The Gurindji Strike
Encyclopedia
The Gurindji Strike refers to the walk-off and strike by 200 Gurindji
stockmen, house servants and their families in August 1966 at Wave Hill
cattle station
in Australia
's Northern Territory
.
The Gurindji people's traditional lands are approximately 3,250 km² of the Northern Territory. Gurindji first encountered Europeans in the 1850s, when explorer Augustus Gregory
crossed into their territory. Several other explorers traversed the area over the following decades until the 1880s, when large pastoral operations were established.
cattle station, which included the Kalkaringi and Daguragu area, was first stocked in 1883.
Gurindji – along with all Aboriginal groups in this predicament – found their waterhole
s and soakage
s fenced off or fouled by cattle, which also ate or trampled fragile desert plant life
, such as bush tomato
. Dingo
hunters regularly shot the people's invaluable hunting dogs, and kangaroo
, a staple meat, was also routinely shot since it competed with cattle for water and grazing land. Gurindji suffered lethal "reprisals" for any attempt to eat the cattle – anything from a skirmish to a massacre. The last recorded massacre in the area occurred at Coniston
in 1928. There was little choice to stay alive but to move onto the cattle stations, receive rations, adopt a more sedentary life and, where possible, take work as stockmen and domestic help
. If they couldn't continue their traditional way of life, then at least to be on their own land – the foundation for their religion
and spiritual beliefs
– was crucial.
In 1914, Wave Hill Station was bought by Vesteys, a British
pastoral company comprising a large conglomerate of cattle companies owned by Baron Vestey
. Pastoralists were able to make use of the now landless Aboriginal people as extremely cheap labour
. On stations across the north, Aboriginal people became the backbone of the cattle industry, working for little or no money, minimal food and appalling housing.
government inquiry held in the 1930s said of Vesteys:
However, little was done over the decades leading up to the strike. While it was illegal up until 1968 to pay Aboriginal workers more than a specified amount in goods and money, a 1945 inquiry found Vesteys was not even paying Aboriginal workers the 5 shilling
s a day minimum wage set up for Aborigines under a 1918 Ordinance
. Non-Indigenous males were receiving £2/8/- a week in 1945. Gurindji lived in corrugated iron humpies
without floors, lighting, sanitation, furniture or cooking facilities. Billy Bunter Jampijinpa, who lived on Wave Hill Station at the time said
Gurindji who received minimal government benefits
had these paid into pastoral company accounts over which they had no control. In contrast, non-Aboriginal workers enjoyed minimum wage security with no legal limit on the maximum they could be paid. They were housed in comfortable homes with gardens and had full control over their finances.
, the workers and families walked off Wave Hill and began their seven-year strike. Lingiari led Gurindji
, as well as Ngarinman, Bilinara, Warlpiri
and Mudbara workers to an important sacred site nearby at Wattie Creek (Daguragu). Initially, the action was interpreted as purely a strike against work and living conditions. However, it soon became apparent that it was not just – or even primarily – improved conditions Gurindji were campaigning for. Their primary demand was for return of their land. Novelist Frank Hardy
was one of the many non-Indigenous Australians who supported the Gurindji struggle through the strike years.
"This bin [been] Gurindji country long time before them Vestey mob" Vincent Lingiari told Hardy at the time.
While Hardy records Pincher Manguari as saying:
The Gurindji strike was not the first or the only demand by Aborigines for the return of their lands – but it was the first one to attract wide public support within Australia for Land Rights
.
, claiming 1,295 km² of land near Wave Hill. Their claim was rejected. While Dagaragu would eventually become the first cattle
station
to be owned and managed by an Aboriginal community, today known as the Murramulla Gurindji Company, it would be many years before the Gurindji achieved this.
In this period, Vincent Lingiari
, Billy Bunter Jampijinpa and others toured Australia, with the support of workers’ union
s, to give talks, raise awareness, build support for their cause and have meetings with major lawyers and politicians. Frank Hardy recalled one fundraising meeting at which a donor gave $500 after hearing Vincent Lingiari speak. The donor – who said he had never before met an Aboriginal person – was a young Dr Fred Hollows
.
In late 1966 the Northern Territory
government offered a compromise pay rise of one hundred and twenty-five percent, but the strikers still demanded wages equal to those of white stockmen and return of their land. The Government also made moves to cut off means of Gurindji obtaining food supplies and threatened evictions. Offers of houses, which the Government had built for them at Wave Hill Welfare settlement, were resisted. The Gurindji persisted with their protest and stayed at Daguragu.
