The Aborigines Progressive Association (APA[1]) was established in 1937 by William Ferguson and Jack PatteninDubbo, New South Wales.[2][3] Ferguson led a group in the western part of the state, while Patten assembled an alliance of activists in the north-east. Both wings of the APA were involved in political organisation, rallies, and protests in both Aboriginal communities and reserves and major NSW centres such as Sydney.[4]
In 1938 the APA organised the Day of MourningonAustralia Day (26 January) of that year to protest the lack of basic human rights available to Aborigines.[1] It was held at the Australian Hall, Sydney.[4] The APA was joined by the Melbourne-based Australian Aborigines' League in staging the Day of Mourning to draw attention to the treatment of Aborigines and to demand full citizenship and equal rights.[5] Ferguson, APA’s organising secretary, said of the planned national day of mourning: "The aborigines do not want protection... We have been protected for 150 years, and look what has become of us. Scientists have studied us and written books about us as though we were some strange curiosities, but they have not prevented us from contracting tuberculosis and other diseases, which have wiped us out in thousands."[6]
Groves strongly believed that Aboriginal people should control this new incarnation of the APA.[10]
From 1964 to 1970 the APA under Groves published a quarterly journal called Churinga as the official journal of the APA.[12][b] is The journal, inspired by the 1938 journal Abo Call, was the inspiration for Churinga, aimed to inform non-Aboriginal people about issues such as Indigenous struggles for equal rights and land rights, as well as addressing the Aboriginal community in an effort to create solidarity and unity among the different groups.[10] From December 1970 to February 1972 it was continued as Alchuringa, published by Kevin Gilbert's short-lived Aboriginal National Theatre Foundation.[13]
^Herbert Groves had in 1947 taken part in a May Day parade on the Australian Aboriginal League float, wearing his service uniform as a protest.[11] Groves was one three Aboriginal people who attended the FCAATSI conference in Adelaide in 1958, along with Doug Nicholls and Charles Perkins. His wife was called Renata.[10]
^See Churinga (Tjurunga) for the meaning of the word.
^ abcCoghill, Leonie (1997). Footprints: to country, kin and cultures. Curriculum Corporation. p. 25. ISBN978-1-86366-367-0.
^Attwood, Bain; Markus, Andrew (1999). The struggle for aboriginal rights: a documentary history. Allen & Unwin. p. 59. ISBN978-1-86448-584-4.
^Lake, Marilyn (2002). Faith: Faith Bandler, gentle activist. Allen & Unwin. p. 54. ISBN978-1-86508-841-9.
^ abHinkson, Melinda; Harris, Alana (2001). Aboriginal Sydney: a guide to important places of the past and present. Aboriginal Studies Press. p. 22–24. ISBN978-0-85575-370-2.
^The Australian Aboriginal League float in the 1947 May Day procession., retrieved 2 October 2022, The Australian Aboriginal League float in the 1947 May Day procession. Identified, left to right: Miss Leila Lord, Mr Tasman Dohti (holding a sign which reads "Burn our welfare board"), Miss Alice Groves (holding a sign which reads "United war divided peace"), Miss Delys Cross, Mr Herbert Groves, wearing his Second World War uniform as protest; he served under the number NX200798 between 1943 and 1945 (holding a sign which reads "Free to fight but not to drink"), and Mr Athol Lester (holding a sign which reads "Our famous 1947 Australian All Blacks".)
^Aborigines Progressive Association (1964), "Churinga"(catalogue entry), Trove, Breda Publications, retrieved 2 October 2022, Official journal of the Aborigines' Progressive Association. Journal Dates: No. 1 (1964)-no. 12 (May 1970)
^National Aboriginal Theatre Foundation (Australia); Aboriginal Tourist and Economic Development Association (Australia) (1971), Alchuringa(catalogue entry), Breda Publications, retrieved 2 October 2022 – via Trove
