This year marked the 57th anniversary of the Gurindji people’s epic and historic walk-off from Wave Hill Station. This momentous occasion ignited the national Aboriginal land rights movement across Australia. Aboriginal activist Vincent Lingiari led this powerful protest in 1966. It raised awareness of the poverty and working conditions faced by Indigenous workers, and laid the foundation for later land rights successes.
On August 23, 1966, around 200 Gurindji, Mudburra, and Warlpiri workers, along with their families, took a stand against poor treatment at Wave Hill Station. They left the premises, insisting on the return of their ancestral land. As a passionate leader and advocate for his people’s rights, Lingiari led this movement. His efforts eventually produced the recognition by the government of a community of Darguragu at Wattie Creek.
Her presentation included photography from the walk-off, illustrating the notable inequalities coupled with hardships that Aboriginal workers experienced in comparison to their white counterparts. According to Dr. Robyn Smith, “While the white workers were housed in appropriate Western standard accommodation, the Aboriginal workers had no such equality.” She pointed out the exploitation faced by Aboriginal men who worked as jackaroos and drovers, and Aboriginal women who worked domestically.
The momentum from the walk-off helped spark a renewed national conversation around land rights. In 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam formally handed back a part of the Wave Hill cattle station to the Gurindji people. Since this ceremony, it has become an iconic moment in Australian history. As on the historic occasion of this event, Whitlam personally poured sand into Lingiari’s hand, signifying the return of the land.
“I solemnly hand to you these deeds, as proof in Australian law that these lands belong to the Gurindji people.” – Gough Whitlam
Lingiari’s strategic leadership proved essential in this watershed moment. George Edwards, who participated in the protest, recalls Lingiari urging the group, “And we had enough. Enough is enough. So let’s pack our gear and let’s start walking.” The Gurindji people stood firm and decided that they had to get their land back. Their impact was heard across Australia, motivating generations to come to fight for Indigenous rights.
All of these grassroots efforts culminated in the landmark Mabo decision in 1992. This important ruling set aside the legal doctrine of terra nullius, which had long claimed that Australia was uninhabited before British colonization. This legal change opened the door for the Native Title Act of 1993. It provided a mechanism for Indigenous Australians to legally assert their native title over their traditional lands.
Unfortunately, by the time of the hand-back ceremony, Lingiari had all-but lost his sight. Although he faced this challenge, he was a vibrant testament to fighting spirit and will. In reflecting on the significance of the event, Edwards remarked on Lingiari’s influence: “He was a great leader… Mr. Lingiari, he was a great man. He was a hero for me.”
Today, that long fight for recognition and equality is celebrated in the annual Gurindji Freedom Day Festival, honoring the original walk-off’s legacy. It celebrates its continuing influence on Indigenous rights in Australia. The festival is a celebration of the Gurindji peoples’ indomitable history. It depicts an unyielding struggle for justice, dignity and recognition.
The spiritual legacy of Vincent Lingiari today continues to inspire Aboriginal land rights movements worldwide. According to historian Henry Reynolds, “The event itself was of great symbolic significance… It pointed the way for what was going to happen in the next 20 years where the Land Rights Act [and] revolution took place.”
In the wake of that watershed moment, we see a marked change in the conversation around land acknowledgments. There’s similarly been a hefty push for reparations to Indigenous Australians. Lingiari and his band had to endure an extraordinary fight. Their lives teach us about the systemic injustice we continue to face even today.
“Well, it was a symbolic gesture of returning the land. But it was also because Vincent Lingiari, by then was almost blind, so he couldn’t see properly. So if he could feel the sand in his hand, he could feel that he was being given that land at Wattie Creek.”
These words encapsulate not just a moment in history but a profound connection between people and land that resonates deeply within Indigenous communities across Australia.
