History

Timeline results for 1400 to 2021

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Year from 1400, year to 2021, month is April

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1770

  1. Dispossession

    Captain James Cook claims possession of the whole east coast of Australia for the British Crown on Possession Island, a small island in the Torres Strait Islands. Many history classes and books start teaching Australian history from this point on.

1789

  1. Health

    A catastrophic smallpox epidemic decimates the Eora Aboriginal people of Port Jackson, Botany Bay and Broken Bay.

1801

  1. Conflict

    Governor King orders Aboriginal people gathering around Parramatta, Georges River and Prospect Hill “to be driven back from the settler’s habitation by firing at them”.

1802

  1. French Captain Nicholas Baudin and the English navigator Matthew Flinders meet at the South Australian border near Victor Harbor. Baudin had orders to study Aboriginal people for the new science of anthropology just founded in Paris. Many such drawings are now in a collection in Le Havre, France.

1887

  1. The Parramatta Girls Home opens (also known as the Industrial School for Girls, Girls Training School and Girls Training Home). Closing in 1974, it became Australia’s longest operating state-controlled child welfare institution, located in Parramatta, NSW. The population of the girls home includes many Aboriginal girls, mostly those who belong to the Stolen Generations.

1889

  1. A judgement of the Lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council finds that New South Wales, at the time of the arrival of the British, was in fact "a tract of territory practically unoccupied, without settled inhabitants or settled law" and that it was "peacefully annexed". The ruling goes on to become the skeleton of Australian law with no court daring to rule against it.

1925

  1. Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association is formed in Sydney to oppose New South Wales Aborigines Protection Board. Its inaugural president is Fred Maynard.

1937

  1. Politics
    Title page of Aboriginal Welfare Conference paper

    Aboriginal Welfare - Conference of Commonwealth and State Authorities called by the federal government, decides that the official policy for some Aboriginal people is assimilation policy. Aboriginal people of mixed descent are to be assimilated into white society whether they want to be or not, those not living tribally are to be educated and all others are to stay on reserves. The minutes of the meeting say:

    The destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in their ultimate absorption… with a view to their taking their place in the white community on an equal footing with the whites.

    In practice, assimilation policies lead to the destruction of Aboriginal identity and culture, justification of dispossession and the removal of Aboriginal children.

    In 50 years we should forget that there were any Aborigines in this country.

    — A.O. Neville, Western Australian Chief Aboriginal Protector

1970

  1. Arts Stamps

    A stamp issue for Australia's 200th anniversary of "first European contact" at the east coast centres around Captain Cook. A mini sheet issued by Australia Post annotates the third stamp of the series (which shows Aboriginal people in the top right corner) with "where he finds new people and strange animals", conveniently omitting conflict.

    A series of stamps showing Captain Cook, his ship, a sextant, maps and crew.
    The Bicentenary issue put Aboriginal people into the far background. Can you spot them?

1976

  1. Memorial service for Truganini at the Cornelian Bay Crematorium, Hobart. Her remains are cremated and the ashes scattered in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel the next day, 100 years after she had asked for this.

1997

  1. In response to the Wik decision the federal government under Howard develops its 10 Point Plan as the basis for amending the Native Title Act 1993. These amendments are introduced in the spring session (September 1997) of the Commonwealth parliament.

2000

  1. The government denies that a 'Stolen Generation' exists in a submission to the Senate inquiry on compensation for children forcibly removed. It stated: "The government is concerned that there is no reliable basis for what appears to be a generally accepted conclusion as to the supposed dimensions of the 'stolen generation'. [...] At most, it might be inferred that up to 10% of children were separated for a variety of reasons, both protective and otherwise, some forcibly and some not. This does not constitute a 'generation' of 'stolen' children. The phrase 'stolen generation' is rhetorical."

2003

  1. Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin hands over 60 Aboriginal human remains to Aboriginal representatives, who had travelled to Ireland to collect the remains and return them to Australia .

2008

  1. National Museums Scotland. Return of six Aboriginal skulls.

2009

  1. Stolen wages

    The NSW government changes the Aboriginal Trust Fund Repayment Scheme to allow a panel consider larger payouts and take into account non-documentary and oral evidence when considering applications.

  2. Arts Stamps

    Australia Post releases five stamps featuring paintings by five Aboriginal artists: Nura Ripert (Mamu), Jan Billycan (All the Jila), Judy Napangardi Watson (Mina Mina), and for the international stamps Elaine Russell (Untitled [Mission Series]) and Tjuruparu Watson (Natjula).

    Five stamps showing Aboriginal paintings
    The works of five Aboriginal artists represent Aboriginal culture on national and international stamps.
  3. The Human Rights Committee report on Australia recommends the government "adopt a comprehensive national mechanism to ensure that adequate reparation, including compensation, is provided to the victims of the Stolen Generations policies" . The Federal-Attorn General decides not to follow that recommendation and rules that no challenge to this decision be allowed.

  4. Politics

    Australia supports the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The Howard government had rejected the declaration fearing a separate customary law.

  5. Contrary to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states that all Aboriginal people have the right to self-determination, the government under the NT intervention dictates how Aboriginal people have to run aspects of their lives.

2010

  1. During a visit to Australia, Prince William takes up a request to return Aboriginal warrior Pemulwuy's remains to Redfern (Sydney), making front page news.

    A story about Aboriginal remains on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald
    Aboriginal remains repatriation on the front page of a newspaper. This is a rare occasion and came about when Aboriginal activist Mick Mundine received an answer from Prince William to the letter he had written asking for the whereabouts of some remains.

References

View article sources (8)

[1] Cooper v Stuart (1889) 14 App Cas 286, 291 (Lord Watson), available at www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/1889/1889_16.html, retrieved 8/9/2019
[2] 'In our land not yet won, who are we Australians?', SMH 26/1/2019
[3] National Library of Australia, nla.gov.au/nla.aus-vn118931
[4] 'Governments are attempting to steal our original sovereign citizenship and independence', First Nations Interim National Unity Government 16/6/2013
[5] John Herron, 'A generation was not stolen' (federal government's submission to the Senate inquiry), The Sydney Morning Herald, April 4, 2000
[6] 'Aboriginal Remains Return Home', Indigenous Law Bulletin 23/2003, www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ILB/2003/23.html
[7] 'Stolen Generations' right to reparation', Koori Mail 458 p.21
[8] Sydney Morning Herald, 1/4/2010

Cite this page

Korff, J 2024, Timeline results for 1400 to 2021, <https://stage.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/timeline/searchResults?page=1&q=&s=&category=any&yearFrom=1400&yearTo=2021&month=4>, retrieved 29 March 2024

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