FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW

Gurindji strikers at Wattie Creek, next to the sign that they had made to assert their claim over their lands. Photo: Brian Manning.

Gather round people let me tell you a story 
An eight-year-long story of power and pride 
British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiari 
Were opposite men on opposite sides

You probably know these as the opening lyrics to the 1991 Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody song, From Little Things Big Things Grow. It is one of Australia's most important songs and most Aussies will know it - if not from its radio play or performances from Paul and Kev around the nation, then from its use by grassroots movements around Australia and in advertising campaigns.

The story told by the song is one of the greatest this wide brown land has known and one that sadly too few Australian's know. It's a story that is everything we lionise in Australia; mateship, courage, the battler, a fair go, the underdog getting one over the powerful and a happy ending where the hero wins. This is the story of the Gurindji Strike! The hero; Aboriginal man Vincent Lingiari as he led the Gurindji, Ngarinman, Bilinara, Warlpiri and Mudbara peoples on a long, courageous battle for justice.