Celebrating NAIDOC Week, Started by Indigenous Christian Leader William Cooper in 1940
William Cooper was a man of principle who represented his people in founding the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC), while also protesting against the treatment of the Jews as the Holocaust loomed.
Munganbana, the boomerang man, will be marching again in the NAIDOC Cairns march this week. Munganbana Norman Miller said,
“I will be carrying a giant boomerang I made with Voice Treaty Truth on it, as I support the Uluru Statement from the Heart.”
Standing Up for Others
He said,
“I will also be wearing a T-shirt saying ‘Israel, Since 1948′ commemorating the reforming of the modern state of Israel and a Holocaust pin. This is because Aboriginal Christian leader William Cooper is the father of NAIDOC, initiating it on 28 January 1940 as an annual Aboriginal Sunday supported by the churches.
“In 1955, the date changed to the first Sunday in July and became known as National Aborigines Day. In 1957, the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) was formed, whose goal was to promote awareness of Aboriginal people, their cultures and their plight. In 1989, the title changed to NAIDOC Week to include Torres Strait Islanders in the national celebrations. So, we owe it to William Cooper who got the ball rolling.”
When asked where the Israel connection is, Munganbana said that William Cooper led the Australian Aborigines’ League on a protest to the German Consulate in Melbourne in 1938 against the treatment of Jewish people at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust.
Munganbana said,
“This was remarkable because Aboriginals were not citizens of their own nation at the time and would not be till the 60s. Also, it was one of the few private protests worldwide with a slow response from governments. My wife Barbara and I were privileged to be at Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel for the honouring of William Cooper in December 2010.
Recognition and Reconciliation
“My wife has since written three books on him, which are available at my Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery in 33 Lake Street. The cover for the first book, William Cooper Gentle Warrior, has a photo of William Cooper superimposed over my canvas painting, The Gathering. I am an Aboriginal artist and have had my own art gallery for over 25 years.
“I support the constitutional recognition of the Voice and will be at the Cairns Esplanade near the lagoon at 12.30 pm on Tuesday 5 July with my giant boomerang, singing a song I wrote titled Reconciliation.
“At the march on Friday and at the Esplanade on Tuesday, people will be able to sign the back of the boomerang.
“I’m also writing a book called Boomerang Man because I have made a number of giant boomerangs over the years in my grassroots campaign for constitutional recognition of First Nations People which I started in 2014; one of them is in the Museum of National Democracy in Canberra.”
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Photo: Monash University
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