Happy Australia Day
26/01/13 03:58
I’m up a little early, so as I write the sun is going down and the day is ending in Australia. It is always a bit difficult to wrap one’s mind around the simple fact that the people in Australia are always ahead of us in the calendar. By 6 am here, it is tomorrow in Australia. By the time my friends in Australia read this blog, they will have moved on. Still, at least in some sense of the word, today is Australia day. It is the national holiday celebrating the founding of the country, sort of like the 4th of July here. And yes, it is summer in Australia, so the celebration is filled with barbecues and picnics and parades and fireworks.
Of course it wouldn’t be Australia if there weren’t some unique foods and some unique words. Folks here in South Dakota don’t often feast on Mate Pie. Of course it might just be meat pie with that wonderful Australian accent. Or perhaps it’s just pie, mate. Aussie pies are the national dish, so there will be some good eating whatever you call them. And you might want to check out the sausages on the barbe. Australians feel little need for the que that we put at the end of that word. The sausages might be beef, pork, or chicken like you’d find here in the states, but we don’t often get emu or kangaroo. Speaking of those two creatures, you can also get a ½ Emu, ½ Kangaroo Pizza to celebrate Australia Day.
225 years ago, on January 26, 1788, the First Fleet arrived in Australia. The agrarian revolution in Britain, and the population explosion in the cities, resulted in an increase in crime. The American Revolution, however, meant that no more convicts could be sent there. So Britain had to look to more distant shores to export its criminals and decrease overcrowding in its jails. The British Government hired 9 ships and provisioned them with enough supplies to keep 759 convicts, their Marine guards, (some with their families) and a few civil officers going until they could become self-sufficient in the new country. The nine ships, with 2 Naval vessels for escort left England May 13, 1787 for the ‘lands beyond the seas’ – Australia. Some of the convicts had been living on the ships for up to 7 months before the actual departure. 23 died during the voyage.
The fleet arrived at Botany Bay between January 18th and 20th, but the area was deemed unsuitable for settlement, so they moved north and arrived at Port Jackson on the Australian East cost on January 26.
The British thought of Australia as being uninhabited and free for the taking. The indigenous people thought differently of that notion. They were wary and fearful of the settlers. The settlers referred to the aboriginals as “Indians.” The name didn’t stick as it had on the North American continent.
The history of relationships between Australian aboriginal people and the settlers has been rocky, not unlike the history between settlers and natives in our land. But the Australians are making progress on the long road toward reconciliation. The government has officially recognized some of the wrongs of the past.
With the history behind the day, there was a symbolic event early this morning that is worthy of note. Around 8am Australia Eastern Daylight Time, before the obligatory family barbecues and citizenship ceremonies were under way across the country, the Aboriginal and Australian flags were slowly raised on the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was the first time both flags have flown side by side atop the bridge on Australia Day.
Many Aboriginal people see little reason to celebrate January 26. The day is marked as “Invasion Day” in parts of the country. In Hobart, in Tasmania, protestors marched in the streets demanding, among other things, that the day of national celebration be changed to another day – one not associated with the seizure of Aboriginal lands and the displacing of the language, culture, and rights of the indigenous people.
Australia continues to this day to be a land of immigrants. In more than 80 citizenship ceremonies across the land, more than 2,500 new citizens from 92 countries took the pledge and became citizens of Australia. Those prisoners who left England never to return weren’t the only outsiders who came to call the Island nation home.
Most Australians respect and honor this rich diversity. They embrace the gifts that new citizens bring to their land. They enjoy the new foods, new cultures and new languages that daily come to their shores. But it is also a land with tensions. Problems with immigration frequently top the news stories in the land. And there are more than a few Australians who like the fact that the country is not crowded and it can be a hard place to make a living.
Australians have mixed emotions surrounding their national anthem. Like other British colonies, the official anthem was “God Save the Queen.” But the time came when a new song was needed. There were Australians who wanted to stick with the traditional British anthem. Others argued that “Waltzing Matilda” expressed the spirit of their country better. They finally settled on “Advance Australia Fair.” There is a lot of mumbling when Australians sing the song. I’m not too sure how many know the words:
225 years ago, on January 26, 1788, the First Fleet arrived in Australia. The agrarian revolution in Britain, and the population explosion in the cities, resulted in an increase in crime. The American Revolution, however, meant that no more convicts could be sent there. So Britain had to look to more distant shores to export its criminals and decrease overcrowding in its jails. The British Government hired 9 ships and provisioned them with enough supplies to keep 759 convicts, their Marine guards, (some with their families) and a few civil officers going until they could become self-sufficient in the new country. The nine ships, with 2 Naval vessels for escort left England May 13, 1787 for the ‘lands beyond the seas’ – Australia. Some of the convicts had been living on the ships for up to 7 months before the actual departure. 23 died during the voyage.
The fleet arrived at Botany Bay between January 18th and 20th, but the area was deemed unsuitable for settlement, so they moved north and arrived at Port Jackson on the Australian East cost on January 26.
The British thought of Australia as being uninhabited and free for the taking. The indigenous people thought differently of that notion. They were wary and fearful of the settlers. The settlers referred to the aboriginals as “Indians.” The name didn’t stick as it had on the North American continent.
The history of relationships between Australian aboriginal people and the settlers has been rocky, not unlike the history between settlers and natives in our land. But the Australians are making progress on the long road toward reconciliation. The government has officially recognized some of the wrongs of the past.
With the history behind the day, there was a symbolic event early this morning that is worthy of note. Around 8am Australia Eastern Daylight Time, before the obligatory family barbecues and citizenship ceremonies were under way across the country, the Aboriginal and Australian flags were slowly raised on the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was the first time both flags have flown side by side atop the bridge on Australia Day.
Many Aboriginal people see little reason to celebrate January 26. The day is marked as “Invasion Day” in parts of the country. In Hobart, in Tasmania, protestors marched in the streets demanding, among other things, that the day of national celebration be changed to another day – one not associated with the seizure of Aboriginal lands and the displacing of the language, culture, and rights of the indigenous people.
Australia continues to this day to be a land of immigrants. In more than 80 citizenship ceremonies across the land, more than 2,500 new citizens from 92 countries took the pledge and became citizens of Australia. Those prisoners who left England never to return weren’t the only outsiders who came to call the Island nation home.
Most Australians respect and honor this rich diversity. They embrace the gifts that new citizens bring to their land. They enjoy the new foods, new cultures and new languages that daily come to their shores. But it is also a land with tensions. Problems with immigration frequently top the news stories in the land. And there are more than a few Australians who like the fact that the country is not crowded and it can be a hard place to make a living.
Australians have mixed emotions surrounding their national anthem. Like other British colonies, the official anthem was “God Save the Queen.” But the time came when a new song was needed. There were Australians who wanted to stick with the traditional British anthem. Others argued that “Waltzing Matilda” expressed the spirit of their country better. They finally settled on “Advance Australia Fair.” There is a lot of mumbling when Australians sing the song. I’m not too sure how many know the words:
Australians, let us all rejoice
For we are young and free
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare,
In history’s page let every stage
Advance Australia fair,
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
We’ll toil with hearts and hands,
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands,
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share,
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia fair.
At least the tune is upbeat. But everyone knows the words to Waltzing Matilda.
Happy Australia Day friends down under! May the journey of your land and people lead to increased respect and reconciliation and peace with the whole world.