‘Ours will be a tent’: The meaning and symbolism of the early Aboriginal Tent Embassy

Abstract

Abstract: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was founded in 1972 to reflect the alienation felt by many Aboriginal people from contemporary political processes and policy in Australia. The establishment of the Embassy also reflected new ideas about how Aboriginal activists viewed their struggle for justice. In the decades following the Second World War, Aboriginal identity became increasingly nationalised. An unprecedented level of pan-Aboriginal identification and solidarity emerged during the 1950s and 1960s that enabled activists to unite at the Embassy. The American Black Power movement was a major influence on those activists who took to the lawns of what was then Australia’s Parliament House, and the wise stylistic decisions made while the Embassy was being formed were also crucial to the success of the Embassy as a symbol. These stylistic elements focused on the use of a tent—a ‘brilliant hijacking of the nationally symbolic space’—that was able to capture the deprived living conditions of so many Aboriginal communities. More subtly, the Embassy was an exercise in satire that helped to undermine the Federal Government and win over many supporters. The Embassy was an adventure in ideas for a generation of activists who refused to accept continued alienation. To this day, the Embassy continues its fight for Aboriginal sovereignty and land rights. Show more