People Australia

Vincent Lingiari at his house, c.1967-68

National Archives of Australia, F1, 1968/2735N

Vincent Lingiari (1919?-1988) Aboriginal stockman and land rights leader

Birth: possibly in 1919 at Victoria River Gorge, Northern Territory, son of Gurindji parents. Marriage: to Blanche Nangi, whom he had married tribally. Death: 21 January 1988 at Daguragu, Northern Territory. 

• Belonged to the Gurindji people of the Victoria River District and was a leader and Kadijeri man amongst his own people.
• He worked on cattle stations owned by Europeans, and was noted for his personal qualities, superb horsemanship and abilities as a stockman. Native Affairs patrol officer Jack Doolan regarded him as “the most remarkable man I have ever met – black or white”.
• Lingiari worked at Wave Hill, Northern Territory, owned by British ‘beefbaron’ Lord Vestey. He questioned and took action on the treatment of Aboriginal people on stations as it was clear that there was a vast difference between the treatment of white and black workers at Wave Hill. White workers had beds to sleep on, steak to eat and were paid regularly while black workers lived in shanties often too low to stand in, had no bedding, ate salt beef and bread and often had to wait for months for low wages and in many cases no wages.
• Also, white stockmen returned to the station every week or so while the Aboriginal stockmen were sometimes required to spend months with the stock. This practice was of particular concern as he felt that it was a deliberate ploy to use the Aboriginal women in the absence of their men-folk.
• There was no respect shown for Aborigines in regards to their abilities or tribal standing which was indicated by given the name ‘Tommy Vincent’ instead of the Aboriginal name of which he was proud.
• Lingiari in 1966 spoke with Dexter Daniels, Aboriginal organiser for the North Australian Workers’ Union (NAWU,) about the treatment on Vestey stations and his feeling that a walk off of Aboriginal workers may be the only option if conditions did not improve. Such action did not have the approval of the NAWU as the union had already applied to the federal arbitration court for Aboriginal workers to receive the same pay as white workers.
• The court approved the NAWU submission in March 1966 but deferred its application to December 1968. This decision angered Aboriginal workers and led to a series of strikes on stations in the territory.
• Lingiari approached the Wave Hill station manager in August 1966 and asked that Aboriginal stockmen be paid a fair wage of ‘twenty five quid a week’, which the manager rejected. Lingiari advised that Aborigines would withdraw their labour and walk off all the Vestey stations until their claims were met.
• Aborigines left Wave Hill Station and ultimately squatted in Wattie Creek later in August 1966. The group was joined by other Aboriginal workers and their families from other stations, who were mainly Gurindji people but also many other Aboriginal groups.
• Food supplies came from Dexter Daniels in Darwin and locals, many of whom were white people, until the Wattie Creek community became organised and initiated traditional hunting and gathering. The Wave Hill manager and other station managers were desperate for workers and attempted to entice the Aborigines back to work by arriving at Wattie Creek with a killed beast, which the Aborigines declined.
• In line with further negotiations, many mainly younger Aborigines returned to the stations where their conditions had improved. Respect was important to Lingiari and other Aboriginal elders and was demonstrated by treating workers fairly so those stations with relatively good housing for Aborigines but treated Aborigines unfairly were refused requests for workers while the stations that may have had poor housing and treated Aborigines fairly mostly found willing workers.
• Lingiari and his people achieved some control over their own destinies which led to a dream of land of their own that gained momentum during the 1960s. Lingiari’s vision was for Gurindji people to live on their own land, eat their own beef and conduct their own ceremonies without interference. He wanted justice and a land in which Aborigines and white people could live together with dignity and mutual respect. Wattie Creek grew into a community with housing and organisation and Lingiari made many visits to southern capitals to advocate for a homeland for the Gurindji people.
• Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was sympathetic when he was elected in 1972, which set in motion the process to transfer a section of land, including Wattie Creek, to the Gurindji people. The land grant of 3200 square km, known as Dagaragu, was made in 1975. Lingiari was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to the Aboriginal people in 1976.
• He died at Daguragu. Burial service was held at Kalkaringi, where a large group of mourners, black and white, gathered outside the Baptist church to sing hymns and pay tribute. 

Sources
Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 2 pp.111-113; F. Hardy, The Unlucky Australians, 1968; Vincent Lingiari File, State Library of the Northern Territory.