Yorta Yorta man, William Cooper famously led a march to the German Consulate in Melbourne in November 1938 to protest the Nazi persecution of Jewish people.
Cooper’s action was stimulated by the horrific actions of Adolf Hitler’s
notorious ‘Kristallnacht’ or the Night of Broken Glass.
This was a pogrom against Jews carried out throughout Nazi Germany between November 9 and 10, 1938.
Those involved included the Nazi Party’s paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth as well as German civilians.
In 1934, the very same William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines’ League had also been actively collecting signatures to petition King George V, requesting representation for Aboriginal people in the Australian Parliament.
In 1937 William Cooper wrote a letter on behalf of the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association beginning the process of drawing attention to “the present deplorable condition of all aborigines, of whatever stage of culture, after 150 years of British rule”.
Cooper and the League also spearheaded the organisation of the first Day of Mourning, which was held on January 26, 1938, to coincide with the 150th anniversary of British colonisation.
A wide circle of indigenous leaders including Douglas Nicholls, William Ferguson, Jack Patten and Margaret Tucker organised the first Day of Mourning, asking all Christian denominations to observe the day and preach sermons on that day to deal with the particular needs of Australia’s aboriginal people.
This call was not taken up until Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, William Wand commending the proposal in 1940.
The Day of Mourning was finally observed nationally from at least 1946.
By 1957 the NADOC day of remembrance had become a day of remembrance and a day of celebration for Aboriginal people and their heritage and for Australia on the first Sunday in July.
NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.
Originally, the committee was formed to organise events for a specific day, but it has since evolved into a full week of celebration with a wider representation.
NAIDOC Week (1991)
In 1991 NADOC became NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee), to recognise Torres Strait Islanders and to describe a whole week of recognition, rather than just one day.
The committee’s acronym has since become the name of the week itself.
It is an acronym that now stands firmly as the name for the annual week-long celebrations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their history, culture and achievements.
