January 26 marks the colonisation of Australia and the grief, heartache and pain that this has inflicted on First Nations people for generations. It is also a moment to recognise the ongoing survival of the oldest existing culture in the world today.

On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip raised the British flag at Warrane, marking the beginning of British colonial rule on Gadigal land. This date, originally commemorated as Foundation Day, has evolved into Australia Day. However, this day also represents the start of the invasion, suffering, and dispossession for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The true history of these lands spans over 60,000 years, far preceding colonial times.

When British settlers began colonizing Australia in 1788, between 750,000 and 1.25 Aboriginal Australians are estimated to have lived there. Soon, epidemics ravaged the island’s indigenous people, and British settlers seized Aboriginal lands.

Though some Aboriginal Australians did resist—up to 20,000 indigenous people died in violent conflict on the colony’s frontiers—most were subjugated by massacres and the impoverishment of their communities as British settlers seized their lands.

Between 1910 and 1970, government policies of assimilation led to between 10 and 33 percent of Aboriginal Australian children being forcibly removed from their homes. These “Stolen Generations” were put in adoptive families and institutions and forbidden from speaking their native languages. Their names were often changed.

For many Aboriginal and Torres Trait Islanders, January 26 is a day of mourning, symbolising the loss of their ancestors, their land, and their rights. It recalls the devastating impact of the Frontier Wars, the ongoing trauma, and the systemic injustices that continue to this day, including disproportionate rates of Black deaths in custody, health inequities, and the desecration of sacred sites. Celebrating on this day overlooks these painful realities and the resilience of First Nations peoples in the face of ongoing colonisation.

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  • Stoatmilk [he/him]English
    7•1 year ago

    Bit idea: making a thoughtful post about a serious topic but starting it with “It seems today, that all you see”

  • asa_red_heathen [he/him]English
    11•1 year ago

    Playing skyrim again. trying to work with half broken mods since Beth thought it was a good idea to update a 13 year old game

    • RION [she/her]English
      3•1 year ago

      I think you can downgrade pretty easily. There should be stuff on /r/skyrimmods

  • Moss [they/them]
    English
    10•1 year ago

    I did not one but TWO drawings today! I drew Choso from Jujutsu Kaisen and Reze from Chainsaw Man. I’ve been getting much better at my anatomy and proportions, usually if something looks wrong I can figure out why and change it just by thinking about what a body should look like. I still have a long way to go, I’ve never used colour and not done much realistic drawing, and landscapes are a complete mystery to me, but I’ve been drawing for about 8 months now and am very proud of how far I’ve come.

  • DragonBallZinn [he/him, they/them]English
    14•1 year ago

    I have a couple announcements:

    • After the college fiasco, I already have a ‘useless’ degree so I’m going to ask some professors if I am better off just going to grad school? If that happens, I’ll be ‘all caught up’ in one fell swoop.

    • I will say this until I fully accept it, but I am flag-bi-pride. I would probably be even more interested in men if I wasn’t held down by shame. Sue me, twinks and himbos are hot.

  • nemmybun [she/her, sae/saer]English
    8•1 year ago

    Recently finished my replay of RE4 (original) after GDQ made me nostalgic. I was excited to start up another RE today but then remembered that RE5 is too racist, RE6 is too bland, and my PC is too old to play the remakes. I wish I had the money to upgrade my stuff madeline-sadeline

  • Poison_Ivy [comrade/them]English
    17•1 year ago

    Not me running LGBT support group at my job and having to wrangle the enbys and transes into staying on topic and not make “gender fluids” jokes blob-no-thoughts

  • plinky [he/him]English
    9•1 year ago

    a-little-trolling folks, they’ve said I couldn’t do it, they’ve said could he really succeed in texas, and what do you know folks? I did it, texas has seceded.

  • plinky [he/him]English
    8•1 year ago

    thonks by poston twitter thonk

    Early people couldn’t figure out what myopia is, so thought it was kinda of lying-about-being-blind-person. But what they should have thought that people with myopia are seeing the real world of eidos nerd Shapeless blobs in distance kinda samey but different

  • viva_la_juche [they/them, any]English
    13•1 year ago

    I’m probably showing my age here but I can not FUCKING stand tik toks where the stupid mf is espousing some bullshit take in a condescending tone while eating or drinking. It is so fucking obnoxious and literally makes me murderous. Idk why but it magnifies the irritating tone of their shit by a bajillion. Eat your fucking shit later you stupid ass idiot, it’s a minute long video you treat obsessed troglodyte, fuck