In 1969 the Liberal
-National Country
Coalition
government was given a proposal to give eight square kilometres back to the Gurindji. Cabinet refused to even discuss the issue.
, student
and trade union
groups gave practical and fundraising support to the Gurindji struggle. Several significant events marked the change in opinion in Australia.
(ALP) came to power. Aboriginal land rights was an issue high on its agenda, and it was quick to set up an Inquiry, and subsequently draft legislation, to this end. The Labor Government called a halt to development leases granted by the Northern Territory Land Board that might damage Indigenous rights, suspended mining exploration licenses, and gave a small grant of land at Daguragu/Wattie Creek, as an initial step towards the final land handback.
s and incorporated land trusts, administered by traditional owners or land councils.
of northeast Arnhem Land
were taking their grievances to the courts, in the case of Milirrpum v Nabalco
, after unsuccessfully petitioning the Commonwealth government with a bark petition
. The judge's decision in Gove
had relied on the doctrine of terra nullius
to deny the Yolngu
rights to their land and ensure the security of a bauxite
mine by Nabalco. Coupled with the ongoing Gurindji strike, this case highlighted the very real need for Aboriginal land rights in Australia.
in 1975. The subsequent Fraser
government passed effectively similar legislation – the Aboriginal Land Rights Act – on 9 December 1976.
government of Gough Whitlam
finally negotiated with Vesteys to give the Gurindji back a portion of their land. This was a landmark in the land rights
movement in Australia for Indigenous Australians
. The handback took place on 16 August 1975 at Kalkaringi. Gough Whitlam addressed Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji people, saying:
The photograph of Whitlam pouring sand into Lingiari's hand on that day, taken by Mervyn Bishop
, has become an iconic one in Australian history.
confronted the vast economic and political forces arrayed against him and his people. The walk-off and strike were landmark events in the struggle for Aboriginal land rights
in Australia. For the first time recognition was given of Indigenous people, their rights and responsibilities for the land, and their ability to practise their law, language and culture. In August every year, a large celebration is held at Kalkaringi to mark the anniversary
of the strike and walk-off. Known as Freedom Day, people gather from many parts of Australia to celebrate and re-enact the walk-off.
In 2006 an Australian Senate
report looked into the matter of underpayment of indigenous workers in the past. A group of those involved in the Wave Hill walk-off have said that they would be prepared to make a reparation claim for underpaid and stolen wages as a test case.
The walk-off route has been entered on the Australian National Heritage List
.
wrote the Gurindji Blues in the 1960s with Vincent Lingiari
. The words to the first verse are:
In 1971 the song was recorded by Galarrwuy Yunupingu
, a Yolngu
man actively involved in land rights for his own people through the bark petition
and Gove land rights case
. Ted Egan says he was moved to write Gurindji Blues after he heard Peter Nixon
, then Minister for the Interior, say in parliament that if the Gurindji wanted land, they should save up and buy it, like any other Australian. In 1991, Paul Kelly
and Kev Carmody
recorded From Little Things Big Things Grow
. The words to the first verse are:
The words to the last verse are:
Gurindji people
Gurindji are a group of Indigenous Australians living in northern Australia, 460 km southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory's Victoria River region....
stockmen, house servants and their families in August 1966 at Wave Hill
Wave Hill (Australia)
Kalkarindji is a small township in Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated about south-west of Katherine and has a population of around 350....
cattle station
Cattle station
Cattle station is an Australian term for a large farm , whose main activity is the rearing of cattle. In Australia, the owner of a cattle station is called a grazier...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
.
The Gurindji people's traditional lands are approximately 3,250 km² of the Northern Territory. Gurindji first encountered Europeans in the 1850s, when explorer Augustus Gregory
Augustus Gregory
Sir Augustus Charles Gregory KCMG. was an English-born Australian explorer. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions.-Early years:...
crossed into their territory. Several other explorers traversed the area over the following decades until the 1880s, when large pastoral operations were established.
Gurindji and the pastoralists
Wave HillWave Hill (Australia)
Kalkarindji is a small township in Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated about south-west of Katherine and has a population of around 350....
cattle station, which included the Kalkaringi and Daguragu area, was first stocked in 1883.
