So That We Remember charts a journey in history.
Bringing awareness of Australia’s violent past, documented over a 365-day historical calendar.
Dare to remember…
Charting this colonial history in daily entries.
A verbal and visual guide on a journey that began 233 years ago… Each calendar entry is designed to enable Australians to learn more about the human cost in Indigenous lives that was integral to the colonial occupation of their land.
Since our launch in 2021, we are releasing a month at a time. We invite you to explore and discover what happened “On This Day” in Australian history.
WARNING
This website contains graphic descriptions of historical events from primary sources that may be disturbing to some readers.
Please be aware: Some primary historical sources cited on this website contain words and terms written by non-Indigenous people in the past that today would be regarded as offensive and/or abusive. We have endeavoured to append the adverb ’sic’ to note when these derogatory terms occur.
January 31.
Reflections on 31 January - Practices and attitudes: “By the end of the 19th century, the racist attitudes core to 'colonialism' had long been reinforced...”
January 30.
Reflections on 30 January - A desperate resistance: Scope of sources on Tasmanian history.
January 29.
Reflections on 29 January - Theory versus Practice: Hot pursuit [of indigenous personnel] trumped technical legality.
January 28.
Reflections on 28 January - Violence and Land lost: “Violence necessarily underpinned the whole colonial project.”
January 27.
Reflections on 27 January - A Treaty was not made: An official ‘whitewashing’ document and regret that a treaty was not made.
January 26.
Reflections on 26 January - Imperial invasion, raising a flag and claiming the country, as well as the Waterloo Creek Massacre held on 26 January, 1838.
January 25.
Reflections on 25 January - Civilised Resistance: “The pattern of raids conducted by Sydney people on colonists had all the hallmarks of guerrilla warfare...”.
January 24.
Reflections on 24 January - Civilisation, “When savages are pitted against civilization, they must go to the wall...”, as well as ambiguity and Captain James Cook.
January 23.
Reflections on 23 January - William Cooper was tireless in his efforts to bring to the attention of white Australians and governments the need for recognition of the rights of Indigenous people.
January 22.
Reflections on 22 January - “...should be held to great account”: A snapshot of resistance, casualties and inciting violent advice.
January 21.
Reflections on 21 January - Terror and Dawn Raids: “...against this tribe [Governor Arthur Phillip] was determined to strike a decisive blow...and to infuse a universal terror”.
January 20.
Reflections on 20 January - A public execution: The public execution by the colonial authorities of two Aboriginal men occurred in Melbourne on 20 January, 1842.
January 19.
Reflections on 19 January - Religion and Remembering: Moral support was provided by quoting Scripture.
January 18.
Reflections on 18 January - Treatment of Women: the sexual exploitation of indigenous women by white settlers in Australia.
January 17.
Reflections on 17 January - Women in deep mourning: “I observed many [Indigenous] women in deep mourning for their husbands..”
January 16.
Reflections on 16 January - Campaign of Terror ...all the hallmarks of a massacre.
In the spirit of reconciliation, So That We Remember acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community.
We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
What people are saying…
“The act of going through each day and seeing another example from all over the country is really moving and shocking.
…The site looks great and Glenn Loughrey’s artwork is powerful for each month.”
— Mark Dunn, author of The Convict Valley:The Bloody Struggle on Australia’s Early Frontier
“To forget our ancient custodians recent past, to relegate their story to oblivion, is to deny a truth which must be embraced if Australia is to find its own true destiny. I am grateful that some of the words I wrote have been deemed a fit contribution to this journey through time, this calendar of a past that must forever be remembered.”
— John Harris, author of One Blood & We Wish We’d Done More
Subscribe to our monthly updates.
Joining the So That We Remember mailing list will ensure you never miss a monthly update to the website from our creator, Ray Barraclough, over a 365-day calendar.