{"id":168967,"date":"2025-08-23T10:57:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T10:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/168967\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T10:57:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T10:57:20","slug":"gurindji-leaders-say-struggle-for-economic-prosperity-continues-50-years-after-land-was-handed-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/168967\/","title":{"rendered":"Gurindji leaders say struggle for economic prosperity continues 50 years after land was handed back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Timmy Vincent Lingiari still remembers the meagre rations that his parents’ generation were paid on Northern Territory cattle stations.<\/p>\n

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains names and imagery of Indigenous people who have died, used with the permission of family.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Bread and tea they give you, little one!” he says.<\/p>\n

“That’s why they walked off from Wave Hill Station.”<\/p>\n

Fifty years ago, prime minister Gough Whitlam poured sand into the hands of Tommy’s father, Vincent Lingiari, as the Gurindji became the first Aboriginal people to receive land back from the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A mural in Darwin shows Gough Whitlam pouring sand into the hands of Vincent Lingiari. (ABC News: Gemma Ferguson)<\/p>\n

Nine years earlier, in 1966, the Gurindji had walked off Wave Hill in protest of their poor working conditions and lack of pay.<\/p>\n

They made their first camp on the bed of the Victoria River nearby.<\/p>\n

Some older people, like Lorna Berd, still remember the long strike that ultimately led to the land back campaign.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

This year’s Freedom Day festival marked 50 years since the historic handing back of Gurindji land. (ABC News: Jayden O’Neill)<\/p>\n

“I was with my mother,” she says.<\/p>\n

“We went to the river and slept there.”<\/p>\n

As part of the annual Freedom Festival, the Gurindji again marched down to the old Victoria River campsite this week.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Crowds of people gathered on Indigenous land to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Freedom Day. (ABC News: Jayden O’Neill)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The group of festival attendees marched down to the old Victoria River campsite. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

An enduring legacy<\/p>\n

Rob Roy, a Gurindji traditional owner, says the handback was “one of those pivotal moments in time”.<\/p>\n

“We still carry on the legacy of Vincent Lingiari,” he says.<\/p>\n

“They lit the pathway for us and we want to continue that.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Vincent’s dream was for the Gurindji to have a prosperous cattle station of their own at Daguragu, where an Aboriginal community was founded after the handback in 1975.<\/p>\n

\"Small<\/p>\n

The Indigenous land handback hoped to create prosperity for current and future generations. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

He had hoped for a thriving local economy with good schools and housing, giving the community an opportunity to live a modern life close to places of spiritual significance and with respect of traditional culture.<\/p>\n

Mr Roy says the community “did thrive” there for a time<\/a>, but progress has stalled and the Gurindji do not have a station of their own yet.<\/p>\n

He and other community leaders say there are few job opportunities in Kalkarindji and Daguragu, and it is now rare for Aboriginal people to work on the nearby stations.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Gurindji leaders say they want to be “good mates” with the team running the modern Wave Hill Station. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

“We’re not giving up,” Mr Roy says.<\/p>\n

“We haven’t forgotten, we’ve still got to push for it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wave Hill Station to develop job pathways<\/p>\n

The modern Wave Hill Station came under new management a few years ago.<\/p>\n

Assistant manager Connie Wood was at this week’s Freedom Day march with her children.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Connie Woods is assistant manager at Wave Hill Station, which came under new management in recent years. (Supplied\/File)<\/p>\n

“It’s an absolute honour and a privilege to be part of the shared history of Wave Hill,” she says.<\/p>\n

Ms Wood says there are plans in the works to create job opportunities for local Aboriginal people and “work experience” options for school-aged children.<\/p>\n

“I think it would be a really great thing to get some of these kids coming out for a bit of work experience,” she says.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Wave Hill Station is interested in creating more economic opportunities for locals, including work experience pathways for youth. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

The station will work with the Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation to develop opportunities in what Ms Wood says will be a gradual, “softly softly”, approach to make sure it’s done right.<\/p>\n

“We’re here for the long haul,” she says.<\/p>\n

Mr Roy says the prospect of young people returning to work at Wave Hill is a “very interesting” proposition.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Freedom Day festival was widely attended by a number of Indigenous groups. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

“It’s a good way to connect,” he says.<\/p>\n

“I want to be good mates with them.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Special guests from Yuendumu<\/p>\n

The Gurindji have a long-standing relationship with the Warlpiri, who also worked on cattle stations in the area and were the second-biggest tribal group during the 1966 walk-off.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

This year’s festival crowd celebrated 50 years since the land was handed back. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Freedom Day festival recognises the land back movement after Indigenous people walked off the cattle stations they had been working for without pay. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

This year, a particularly sizeable Warlpiri delegation joined the march.<\/p>\n

Family members of Kumanjayi White, the young Warlpiri man who died in police custody<\/a> in an Alice Springs supermarket earlier this year, were among those in attendance.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Rob Roy speaking at the 2025 Freedom Day festival, as Kumanjayi White’s grandfather Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves watches on. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

“It’s a support march, alongside our Freedom Day march,” Mr Roy says.<\/p>\n

“They lived together before, they still do today.”<\/p>\n

“We respect one another. There’s a deep connection there.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Timmy Vincent Lingiari still remembers the meagre rations that his parents’ generation were paid on Northern Territory cattle…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":168968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2413,17121,96771,96760,96762,96763,4740,96784,96783,96778,12833,96774,96776,96775,96766,96772,96786,96761,96759,96773,96758,96782,96770,96777,96788,96768,96769,50,13264,13263,96780,96781,96767,96787,96785,96765,96779,96764,37725],"class_list":{"0":"post-168967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-50th-anniversary","9":"tag-50th-year","10":"tag-aboriginal-land","11":"tag-aboriginal-land-rights","12":"tag-aboriginal-rights","13":"tag-aboriginal-stockmen","14":"tag-australia","15":"tag-cattle-farm","16":"tag-cattle-station","17":"tag-daguragu","18":"tag-farming","19":"tag-freedom-day","20":"tag-freedom-day-festival","21":"tag-freedom-festival","22":"tag-gough-whitlam","23":"tag-gurindji","24":"tag-gurindji-corporation","25":"tag-gurindji-country","26":"tag-gurindji-freedom-day-festival","27":"tag-gurindji-land","28":"tag-gurundji","29":"tag-hand-back","30":"tag-indigenous-land","31":"tag-kalkarindji","32":"tag-kalkaringi","33":"tag-land-back","34":"tag-land-rights","35":"tag-news","36":"tag-northern-territory","37":"tag-nt","38":"tag-tommy-lingiari","39":"tag-victoria-river","40":"tag-vincent-lingiari","41":"tag-warlpiri","42":"tag-wattie-creek","43":"tag-wave-hill","44":"tag-wave-hill-station","45":"tag-wave-hill-walk-off","46":"tag-yuendumu"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}