Aboriginal people forced to participate in the sesquicentenary re-enactment of Captain Phillip’s landing at Farm Cove

On 26 January 1938 many Australians celebrated the sesquicentenary (150-year anniversary) of British colonisation of Australia. One of the events organised was a re-enactment of the landing of Captain Arthur Phillip.

Aboriginal people living in Sydney refused to take part so organisers brought in men from Menindee, in western New South Wales, and kept them locked up at the Redfern Police Barracks stables until the re-enactment took place. On the day itself, they were made to run up the beach away from the British — an inaccurate version of events. Film footage of the re-enactment clearly shows that the men were not willing participants.