26 Jan 2019; DW: Events to mark the birth of modern Australia in 1788 are being countered by large rallies by indigenous communities. They're demanding that the Australia Day public holiday be changed so it doesn't celebrate colonialism.
Rallies have been held in several Australian cities calling for the country's national day to be abolished because it marks the anniversary of the British arrival at Sydney Cove in 1788.
Many indigenous Australians, who trace their lineage on the continent back 50,000 years, regard the Australia Day holiday as "Invasion Day."
Tens of thousand protesters lined several streets in Sydney on Saturday, while thousands more gathered in Melbourne, Canberra, and other Australian cities, saying the day should not be celebrated as it marks the theft and dispossession of indigenous people.
"Today marks the start of colonization and the start of genocide and you name it," said 17-year-old Jayden Riley, who joined the march in Sydney, wearing the colors of the Aboriginal flag.
Some campaigners called for the holiday to be changed to January 1, the day in 1901 when Australia became a nation in its own right, albeit with the British monarch as its head of state.
'Day of mourning'
But others including Aboriginal woman Lareesa, who protested in Melbourne with her family, told Australian public broadcaster, ABC, the national day should be abolished altogether.
"No matter what day you change it to, it'll still be a day of oppression and mourning for us, so I think deleting it altogether is the way to go," she said.
Deekeala Glew, from the Bundjalung indigenous community, told ABC that December 17 would be more preferable, the date when in 1965 all indigenous people were given the right to vote.
In Melbourne, the protest was at one point interrupted by far-right protesters, until they were moved on by police.
Australia's 700,000 or so indigenous people still track near the bottom of its 25 million citizens in almost every economic and social indicator.
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