The extraordinary Aboriginal leader whose story the Australian War Memorial should be telling

Yorta Yorta man, William Cooper, was a First Nations leader in Victoria.
As Honorary Secretary of the Australian Aborigines League, he fought for First Peoples rights.
He also made powerful appeals against military service by members of First Peoples for the British Empire that had stolen First Nations’ lands.

Read Paul Daley’s story about William Cooper, who made powerful appeals against military service in for First Nations peoples, in The Guardian, 31 October 2021: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2021/oct/31/the-extraordinary-aboriginal-leader-whose-story-the-australian-war-memorial-should-be-telling

More information about William Cooper (1861–1941) on the National Museum of Australia’s website:
https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/william-cooper-protests

Read more about Bain Attwood’s, William Cooper: An Aboriginal Life Story, Melbourne University Press, November 2021, on the Books page.

[Post updated 15 November 2022.]