With a beach umbrella and a resolve buoyed by decades of heartache, four young men arrived at the nation's capital unaware they were about to change the course of Australian history.
They were four Aboriginal men, choosing January 26, 1972 to cement themselves on the lawns of Old Parliament House — on Ngunnawal Country – to begin a protest for Indigenous rights which would span not days, but decades.
Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Bertie Williams and Tony Coorey established the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the day now known as Australia Day.
Now, 50 years later, the Embassy is the world's longest continuous protest for Indigenous land rights.
The Embassy stands as a beacon for contemporary Aboriginal activism in this country.
According to academic and activist Lynda-June Coe, the movement built on the legacy of First Nations warriors battling British colonists in the Frontier Wars.
"It's a symbol going right back to 1788, not just 1972, in that we never ceded our sovereignty and that there's never been a treaty in this country," Ms Coe said.
The Wiradjuri and Badu Island woman is the niece of two of the Embassy's co-founders.
"The older ones have taught us well in terms of not only just the Black Power movement in this country, but right back to invasion and what our people fought for on the frontier," she said.
Ms Coe believes the aims of the Embassy are more relevant than ever to younger generations of First Nations people.
"It's amazing, the way the movement has [diversified] and transformed over 50 years.
"Self-determination is now flowing out in different aspects that we've never seen before."
A ship without an anchor
The Embassy and its founding story is now legend and, according to executive officer of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (NATSILS) Jamie McConnachie, its impact cannot be understated.
"They have created dynasties of activism in their communities and beyond," Ms McConnachie said.
"Without the Tent Embassy, this country is like a ship without an anchor."
As the baton is handed down, the Waanyi woman said it's about making sure the next generation is free to reshape the way it fights for justice for marginalised communities.
"We sometimes win small battles, but sometimes we can't win the war. And this is why it's fundamental that as time passes, young people keep the soil turning.
"Young people are important because they have the opportunity to not remain oppressed and embedded in antiquated policies of the past."
NATSILS is currently campaigning to reduce the rate of Indigenous incarceration, with the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 30 per cent of the nation's prison population.
That's despite First Nations people representing just 3 per cent of the country's total population.
NATSILS is also working to raise the country's age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years and to reduce the number of Aboriginal deaths in custody.
In 2020, tens of thousands of people across the country turned out to Black Lives Matter protests, to draw attention to Indigenous deaths in custody.
Aboriginal people led the chants, but they were also supported by a growing number of white Australian allies, many of whom have also shared education campaigns on social media.
Ms McConnachie believes those demonstrations showed the civil rights movement is as relevant now as it's ever been.
"When people feel heard, they feel empowered, and this freedom is fundamental to democracy," she said.
The people's voice
The shift online has also helped First Nations people re-imagine protest and its impact on non-Indigenous Australians.
Ms Coe said social media was being used by Indigenous people to "mobilise and organise at a nationwide scale".
"The movement has spread right across in terms of people building their own economies, mob starting their own businesses … and social media has been a really solid tool in amplifying that," she said.
"It's also given us the space to amplify that message around Indigenous rights."
This year, Tasmania's Invasion Day rally will move online to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Despite the rise in activism online, Ms Coe doesn't see an end to physical marches.
"Protest is still necessary … but we're at a stage now where we should be taking those lessons from 1972 and organising our own political structures," she said.
As with all protest movements, there is power in numbers.
And according to Shelley Reys, the inaugural co-chair of Reconciliation Australia, non-Indigenous interest in causes like Black Lives Matter, and debate over Australia Day, is growing.
"It's a whole swathe of non-Indigenous people who are more aware of our history today and therefore are more sensitive and observant of what [January 26] means to Indigenous Australians, but also what it means to advancing the relationship between us."
The Djiribul woman is the former vice-chair of the National Australia Day Council.
Ms Reys believes corporate Australia is poised to lead sophisticated conversations on Indigenous issues that could bring about instrumental change.
"This often means that the corporate sector and the people's movement … lead to these big conversations and change long before the government," she said.
Through her work with the corporate sector, Ms Reys sees a lot of businesses getting behind the shift in community sentiment by expressing their positions publicly.
She says while not all organisations have taken a public stance, many more are beginning to dial in.
"They're still learning about Australia's shared history. They're still being educated about what the 26th of January means in terms of our historical timeline," she said.
"[Some] have said to their workforce, 'if you would like to work on Australia Day as opposed to take it as a day off, then you're welcome to do so and take the day in lieu at a time that suits you.' So they're still observing the different perspectives on the date."
The forward march
Jamie McConnachie says the way that Australians engage with protest movements is changing.
"You can't deny people their experiences or what is happening in their country, their community and beyond due to the power of social media, and people are aware of this," she said.
"The government, the parliament — they can't deny that this is what the people want, and they must be representative of the people."
Organisers of the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy say this week is a chance for First Nations people to "honour and mourn our past, celebrate our survival and strategise for the next 50 years."
On the same day, Indigenous people continue to educate Australians on the nation's first national civil rights protest in 1938, the Day of Mourning.
On January 26, 1938, activist Uncle William "Bill" Ferguson addressed the crowd in one of his many powerful calls to action.
"Surely the time has come at last for us to do something for ourselves, and make ourselves heard," he said.
Ms Coe is optimistic about the swathe of new Indigenous voices bolstering the front lines, inspired by their elders.
"It was those leaders who instilled in us black consciousness and the right to live in our own history from our own perspective," Ms Coe said.
"I think blackfellas, especially these younger generations, are learning on the spot as we go.