Gurindji – along with all Aboriginal groups in this predicament – found their waterhole
Billabong
Billabong is an Australian English word meaning a small lake, specifically an oxbow lake, a section of still water adjacent to a river, cut off by a change in the watercourse. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end...
s and soakage
Soakage
A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts.It is called thus because the water generally seeps into the sand, and is stored below, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek system.-Aboriginal water source:...
s fenced off or fouled by cattle, which also ate or trampled fragile desert plant life
Bushfood
Bushfood traditionally relates to any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by the original inhabitants, the Australian Aborigines, but it is a reference to any native fauna/flora that is used for culinary and/or medicinal purposes regardless of which continent or culture it originates...
, such as bush tomato
Bush tomato
The term bush tomato refers to the fruit or entire plants of certain nightshade species native to the more arid parts of Australia. While they are quite closely related to tomatoes , they might be even closer relatives of the eggplant , which they resemble in many details...
. Dingo
Dingo
The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to...
hunters regularly shot the people's invaluable hunting dogs, and kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
, a staple meat, was also routinely shot since it competed with cattle for water and grazing land. Gurindji suffered lethal "reprisals" for any attempt to eat the cattle – anything from a skirmish to a massacre. The last recorded massacre in the area occurred at Coniston
Coniston massacre
The Coniston massacre, which took place from 14 August to 18 October 1928 near the Coniston cattle station, Northern Territory, Australia, was the last known massacre of Indigenous Australians. People of the Warlpiri, Anmatyerre and Kaytetye groups were killed...
in 1928. There was little choice to stay alive but to move onto the cattle stations, receive rations, adopt a more sedentary life and, where possible, take work as stockmen and domestic help
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
. If they couldn't continue their traditional way of life, then at least to be on their own land – the foundation for their religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and spiritual beliefs
Dreaming (spirituality)
The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as the "timeless time" of formative creation and perpetual creating....
– was crucial.
In 1914, Wave Hill Station was bought by Vesteys, a British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
pastoral company comprising a large conglomerate of cattle companies owned by Baron Vestey
William Vestey, 1st Baron Vestey
William Vestey, 1st Baron Vestey Bt was an English shipping magnate.William Vestey came from an old Liverpool family of traders. In 1876, at the age of seventeen, he was sent to Chicago by his father Samuel Vestey, a provisioner of Liverpool.William first managed a meat canning factory that was...
. Pastoralists were able to make use of the now landless Aboriginal people as extremely cheap labour
Manual labour
Manual labour , manual or manual work is physical work done by people, most especially in contrast to that done by machines, and also to that done by working animals...
. On stations across the north, Aboriginal people became the backbone of the cattle industry, working for little or no money, minimal food and appalling housing.
Conditions on the station
There had been complaints from Indigenous employees about conditions over many years. A Northern TerritoryNorthern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
government inquiry held in the 1930s said of Vesteys:
- It was obvious that they had been ... quite ruthless in denying their Aboriginal labour proper access to basic human rights.
However, little was done over the decades leading up to the strike. While it was illegal up until 1968 to pay Aboriginal workers more than a specified amount in goods and money, a 1945 inquiry found Vesteys was not even paying Aboriginal workers the 5 shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s a day minimum wage set up for Aborigines under a 1918 Ordinance
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. Non-Indigenous males were receiving £2/8/- a week in 1945. Gurindji lived in corrugated iron humpies
Humpy
A humpy is a small, temporary shelter made from bark and tree branches, traditionally used by Australian Aborigines, with a standing tree usually used as the main support...
without floors, lighting, sanitation, furniture or cooking facilities. Billy Bunter Jampijinpa, who lived on Wave Hill Station at the time said
- We were treated just like dogs. We were lucky to get paid the 50 quid a month we were due, and we lived in tin humpies you had to crawl in and out on your knees. There was no running water. The food was bad – just flour, tea, sugar and bits of beef like the head or feet of a bullock. The Vesteys mob were hard men. They didn't care about blackfellas.
Gurindji who received minimal government benefits
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
had these paid into pastoral company accounts over which they had no control. In contrast, non-Aboriginal workers enjoyed minimum wage security with no legal limit on the maximum they could be paid. They were housed in comfortable homes with gardens and had full control over their finances.
The walk off
On 23 August 1966, led by spokesman Vincent LingiariVincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiarri, AM , was an Aboriginal rights activist who was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. Lingiarri was a member of the Gurindji people. In Vincent's earlier life he worked as a stockman at Wave Hill Cattle Station. He also played...
