Винсент Лингиари: Лидер борьбы за права аборигенов Австралии

Aboriginal Australian rights activist who led the Wave Hill walk off from 1967 to 1975

Vincent Lingiari (/l//ɪ//ŋ//dʒ//ɪ//j//ɑr//i/; 13 June 1908 or 1919 – 21 January 1988) was an Australian Aboriginal rights activist of the Gurindji people. In his early life he started as a stockman at Wave Hill Station, where the Aboriginal workers were given no more than rations, tobacco and clothing as their payment. After the owners of the station refused to improve pay and working conditions at the cattle station and hand back some of Gurindji land, Lingiari was elected and became the leader of the workers in August 1966. He led his people in the Wave Hill walk off, also known as the Gurindji strike. On 7 June 1976, Lingiari was named a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. The story of Lingiari is celebrated in the Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody song "From Little Things Big Things Grow".

Vincent Lingiari was born in 1919, according to Australian Government records, but some sources allege his date of birth was actually 13 June 1908. He became a poorly remunerated stockman at Wave Hill Station when he was a young man. He also played the didgeridoo.

Wave Hill Cattle Station is located approximately 600 km south of 5/6E Darwin in the Northern Territory. From the late 19th 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, worked at Wave Hill and had recently returned from a period of hospitalisation in Darwin and led a walk off of indigenous employees of Wave Hill as a protest against the work and 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 protesters established the Wattie Creek (Daguragu) camp and demanded the return of some of their traditional lands. Speaking on this Lingiari said, "We want to live on our land, our way". So began the eight year fight by the Gurindji people to obtain title to their land. In 1969, Lingiari co wrote the song "Gurindji Blues", with Ted Egan. Sung by Galarrwuy Yunupingu, the song was recorded and released in 1971.

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. 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 Lingiari's hands, symbolically handing a small part of land belonging to the Wave Hill station back to the Gurindji people, on a 30 year pastoral lease. A photograph of the moment captured by Mervyn Bishop was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery and is displayed in Old Parliament House. On 7 June 1976, Lingiari was named a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. One of Australia's largest electorates is named after Lingiari. The Division of Lingiari encompasses nearly all of the Northern Territory as well as Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands. It includes Daguragu and traditional Gurindji lands. The story of Lingiari is 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. It was later added to the Sounds of Australia archive. The Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lectures have been held at the Casuarina campus amphitheatre of Charles Darwin University since 1996, featuring speakers as diverse as Gough Whitlam, Marcia Langton, Malcolm Fraser, Pat Dodson and Bruce Pascoe. The story of his part in the strike is also told in Irish folk musician Damien Dempsey's song "Wave Hill Walk Off", on his 2016 album No Force on Earth. The Vincent Lingiari Cup, is an Aussie rules football competition that takes place at the annual Freedom Day Festival each year in Kalkaringi.

The Vincent Lingiari Art Award was created in 2016 by the Central Land Council (CLC) and Desart, on the 50th anniversary of the Gurindji strike, and 40 years after the Land Rights Act was passed. CLC is the land council for Central Australia, while Desart represents over 40 Aboriginal art centres in the region. The award intentionally has a political focus, in particular relating to land and water rights for Aboriginal people. In 2021, the theme was water rights, expressed as "Ngawa, Ngapa, Kapi, Kwatja, Water", intended to "raise awareness of our struggle against massive water theft that threatens the survival of desert plants, animals and people and for safe drinking water for our remote communities", according to the CEO of Desart, Philip Watkins. The award paintings were exhibited from 8 September at the Tangentyere Artists Gallery, and a second award was also introduced, the Delegates Choice Award. There were a record 47 entries for the award.