"He wasn't only fighting for the Gurindji people he was fighting for all Aboriginal people,
for the way the white man treated us. " - The Gurindji people
From Little Things, Big Things Grow
written by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody
Gather round people I'll 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
Vestey was fat with money and muscle
Beef was his business, broad was his door
Vincent was lean and spoke very little
He had no bank balance, hard dirt was his floor
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Gurindji were working for nothing but rations
Where once they had gathered the wealth of the land
Daily the pressure got tighter and tighter
Gurindju decided they must make a stand
They picked up their swags and started off walking
At Wattie Creek they sat themselves down
Now it don't sound like much but it sure got tongues talking
Back at the homestead and then in the town
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Vestey man said I'll double your wages
Seven quid a week you'll have in your hand
Vincent said uhuh we're not talking about wages
We're sitting right here till we get our land
Vestey man roared and Vestey man thundered
You don't stand the chance of a cinder in snow
Vince said if we fall others are rising
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Then Vincent Lingiari boarded an aeroplane
Landed in Sydney, big city of lights
And daily he went round softly speaking his story
To all kinds of men from all walks of life
And Vincent sat down with big politicians
This affair they told him is a matter of state
Let us sort it out, your people are hungry
Vincent said no thanks, we know how to wait
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Then Vincent Lingiari returned in an aeroplane
Back to his country once more to sit down
And he told his people let the stars keep on turning
We have friends in the south, in the cities and towns
Eight years went by, eight long years of waiting
Till one day a tall stranger appeared in the land
And he came with lawyers and he came with great ceremony
And through Vincent's fingers poured a handful of sand
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
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
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
In 1966, Vincent Lingiarri, 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 Vestey's employment practices, the walk-off had a focus that was aimed at a wider target than Vestey's. 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 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.
Over the next eight year, support for Aboriginal rights grew as the struggle intensified. The protest eventually led to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. This act gave indigenous Australians freehold title to traditional lands in the Northern Territory and, significantly, the power to negotiate over mining and development on those lands, including what type of compensation they would like.
On the 26th August 1975 Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam officially handed back his peoples' traditional lands to Vincent Lingiari in the community of Daguragu. While Vincent and many of his contemporaries have since passed away, elders who participated in this monumental community-driven movement continue to stand strong in their country.
It was an emotional ceremony in 1975, when Whitlam poured the local sand into Vincent Lingiarri's hands and handed the Wave Hill station back to the Gurindji people.
Vincent Lingiarri Legacy
Vincent Lingiarri died on 21st January 1988. Every year until then he attended the Gurindji's annual re-enactment of the walk-off.
Vincent 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 Lingiarri 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 practice 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 Lingiarri was celebrated in the song From Little Things Big Things Grow written by Paul Kelly and Indigenous musician Kev Carmody and recorded by Kelly in 1991 and many others since.
Background: Kalkarindji and Daguragu are on the traditional homelands of the Gurindji people, and these communities are linked to the Malgnin, Mudpurra, Bilinara, Ngarinman and Warlpiri peoples through the historic Walkoff from Wave Hill Station, which was initially established on Gurindji traditional lands in 1883. At the time of the Walkoff, Wave Hill Station had been owned by British Lord Vestey's family since 1914. The Gurindji Walkoff was initiated by Gurindji/Malgnin leader, Vincent Lingiari, on 23 August 1966 and lasted till 1974, an event which lit the fire that became the national land rights movement.
On 26 August, 1975, then Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam officially handed back his peoples' traditional lands to Vincent Lingiari in the community of Daguragu. While Vincent and many of his contemporaries have since passed away, elders who participated in this monumental community-driven movement continue to stand strong in their country.
They and their descendants invite you to come and share this anniversary with us, listen to our elders' stories and experiences over the almost four decades since that historic time in the late 1960s, and support us in our aims for our current and future younger generations.
"He wasn't only fighting for the Gurindji people he was fighting for all Aboriginal people, for the way the white man treated us."
Location: Kalkarindji/Daguragu is approximately 550km directly south of Darwin or 800 kms driving in total on the Stuart and Buntine Highways; and approximately 480 kms southwest of Katherine, via the Buntine Highway, Northern Territory.
Population: 650 - 700, with communities in outlying regions of Lajamanu, Pigeonhole, Yarralin, Hooker Creek and others.
Further details on event can be found at: www.gurindjifreedomday.com
