Gurindji People At Wave Hill Cattle Station example essay topic

Wave Hill Strike 1966 In August 1966 Gurindji people at Wave Hill cattle station went on strike demanding wages and a return of some of their traditional lands. The demand was rejected but the Gurindji continued to camp on their traditional country at Daguragu - they broke the white man's law but obeyed their own. The campaign was taken up by supporters in Australia's cities and eventually the Gurindji won title to part of their land. People / Grpoups involved for and against the protest In August 1966, the Gurindji people at Wave Hill cattle station went on strike. Two main people led the campaign. One of these people was Ida Bernard.

Ida Bernard is was an important elderly Gurindji women at Daguragu in the Northen Territory. In 1966 she was working at the Wave Hill cattle station (owned by Britain's Lord Vestey) in the kitchens. The second person was Vincent Lingiari. Vincent Lingiari was an inspiration to all Aborigines with his courage, vision and commitment to fight for justice and land.

Many "white" supporters in Australia's cities protesting on streets also took up the campaign. Britain's Lord Vestey owned the Wave Hill cattle station. Vestey and his eurpoean men were not happy with what the Gurindji were trying to do. The non-Aboriginal workers felt superior to the gurindji people and thought that there was no way the black workers deserve to recieve a wage close to theirs. Reasons for the protest It started as a strike for better wages and living conditions for Aboriginal people but then became a battle for the return of stolen land. Aboriginal women and men built the cattle industry in Australia with very little recognition, providing the cheap labour for big profits of farming leaseholders like Lord Vestey at Wave Hill.

These "leases" were put onto Aboriginal peoples homelands and hunting grounds. The Gurindji were working for nothing but rations or for as little as 12 shillings per week. They started to realise that they once had the wealth of the land and that it was stolen away from them. While working hard, day-by-day the pressure got tighter and tighter until the Gurindji decided they must take a stand. So the main reasons for the strike was to receive decent wages and living conditions and a return of some of their traditional lands. Course of events during the protest Vincent Lingiari requested for a wage of 25 shillings (from a wage of 12 shillings) per week for Aboriginal stockmen, this of course was much less than the 34 shillings to 46 shillings per week paid to the non-Aboriginal stockmen.

When the request was rejected by Lord Vestey, Vincent Lingiari's response was immediate "I'm walking off today". Lingiari, Ida bernard and fellow country men (stockmen and other workers) walked 13 kilometers to Wattie Creek, a place of spiritual significance and named their new community Daguragu. That was the walk off. Years later, Mick Rangiari recalled and translated lingiari's words of determination "No one's gonna go back, no women no men are gonna go back to the station to do their work". Results of the protest The strike lasted 8 years.

At first the strike was about wages and living conditions but as it folded out, it became a battle for the return of stolen land. Eventually the Gurindji won title to part of their land. In 1972 a labour government was elected in Australia and it was Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who brang the strike to an end and returning ownership of the land to it's traditional owners. Gough Whitlam's words at the 1975 ceremony were" 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".

Gough Whitlam then poured through Vincent's fingers a handful of red sand. This was Australia's first successful Aboriginal land claim. By Daniel Kumar Wave Hill Strike 1966 In August 1966 Gurindji people at Wave Hill cattle station went on strike demanding wages and a return of some of their traditional lands. That was the walk off.