Aboriginal Embassy, 1972

Abstract

The Aboriginal Embassy of 1972 is discussed in the thesis as a climax to changes in Aboriginal political consciousness and government policy over the decade which preceded its nine months of protest activity. The adoption of creative, non-violent methods of protest by the Embassy is detailed in contrast with other options considered during the period. Although the question of the appropriate means of protest, and the efficacy of protest action in a democracy are the essential questions addressed by the thesis, an analysis of the ideology of land rights is a secondary area of investigation. The demand for land rights is viewed here as a relatively non-specific, yet powerful, set of ideas which assumed an antithetical position to the government's policy of assimilation. Despite failure to achieve many of its aims, the Embassy is viewed as successful in having placed the land rights issue on the agenda of the major Australian political parties. The Embassy, it is concluded, is an example of the successful use of symbolic protest, and the relative accomplishment of an indigenous minority in attracting the attention of, and demanding redress from, the dominant culture.