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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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • thirtymilliondeadfish [she/her]
    ·
    11 months ago

    I doubt 'genocide joe' made its way from here to there tbh. It's too basic to have not been thought up elsewhere, too nonspecific to pinpoint as us being the origin

    • Gay_Wrath [fae/faer]
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      I agree, most likely it's one of those things that arose independently or we won't ever really find the first usage of the term.

      BUT, since i was curious, I tried searching "Genocide Joe" on oldest search, which supposedly tries to find the first time something appeared. That's saying the first instance of the phrase "Genocide Joe" was this instagram post on Oct 18, 2023, but i'm kind of doubt

      Not sure how else to search for it though.

      IF that's true, then this hexbear post on October 16 does actually predate the instagram one though. So there's no evidence against the hexbear originated the term theory, (that i could find), and that's certainly the funniest theory. Still, i think it probably just happened organically in a few places at once lol.