, the workers and families walked off Wave Hill and began their seven-year strike. Lingiari led Gurindji
Gurindji people
Gurindji are a group of Indigenous Australians living in northern Australia, 460 km southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory's Victoria River region....
, as well as Ngarinman, Bilinara, Warlpiri
Warlpiri
The Warlpiri are a group of Indigenous Australians, many of whom speak the Warlpiri language. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered through their traditional land in Australia's Northern Territory, north and west of Alice Springs...
and Mudbara workers to an important sacred site nearby at Wattie Creek (Daguragu). Initially, the action was interpreted as purely a strike against work and living conditions. However, it soon became apparent that it was not just – or even primarily – improved conditions Gurindji were campaigning for. Their primary demand was for return of their land. Novelist Frank Hardy
Frank Hardy
Francis Joseph Hardy, or Frank, was an Australian left-wing novelist and writer best known for his controversial novel Power Without Glory. He also was a political activist bringing the plight of Aboriginal Australians to international attention with the publication of his book, The Unlucky...
was one of the many non-Indigenous Australians who supported the Gurindji struggle through the strike years.
"This bin [been] Gurindji country long time before them Vestey mob" Vincent Lingiari told Hardy at the time.
While Hardy records Pincher Manguari as saying:
- We want them Vestey mob all go away from here. Wave Hill Aboriginal people bin called Gurindji. We bin here long time before them Vestey mob. This is our country, all this bin Gurindji country. Wave Hill bin our country. We want this land; we strike for that.
The Gurindji strike was not the first or the only demand by Aborigines for the return of their lands – but it was the first one to attract wide public support within Australia for Land Rights
Native title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
.
1966–75 – The strike years
The Gurindji established a settlement near by at Wattie Creek, which Gurindji have always called Daguragu. These were hard years, but they held strong to their belief in their right to the land.Gurindji efforts during the strike years
While living at Daguragu, Gurindji drew up maps showing areas they wanted excised from pastoralist land and returned to them. In 1967, Gurindji petitioned the Governor-GeneralGovernor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
, claiming 1,295 km² of land near Wave Hill. Their claim was rejected. While Dagaragu would eventually become the first cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
station
Station (Australian agriculture)
Station is the term for a large Australian landholding used for livestock production. It corresponds to the North American term ranch or South American estancia...
to be owned and managed by an Aboriginal community, today known as the Murramulla Gurindji Company, it would be many years before the Gurindji achieved this.
In this period, Vincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiarri, AM , was an Aboriginal rights activist who was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. Lingiarri was a member of the Gurindji people. In Vincent's earlier life he worked as a stockman at Wave Hill Cattle Station. He also played...
, Billy Bunter Jampijinpa and others toured Australia, with the support of workers’ union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, to give talks, raise awareness, build support for their cause and have meetings with major lawyers and politicians. Frank Hardy recalled one fundraising meeting at which a donor gave $500 after hearing Vincent Lingiari speak. The donor – who said he had never before met an Aboriginal person – was a young Dr Fred Hollows
Fred Hollows
Frederick "Fred" Cossom Hollows, AC was an ophthalmologist who became known for his work in restoring eyesight for countless thousands of people in Australia and many other countries...
.
Attempts to entice and stymie Gurindji
Billy Bunter Jampijinpa was 16 at the time of the walk-off:- The Vesteys mob came and said they would get two killers (slaughtered beasts) and raise our wages if we came back. But old Vincent said, 'No, we're stopping here'. Then in early 1967 we walked to our new promised land, we call it Daguragu (Wattie Creek), back to our sacred places and our country, our new homeland.
In late 1966 the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
government offered a compromise pay rise of one hundred and twenty-five percent, but the strikers still demanded wages equal to those of white stockmen and return of their land. The Government also made moves to cut off means of Gurindji obtaining food supplies and threatened evictions. Offers of houses, which the Government had built for them at Wave Hill Welfare settlement, were resisted. The Gurindji persisted with their protest and stayed at Daguragu.
In 1969 the Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
-National Country
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
Coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
government was given a proposal to give eight square kilometres back to the Gurindji. Cabinet refused to even discuss the issue.
Support for the Gurindji grows
However, the tide of public opinion was beginning to turn in Australia. There were demonstrations and arrests in southern Australia in support of the walk-off, and many churchNational church
National church is a concept of a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism....
, student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
and trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
groups gave practical and fundraising support to the Gurindji struggle. Several significant events marked the change in opinion in Australia.
