within

a historical context (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2017).

Reference List:

Dodson, M. (1996). Assimilation versus self-determination: No contest: Dodson

(1996). Australian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 18 April 2017, from
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/assimilation-versus-self-determination-
no-contest-dodson-1996

Flinders University. (n.d). Appropriate Terminology, Representations and Protocols of

Acknowledgement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Author.
s
Maynard, J. (2007). Fight for liberty and freedom (1st ed.). Canberra: Aboriginal Studies
Press.

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2017). Core Study – Depth Study 4: Rights and
freedoms (1945–present). Retrieved 19 April 2017, from
http://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/hsie/history-k10/content/835/

Shipp, C. (2013). Bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into the
classroom: Why and how?. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 21(3), 24-29.

The Abo Call. (1938). Our Historic day of Mourning & Protest, p. 2. Retrieved from
https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/r000006632049n1p2.pdf

The Policy of Assimilation. (1961). Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Studies. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from
https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/18801.pdf

West, B., & Murphy, F. (2010). A brief history of Australia (1st ed.). New York, NY: Infobase
Publishing.