Vincent Lingiari

Vincent Lingiari, AM (1908– 21 January 1988), was an Aboriginal rights activist who was created a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. Lingiari was a member of the Gurindji people from the Northern Territory's Victoria River District. Lingiari led the Wave Hill Walk-Off, which eventually resulted in the return of the land to the Gurindji by the Commonwealth of Australia.

Wave Hill Walk-Off

Wave Hill Cattle Station is located approximately 600 km south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. From the late nineteenth century it was run by the British pastoral company, Vesteys. Vesteys employed the local Indigenous people, the Gurindji, to work on Wave Hill. But working conditions were extremely poor and wages were very low when compared to those of non-Indigenous employees.

In 1966, Lingiari, a member of the Gurindji who had worked at Wave Hill, and recently returned from a period of hospitalisation in Darwin, led a walk-off of Indigenous employees of Wave Hill as a protest against the work and pay conditions.

While there had been complaints from Indigenous employees about conditions on Wave Hill over many years, including an inquiry during the 1930s that was critical of Vesteys employment practices, the walk-off had a focus that was aimed at a wider target than Vesteys. Before 1968 it was illegal to pay an Indigenous worker more than a specified amount in goods and money. In many cases, the government benefits for which Indigenous employees were eligible were paid into pastoral companies’ accounts, rather than to the individuals.

The protesters established the Wattie Creek Camp and demanded the return of some of their traditional lands. So began the seven-year fight by the Gurindji people to obtain title to their land.

Land Rights Act and Handback

The Wave Hill strike would eventually reshape the agenda of relationships between Indigenous Australians and the wider community. Although initially an employee-rights action, it soon became a major federal issue when the Gurindji people demanded the return of their traditional lands.

The strike lasted seven years. Over that time, support for Aboriginal rights grew as the struggle intensified. The protest eventually led to the Commonwealth Land Rights Act (Northern Territory), 1976. This Act gave Indigenous Australians freehold title to traditional lands in the Northern Territory and, significantly, the power of veto over mining and development on those lands.

An important and symbolic event in Australian history occurred when, during an emotional ceremony in 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam poured the local sand into Vincent Lingiari's hands and handed the Wave Hill station back to the Gurindji people.

Vincent's legacy

Vincent Lingiari died on 21 January 1988. Every year until then he attended the Gurindji’s annual re-enactment of the walk-off.

Vincent Lingiari was a leader and holder of the cultural authority of the Gurindji people. His fight for his people’s rights – to the custodianship and ownership of their land and the capacity to practise their law, culture and language – made him a national figure.

Vincent Lingiari confronted the vast economic and political forces that were arrayed against him and his people. In doing so, he won a victory that is one of the most outstanding achievements in the history of the struggle for the recognition of Indigenous people, their rights and responsibilities in the land, and their ability to practise their law, language and culture.

One of Australia's largest electorates is named after Vincent. The Division of Lingiari encompasses nearly all of the Northern Territory as well as Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands.

The story of Vincent Lingiari was celebrated in the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow" written by Paul Kelly and Indigenous musician Kev Carmody and recorded by Kelly.

See also

*Gurindji strike
*Native title
*Gurindji people

External links

*cite web | title=About Lingiari | url=http://www.warrensnowdon.com/lingiari.htm | accessmonthday=July 26 | accessyear=2005
*cite web | title=National Archives of Australia | url=http://www.naa.gov.au/about-us/publications/fact-sheets/fs224.aspx
* [http://www.lingiari.org/page10.html Lingiari Foundation]
* [http://www.freedomday.info/history.html Freedom Day]