Aboriginal Civil Rights Movement
1. Why did four Indigenous activists erect a beach umbrella on the lawns of Old Parliament House?
On Australia Day in 1972, Indigenous activists erected a beach umbrella on the lawns outside of Old Parliament House. They set this up to start a protest; they placed a sign that said “Embassy” to represent a displaced nation. The McMahon Liberal Government made a statement in which land rights were rejected in favour of 50-year leases to Aboriginal communities, the activists were against this and this was the reason that this protest started. The activists were repeatedly asked when the protest would end and they said that they would stay until Aboriginal Australians had land rights, which could be forever. 2. Is source 2 a primary or secondary source? Why?
Source 2 is a secondary source because it is not the original photo that was taken at that time. This photo would have been edited, copied and scanned so that it could be used for website and for other sources. 3. What sort of information can a photograph give historians about a past event? What might a photograph not tell us about the past?
A photograph can give historians an idea about what the situation looked like and also the people involved and how they seemed to be feeling. A photograph cannot tell historians exactly how people were feeling because people may seem happy and content in a photograph when they are really going through a horrible time. A photograph also doesn’t show the full story and may only capture a small part of the past event. These points are proven in source 2 because in the photo there are two Aboriginal Australians sitting in a tent with signs saying “Aboriginal Embassy”, these two people seem quite relaxed and that’s how people that saw the photo would think they were feeling. Because of this reason you know that it doesn’t capture the full story as these people were protesting for land rights and the Government wanted them to be removed. These protesters also faced a lot
On Australia Day in 1972, Indigenous activists erected a beach umbrella on the lawns outside of Old Parliament House. They set this up to start a protest; they placed a sign that said “Embassy” to represent a displaced nation. The McMahon Liberal Government made a statement in which land rights were rejected in favour of 50-year leases to Aboriginal communities, the activists were against this and this was the reason that this protest started. The activists were repeatedly asked when the protest would end and they said that they would stay until Aboriginal Australians had land rights, which could be forever. 2. Is source 2 a primary or secondary source? Why?
Source 2 is a secondary source because it is not the original photo that was taken at that time. This photo would have been edited, copied and scanned so that it could be used for website and for other sources. 3. What sort of information can a photograph give historians about a past event? What might a photograph not tell us about the past?
A photograph can give historians an idea about what the situation looked like and also the people involved and how they seemed to be feeling. A photograph cannot tell historians exactly how people were feeling because people may seem happy and content in a photograph when they are really going through a horrible time. A photograph also doesn’t show the full story and may only capture a small part of the past event. These points are proven in source 2 because in the photo there are two Aboriginal Australians sitting in a tent with signs saying “Aboriginal Embassy”, these two people seem quite relaxed and that’s how people that saw the photo would think they were feeling. Because of this reason you know that it doesn’t capture the full story as these people were protesting for land rights and the Government wanted them to be removed. These protesters also faced a lot