1967 Referendum
An overwhelming majority of Australians – over 90 per cent of voters and a majority in all six states – voted "Yes" to giving the Federal Government power to make laws for Indigenous Australians.1972–75 Whitlam Labor Government
In 1972 the Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
(ALP) came to power. Aboriginal land rights was an issue high on its agenda, and it was quick to set up an Inquiry, and subsequently draft legislation, to this end. The Labor Government called a halt to development leases granted by the Northern Territory Land Board that might damage Indigenous rights, suspended mining exploration licenses, and gave a small grant of land at Daguragu/Wattie Creek, as an initial step towards the final land handback.
1972 Woodward Royal Commission
The Whitlam government established the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Land Rights in the Northern Territory, headed by Justice Woodward. The Inquiry's task was to examine the legal establishment of land rights. The Commission recommended government financial support for the creation of reserveReserve
-Economic:* Official gold reserves, held by central banks as a store of value* Foreign exchange reserves, the foreign currency deposits held by central banks and monetary authorities...
s and incorporated land trusts, administered by traditional owners or land councils.
1973–74 Gove land rights case
Meanwhile, the YolnguYolngu
The Yolngu or Yolŋu are an Indigenous Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu means “person” in the Yolŋu languages.-Yolŋu law:...
of northeast Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land
The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National...
were taking their grievances to the courts, in the case of Milirrpum v Nabalco
Gove land rights case
Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, 17 FLR 141 , was the first litigation on native title in Australia. The decision of Justice Richard Blackburn ruled against the claimants on a number of issues of law and fact, rejecting the doctrine of aboriginal title in favor of terra nullius.Although Milirrpum was...
, after unsuccessfully petitioning the Commonwealth government with a bark petition
Yirrkala bark petitions
The Yirrkala bark petitions 1963 are historic Australian documents that were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that were recognised by the Australian Parliament, and are thus the first documentary recognition of Indigenous people in Australian law.Wali Wunungmurra,...
. The judge's decision in Gove
Gove land rights case
Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, 17 FLR 141 , was the first litigation on native title in Australia. The decision of Justice Richard Blackburn ruled against the claimants on a number of issues of law and fact, rejecting the doctrine of aboriginal title in favor of terra nullius.Although Milirrpum was...
had relied on the doctrine of terra nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
to deny the Yolngu
Yolngu
The Yolngu or Yolŋu are an Indigenous Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu means “person” in the Yolŋu languages.-Yolŋu law:...
rights to their land and ensure the security of a bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
mine by Nabalco. Coupled with the ongoing Gurindji strike, this case highlighted the very real need for Aboriginal land rights in Australia.
1976 Aboriginal Land Rights Act
As a result of the recommendations of the Woodward Inquiry, the Whitlam government drafted the Aboriginal Land Rights Bill. The legislation was not passed by parliament prior to the Whitlam government's dismissalAustralian constitutional crisis of 1975
The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis has been described as the greatest political crisis and constitutional crisis in Australia's history. It culminated on 11 November 1975 with the removal of the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party , by Governor-General Sir John Kerr...
in 1975. The subsequent Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
government passed effectively similar legislation – the Aboriginal Land Rights Act – on 9 December 1976.
1975 – Handback
In 1975, the LaborAustralian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government of Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
finally negotiated with Vesteys to give the Gurindji back a portion of their land. This was a landmark in the land rights
Native title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
movement in Australia for Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. The handback took place on 16 August 1975 at Kalkaringi. Gough Whitlam addressed Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji people, saying:
- On this great day, I, Prime Minister of Australia, speak to you on behalf of all Australian people – all those who honour and love this land we live in. For them I want to say to you: I want this to acknowledge that we Australians have still much to do to redress the injustice and oppression that has for so long been the lot of Black Australians.
- Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands part of the earth itself as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever.
The photograph of Whitlam pouring sand into Lingiari's hand on that day, taken by Mervyn Bishop
Mervyn Bishop
Mervyn Bishop is an Australian news and documentary photographer. Joining the Sydney Morning Herald as a cadet in 1962 or 1963, he was the first Aboriginal Australian to work on a metropolitan daily newspaper and one of the first Aboriginal Australians to become a professional photographer...
, has become an iconic one in Australian history.
