Half a century on, NAIDOC Week is still both a party and a protest
- Written by: Weekend Times
One of the biggest misconceptions about NAIDOC Week is that it’s simply a celebration.
While it is a time to celebrate, it grew from an Aboriginal political movement. Its origins
lie in the 1938 Day of Mourning, when Aboriginal leaders gathered on January 26 to protest 150 years of colonisation and draw national attention to discrimination, dispossession and the denial of basic human and civil rights.
The Day of Mourning was one of Australia’s first major civil rights protests. It challenged the triumphant national story being told about colonisation and instead demanded citizenship and justice for Aboriginal people.
That spirit of resistance and collective action continues to define NAIDOC today. While the week has evolved into a national celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and achievements, its foundations remain firmly rooted in the pursuit of justice, equality and self-determination.
An expanding celebration
Over the decades, what began as a single day of protest grew into one of Australia’s most significant national observances. Aboriginal organisations continued to push for recognition, rights and justice, ensuring the movement did not lose momentum.
In the 1950s, the annual Day of Observance was moved from January to July to distinguish it from Australia Day and encourage broader community participation. Moving the observance away from Australia Day also allowed Aboriginal communities to commemorate the occasion on their own terms, rather than alongside celebrations of colonisation.
By 1975, it had expanded into a week-long event.
In 1991, the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee changed its name to the National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC), formally recognising Torres Strait Islander peoples alongside Aboriginal peoples.
While the committee itself gave NAIDOC its name, today the acronym is most commonly associated with NAIDOC Week, which is celebrated in communities across Australia.
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Decades of advocacy
One of the most interesting things about NAIDOC is that if you look back over the annual themes, they tell a story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander political priorities over the past decades. They capture what communities were advocating for at particular moments in time.
Early themes focused on self-determination, land rights and treaty, while others challenged Australia to confront its history and recognise the ongoing impacts of colonisation.
More recent themes have celebrated the strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, Elders, languages and young people, while also emphasising truth-telling, caring for Country and Indigenous sovereignty.
Themes such as Voice. Treaty. Truth., Always Was, Always Will Be, and Heal Country were never simple slogans. They have reflected the conversations Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were having about the future we wanted to build. The themes provide a remarkable timeline of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aspirations, achievements and the issues that continue to shape our lives today.
Perhaps the greatest achievement, though, is that NAIDOC has managed to hold onto its political beginnings while becoming one of Australia’s most widely recognised national events. Every year schools, workplaces, sporting clubs, governments and communities take part.
That visibility matters because it creates opportunities to learn, celebrate and have conversations that might not otherwise happen.
50 Years of Deadly
This year’s theme, 50 Years of Deadly, is particularly significant because it highlights that Australia has been celebrating NAIDOC as a week-long celebration for half a century. The committee’s website describes it as:
[…] a tribute to the people who built this movement. The Elders who stood firm, the organisers who made space, the artists who turned resistance into expression, and the communities who keep showing up, year after year.
The word “deadly” is important too. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, “deadly” is a term of praise, respect and admiration. It’s used to describe someone or something that is excellent, impressive or worthy of celebration.
This year’s theme recognises what has always been deadly is our people. It honours the generations of people that carried NAIDOC forward.
At the same time, it’s a reminder that the work isn’t finished. The issues that inspired the Day of Mourning in 1938, including justice, equality, self-determination and truth telling, are still very much part of the national conversation.
‘Blak Xmas’
For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, NAIDOC is affectionately known as “Blak Christmas”. It’s a time when families and communities reconnect, often travelling long distances to be together.
Across the country there are marches, community days, award ceremonies, sporting carnivals, cultural performances, music, dancing and opportunities to celebrate culture, honour our Elders and share in the joy of community.
That’s why it’s important not to reduce NAIDOC to a morning tea or a few cupcakes in the office. While those events can play a role in bringing people together, they should be the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it.
NAIDOC is an invitation to engage with the history that gave rise to the week, to listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, and to reflect on the work that still needs to be done.
Its enduring significance lies in the fact that it remains both a celebration of one of the world’s oldest continuing cultures and a reminder of the ongoing pursuit of justice, equity and self-determination.
Bronwyn Carlson receives funding from the Australian Research Council as part of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW).
