‘Ningla-a-Na’ - Screening of the 1972 'Aboriginal Embassy' demonstrations

 On Australia Day, January 26^th 1972, the Tent Embassy was established in response to the McMahon Coalition Government's refusal to recognize Aboriginal land rights.

The people of Redfern were central to this National struggle for recognition and this is reflected in ‘Ningla-a-Na.  Film Fanatics are therefore organizing a bus from Redfern Community Centre to ensure as many elders as possible can attend the screening. Jenny Monro ‘the baby of the Tent Embassy activists’ will be there to share memories and facilitate discussion on the night and will be joined by filmmaker Fabio Cavadini and others.

Film Fanatics selects films from the National Film and Sound Archives and this screening is an opportunity to reflect on the Pitjantjatjara expression ‘ningla-a-na’ which translates as ‘we are hungry for our land’.

Film Fanatics is a community based initiative working with the Petersham Bowling Club located at 77 Brighton Street Petersham. Tickets are available at the door. www.thepbc.org.au  or email:  innerwestfilmfanatics@yahoo.com.au

http://www.indigenousrights.net.au/document.asp?iID=793

Inner West Film Fanatics will screen the 16 mm print of NINGLA A-NA, (1972, 72 min) at the Petersham Bowling Club on Tuesday June 24^th at 7.00 p.m.

In 1972 at the peak of Aboriginal political militancy in Australia, two Italian brothers, Allessandro and Fabio Cavadini, made a film called ‘Ningla-a-Na’ about the 'Aboriginal Embassy' demonstrations in Sydney and Canberra that year.

The 'Aboriginal Embassy' demonstrations took the reality of a dispossessed people right to the front door of Parliament House in Canberra. Aboriginal activists were able to convey their message to the world as a major television news item. The appalling, health, housing, education and incarceration rates of Aborigines were at last in the public domain.

On Australia Day, January 26^th 1972, the Tent Embassy was established in response to the McMahon Coalition Government's refusal to recognize Aboriginal land rights.

A new general purpose lease for Aborigines would be conditional upon their ‘intention and ability to make reasonable economic and social use of land’ and it would exclude all rights they had to mineral and forest rights.

The reaction was instant and dramatic as Redfern-based Aboriginal activists moved quickly to establish a protest camp on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra. Some of the people involved in its establishment include Gary Foley, Chicka Dixon, Pearl Gibbs and Paul Coe.

Efforts to remove the Tent Embassy were prevented by a flaw in Canberra ordinances. It was discovered that there was no actual prohibition on camping on the Parliamentary lawn. This enabled the activists to establish a permanent presence on the lawns.

The "Aboriginal Embassy" protest was the most effective political action in the history of the Aboriginal struggle. Black marchers were joined for the first time by massive white support as more information became available about the reality of our colonial past. 

The people of Redfern were central to this National struggle for recognition and this is reflected in ‘Ningla-a-Na.  Film Fanatics are therefore organizing a bus from Redfern Community Centre to ensure as many elders as possible can attend the screening. Jenny Monro ‘the baby of the Tent Embassy activists’ will be there to share memories and facilitate discussion on the night and will be joined by filmmaker Fabio Cavadini and others.

Film Fanatics selects films from the National Film and Sound Archives and has endeavored to include films that tell the story of Aboriginal Australia.  In the past year ‘Protected’ about the Palm Island strike provided an opportunity for Lex Watton to visit Sydney and ‘No Fixed Address’ was introduced by Bart Willoughby one of our very significant Australian song writers.

The metaphor of the tent Embassy is such that it continues to exist as the most vital gathering place. In 1995 the site of the Tent Embassy was added to the Australian Register of the National Estate as the only Aboriginal site in Australia that is recognized nationally as a site representing political struggle for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

On Feb 13^th 2008 Aboriginals gathered and camped on mass to hear the Prime Minister of Australia give an unqualified apology for the laws and policies that "inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss".  Children splashed in the lakes and adults sat and talked amidst an array of signs dominated by one word ‘sovereignty’.  It is difficult to imagine how Australia can move forward in a proud and integrated way without coming to terms with an Aboriginal authority integral to having a natural affinity with the land.

It is a significant time to revisit this film ‘Ningla-a-Na’ and the establishment of the Tent Embassy.  We hope as many people as possible will come to acknowledge the Redfern community and to let their passion and dedication form a through line in defining how our future unfolds. It is an opportunity to reflect on the Pitjantjatjara expression ‘ningla-a-na’ which translates as ‘we are hungry for our land’.

Film Fanatics is a community based initiative working with the Petersham Bowling Club located at 77 Brighton Street Petersham. Tickets are available at the door. The bar is open at 6.00 p.m. and light refreshments will be available for purchase.

www.thepbc.org.au  or email:  innerwestfilmfanatics@yahoo.com.au

http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/images/history/1970s/emb72/p3.html

http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/images/history/1970s/emb72/p17.html

http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/images/history/1970s/emb72/p22.html

http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/images/history/1970s/ningla/history.html