Legacy of the strike
Vincent LingiariVincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiarri, AM , was an Aboriginal rights activist who was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. Lingiarri was a member of the Gurindji people. In Vincent's earlier life he worked as a stockman at Wave Hill Cattle Station. He also played...
confronted the vast economic and political forces arrayed against him and his people. The walk-off and strike were landmark events in the struggle for Aboriginal land rights
Native title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
in Australia. For the first time recognition was given of Indigenous people, their rights and responsibilities for the land, and their ability to practise their law, language and culture. In August every year, a large celebration is held at Kalkaringi to mark the anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
of the strike and walk-off. Known as Freedom Day, people gather from many parts of Australia to celebrate and re-enact the walk-off.
In 2006 an Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
report looked into the matter of underpayment of indigenous workers in the past. A group of those involved in the Wave Hill walk-off have said that they would be prepared to make a reparation claim for underpaid and stolen wages as a test case.
The walk-off route has been entered on the Australian National Heritage List
Australian National Heritage List
The Australian National Heritage List is a list of places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia. The list includes natural, historic and indigenous places...
.
The Gurindji Strike in popular culture
Ted EganTed Egan
Edward Joseph Egan AO is an Australian folk musician, and was a public servant who served as Administrator of the Northern Territory from 2003 to 2007.-Early life:...
wrote the Gurindji Blues in the 1960s with Vincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiarri, AM , was an Aboriginal rights activist who was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. Lingiarri was a member of the Gurindji people. In Vincent's earlier life he worked as a stockman at Wave Hill Cattle Station. He also played...
. The words to the first verse are:
- Poor Bugger Me, Gurindji
- Me bin sit down this country
- Long before no Lord Vestey
- All about land belong to we
In 1971 the song was recorded by Galarrwuy Yunupingu
Galarrwuy Yunupingu
Galarrwuy YunupinguAM is a leader in the Australian Indigenous community, and has been involved in the fight for Land Rights throughout his career...
, a Yolngu
Yolngu
The Yolngu or Yolŋu are an Indigenous Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu means “person” in the Yolŋu languages.-Yolŋu law:...
man actively involved in land rights for his own people through the bark petition
Yirrkala bark petitions
The Yirrkala bark petitions 1963 are historic Australian documents that were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that were recognised by the Australian Parliament, and are thus the first documentary recognition of Indigenous people in Australian law.Wali Wunungmurra,...
and Gove land rights case
Gove land rights case
Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, 17 FLR 141 , was the first litigation on native title in Australia. The decision of Justice Richard Blackburn ruled against the claimants on a number of issues of law and fact, rejecting the doctrine of aboriginal title in favor of terra nullius.Although Milirrpum was...
. Ted Egan says he was moved to write Gurindji Blues after he heard Peter Nixon
Peter Nixon
Peter James Nixon AO is a former Australian politician representing the National Party ....
, then Minister for the Interior, say in parliament that if the Gurindji wanted land, they should save up and buy it, like any other Australian. In 1991, Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
and Kev Carmody
Kev Carmody
Kevin Daniel "Kev" Carmody is an Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter. His song "From Little Things Big Things Grow" was recorded with co-writer Paul Kelly for their 1993 single; it was covered by the Get Up Mob in 2008 and peaked at #4 on the Australian Recording Industry Association singles...
recorded From Little Things Big Things Grow
From Little Things Big Things Grow
"From Little Things Big Things Grow" is a rock protest song recorded by Australian artists Paul Kelly & The Messengers on their 1991 album Comedy, and by Kev Carmody on his 1993 album Bloodlines. It was released as a CD single by Carmody and Kelly in 1993 but failed to chart...
. The words to the first verse are:
- Gather round people let me tell you a story
- An eight year-long story of power and pride
- British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiari
- Were opposite men on opposite sides
The words to the last verse are:
- That was the story of Vincent Lingiari
- But this is the story of something much more
- How power and privilege can not move a people
- Who know where they stand and stand in the law
See also
- Gurindji peopleGurindji peopleGurindji are a group of Indigenous Australians living in northern Australia, 460 km southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory's Victoria River region....
- Vincent LingiariVincent LingiariVincent Lingiarri, AM , was an Aboriginal rights activist who was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. Lingiarri was a member of the Gurindji people. In Vincent's earlier life he worked as a stockman at Wave Hill Cattle Station. He also played...
External links
- Listen to a clip from 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' and read more about it on australianscreen online
- 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia Registry in 2010
- Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957-1973, National Museum of AustraliaNational Museum of AustraliaThe National Museum of Australia was formally established by the National Museum of Australia Act 1980. The National Museum preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation....