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Australia Marks Referendum Anniversary

Aboriginal women perform the Woggan-ma-gule morning ceremony on Australia Day in Sydney in this Jan. 26, 2007 file photo. Australia marked 40 years since a historic referendum granted Aborigines citizenship on Sunday, May 27, 2007 but celebrations were muted by stark reminders that the continent's original inhabitants are still poorer and die much younger than the rest of society. (AP Photo/Paul Miller, File)

Australia on Sunday marked 40 years since a historic referendum granted Aborigines citizenship, but celebrations were muted by stark reminders of the hardships facing the continent's original inhabitants.

An overwhelming 91 percent of Australians voted in favor of reforms in the 1967 referendum that gave the federal government the power to make laws covering Aborigines and to count them in the official census for the first time.