January 26th’s Dawn Reflection Service Celebrated Indigenous Culture and Survival with Speakers Calling for Reflection and Unity
Koomurri performer Les Daniels in front of a projection of artwork by Pitjanjara artist David Miller on the sails of the Opera House on Australia Day. Courtesy of Sydney Morning Herald, 2022.
On January 26th, the Dawn Reflection service at the Circular Quay in Sydney saw the renowned Pitjantjara artist David Miller’s work Ngintaka Tjukurrpa (perentie lizard Dreaming) being projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House.
This particular Dreaming story is significant to the First Nations peoples of central Australia. The artwork tells the story of the Wati Ngintaka (perentie lizard man) stealing a special grindstone and discovering food and water holes as he sprawled across the desert areas, west of the Great Dividing Range. The Perentie lizard is the largest goanna native to Australia and the fourth largest monitor lizard on the planet, growing up to 2.5 metres in length. (Sydney Morning Herald, 2022).
Giant Perentie monitor lizard, Dallas Zoo, Texas. Courtesy of Wikimedia (Greg Goebel), 2007.
“The painting tells the story of my father’s country,” Miller (2022) told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I’m really pleased my father’s Dreaming [was] displayed on the Opera House…I’m very proud and honoured.”
As Miller’s artwork was projected onto the Opera House, both the Aboriginal and Australian national flags were raised on top of the Harbour Bridge to mark the start of Australia Day, otherwise known as Invasion Day. Miller told the Sydney Morning Herald that although he was thrilled by the invitation from the NSW Government to feature his artwork on the Opera House, the date marked the arrival of the First Fleet at Botany Bay and the start of the dispossession and assimilation of his peoples.
“I’m from the centre of the country and we have a different view from people living in the city,” the proud Pitjantjara man (2022) explained to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“We feel Australia Day is about coming together, sharing our stories as Indigenous people and keeping our culture strong.”
A projection of a section of the artwork by David Miller telling the Ngintaka Tjukurpa (Perentie lizard creation story) was beamed onto the Opera House on January 26th. Courtesy of Sydney Morning Herald, 2022.
Nathan Moran, the Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, told the Sydney Morning Herald that even in urban communities the debate of whether to participate in Australia Day or not is one that can be divisive amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.“It’s a vexed and complicated issue…The Indigenous community itself is very split on the question,” Moran said.
Indigenous artists, musicians and dancers faced profound dilemmas when it came to deciding on whether or not they should accept invitations to perform or accept awards on Australia Day. By participating in the official commemorations were they dismissing a day associated with profound intergenerational pain and trauma? Or, by boycotting the event were they giving up the opportunity to have the platform to celebrate and promote Indigenous voice, culture and survival?
Some First Nations performers preferred to only perform in standalone Survival Day/Invasion Day concerts. For example, Indigenous soul singer Emma Donovan told the Sydney Morning Herald that while she would like to see the date of Australia Day changed, she was comfortable with participating in culturally appropriate performances. However, Yolngu hip-hop artist Baker Boy does not share this opinion, as last year when he was awarded an Order of Australia medal on January 26th for his performing arts achievements, he made a post on Instagram acknowledging the honour, but making his opposition to the national day clear (Sydney Morning Herald, 2022). In his post he wrote, “I look forward to a time where we celebrate our country, our people and their achievements on a different day out of respect for all of my First Nations brothers and sisters.”
Russell Dawson, Koomurri dance troupe leader in front of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Courtesy of Sydney Morning Herald (James Alcock), 2022.
Sydney’s Koomurri Aboriginal dance troupe had no issue with performing their annual traditional smoking ceremony and dances for the Australia day morning service. The leader of the dance troupe, Russell Dawson, explained to the press that the dance troupe’s WugulOra (One Mob) performance is devoted to honouring the traditional elders and celebrating the survival of Aboriginal culture (Sydney Morning Herald, 2022).
Yvonne Weldon (2022), proud Wiradjuri woman and Chairperson of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, spoke at the Welcome to Country ceremony on January 26th. Knowing first hand how divisive the day can be for Indigenous Australians, Weldon (2022) called for unity "regardless of what date or day you call it" as "...we need to heal and we can only do this together," she said.“As caretakers of the land this is our job…By providing a ceremonial experience we help people understand that this is a living culture that is still here today. We want people to walk with us and hear our voices,” Dawson elaborated.
Weldon (2022) also called upon the nation to take ownership of its dark past:
"Let us all acknowledge and remember the many sacrifices of my people, the sacrifices then and the sacrifices now.”
Yvonne Weldon, Wiradjuri woman and deputy chair of the Australia Day Council of NSW. Courtesy of Sydney Morning Herald, 2022.
The Wiradjuri woman expressed to the Sydney Morning Herald that she “definitely” had mixed feelings about the day, especially when she was approached to join the board of NSW’s Australia Day Council. With this, Weldon (2022) sought counsel from her elders:
Weldon decided to work with the renowned composer and didgeridoo player William Barton to ensure that Indigenous culture was embedded throughout this year’s Sydney Australia Day program, so that it was not tacked on in a tokenistic way. Weldon said this embedding of Indigenous culture into Australia Day offers Indigenous peoples “a chance to have uncomfortable conversations that won’t happen otherwise” and that it presents a unique opportunity to “teach new Australian citizens about the history of Indigenous dispossession and survival.”“I sought counsel from my elders: people who had fought for land rights and change for my people.”
“They said, ‘Get in the tent, have the conversations, make sure our issues are raised with people so that they hear where we’re coming from rather than being outside the tent throwing rocks from afar.’ So I have been in the tent, I’ve shared my experience.”
Weldon came to the conclusion that, “Regardless of whether Australia Day remains on January 26 or not, it will always represent the start of colonisation. This land was not settled. There were frontier wars, there was heartbreak that has never been owned.”
It is important to understand that for First Nations peoples this particular date is rooted in colonial history, values and behaviours. Thus, the national values of equality, freedom and opportunity celebrated on January 26th are not reflective of the experience of many Indigenous Australians. Many First Nations peoples feel that, without significant changes in the areas of social justice, constitutional recognition, legal restitution and widespread acknowledgement and education of Australia’s true history, there is nothing to celebrate. So, unless something changes here, the narratives and systems in Australia will continue to oppress and disadvantage First Nations people (Common Ground, 2022.
We hope that the traumatic context and history attached to this date for First Nations people can be respectfully acknowledged, so that we, Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians alike, can come together and find a resolution to move forwards as a united nation.