Talking Aboriginal design activism — liberation organizations & their emblems (Part 1: the AAPA)
By Callum Clayton-Dixon: The emblems adopted by Aboriginal liberation organizations over the course of the last century trace our movement’s long legacy of organized political struggle. Let’s take a look at a few of these emblems and their stories, starting with that of the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association.
A myriad of political organizations have been established over the years to advance the cause of Aboriginal liberation. Such bodies typically adopt an emblem which speaks to their core purposes and ideologies. These emblems are part and parcel of an organization’s messaging strategy, appearing on press releases, manifestos, posters, publications, t-shirts, stickers, badges, and now websites and social media pages. Some end up transcending the organization for which they were created, coming to represent liberatory movements and ideas more broadly. And like the humble protest t-shirt, each has a story. I’ll be taking a look at the emblems of three different Aboriginal political organizations: 1) the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association; 2) our own branch of the Black Panther Party; and 3) Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance.
Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (est. 1924)
Founded by Fred Maynard in the mid-1920s, the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) was “the first unified and long-lasting politically motivated and organized Aboriginal movement” (Maynard, 2007, p1). Professor John Maynard, Worimi historian and the grandson of Fred Maynard, refers to the AAPA as the “precursor of the Aboriginal political movement” (p2). This all-Aboriginal organization’s agenda was all-embracing; they campaigned for land rights, civil rights, self-determination, the safeguarding of culture, and fought against the forced removal of children (p6, p54, p58). To learn more about the story of the AAPA, I would highly recommend reading John Maynard’s book Fight for Liberty and Freedom: The origins of Australian Aboriginal activism.
The AAPA’s emblem features a coat of arms, with runda (emu) and mbwonda (kangaroo) positioned either side of an Aboriginal man armed with a gyenba (spear) and aragana (boomerang). This element of the design immediately evokes the current Commonwealth Coat of Arms, adopted in 1912. The 1806 Bowman Flag is apparently the earliest iteration of the Australian Coat of Arms, again featuring runda and mbwonda. Quite a number of the metal breastplates ‘gifted’ to Aboriginal people by government authorities and the squatocracy during the 1800s and early 1900s feature engravings of runda and mbwonda, and occasionally an Aboriginal man armed with traditional weapons in the centre as well (Troy, 1993, p56–57, p109). Ngarigu academic Professor Jakelin Troy, in her book King Plates: A history of Aboriginal Gorgets, points out that runda and mbwonda quickly became “icons of colonial Australian identity”, and that they were considered “important symbols of Australian nationalism” (p57).
The use of the emu and kangaroo on Bowman’s flag indicates that at least by the turn of the nineteenth century they were recognised within the colony as the unofficial symbols of Australia. Therefore it is not surprising that King Bungaree’s gorget, the oldest known [1815], had as its supporters the emu and kangaroo and many subsequent gorgets continued the tradition. — Professor Jakelin Troy (1993, p57)
In many cases, breastplates were evidently issued for purposes consistent with the occupying powers’ push to pacify, vassalize, and impose an allegiance to the colony upon Aboriginal communities (Troy, 1993, p6). The designs engraved on the breastplates, particularly those which include the kangaroo and emu, certainly seem to reflect this. There is an irony and dissonance in the foreign invader decorating these objects, shiny metal reminders of their dominion over the indigenous population, with native animals.
Given the cultural significance of mbwonda and runda for Aboriginal peoples — as totems, ancestral beings, deeply embedded within story and country — it could be argued that the adoption of these animals as symbols of ‘Australia’ has effectively been an act of co-optation in aid of the settler colonial nation-building project. This is more or less the view of Arabunna Elder and veteran activist Kevin Buzzacott who was charged and eventually found guilty for “stealing” a Commonwealth Coat of Arms off the front of Old Parliament House in 2002: “It’s about taking back what’s ours…These judges, these coppers…are trying to use our sacred animals for their power, their mad power” (quoted in Mohr, 2005, p187).
During an address to the court, Buzzacott explained that the animals on the coat of arms belonged to his people and that no consent had been given to the Commonwealth to use them. He told the jury he did not steal the bronze plaque and that he was simply reclaiming what was rightfully his. — ABC News (2005, April 4)
Now back to the AAPA emblem. John Maynard notes that “no one has been able to unravel completely the mystery of its origin or its meaning” (2005, p17). However, taking into consideration the organization’s political platform and ideological roots, its emblem was clearly a expression of Aboriginal nationalism. In Invasion to Embassy, Heather Goodall describes it as “a thinly veiled reference to an indigenous people’s assertion of nationhood” (quoted in Maynard, 2005, p17).
“The imprint of Garveyism was deeply embedded in the platform of the new movement. The logo, motto and much of the political rhetoric of the AAPA were incorporated from the doctrine of [Marcus] Garvey and his group, the Universal Negro Improvement Association.” — Professor John Maynard (2007, p54)
Regarding the coat of arms element specifically, my view is that this choice of imagery was probably intended, at least in part, as an act of reclamation, a sort of re-appropriation of inherently indigenous symbols. It could be interpreted as flipping the script on the colonizer’s coat of arms, and their patronizing breastplates. And I see the warrior depicted as speaking to our peoples’ fierce armed resistance to the colonial invasion and occupation, as well as paying homage to tradition.
In Part 2 of ‘liberation organizations & their emblems’, we enter the Black Power era, tracking the origins of the iconic Black Panther image taken on by Australia’s own branch of the BPP (est. 1971).
Uyidiga lanabura (let’s speak soon)
REFERENCES
A Relic of the Early Days. (1921, December 20). Armidale Express, p. 1.
Coat of Arms belongs to Indigenous people, court hears. (2005, March 31). ABC News. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-03-31/coat-of-arms-belongs-to-indigenous-people-court/1543014
Man tries to leave court with coat of arms. (2005, April 4). ABC News. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-04-04/man-tries-to-leave-court-with-coat-of-arms/1544916
Maynard, J. (2005). ‘In the interests of our people’: the influence of Garveyism on the rise of Australian Aboriginal political activism. Aboriginal History, Vol. 29, pp. 1–22.
Maynard, J. (2007). Fight for Liberty and Freedom: The Origins of Australian Aboriginal Activism. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Mohr, R. (2005). Enduring Signs and Obscure Meanings: Contested Coats of Arms in Australian Jurisdictions. In A. Wagner, T. Summerfield, & F. Benevides, Contemporary Issues of the Semiotics of Law: Cultural and Symbolic Analyses of Law in a Global Context (pp. 179–196). Portland, OR: Hart Publishing.
Troy, J. (1993). King Plates: A history of Aboriginal Gorgets. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Waters, K. (2016). Bullcorronda (Mount Yarrowyck): Aboriginal Cultural Association with Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve. Sydney, NSW: Office of the Registrar, Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1893.
