ABSTRACT
By 1972, Australian Aboriginal people had developed a form of political consciousness that embraced the idea of land rights, and had for the most part adopted protest as their means of political expression. The Aboriginal Embassy of 1972 was the result of a decade of debate within the Aboriginal community over means and goals. It involved both the adaption of exogenous notions of Black Power, and the political expression of a traditional awareness of original dispossession. 2 It was on the lawns of the Federal Parliament House that these issues were aired in the public arena during the nine-month existence of the Embassy. The events of 1972, a story of both tumultuous violence and calm restraint through symbolic response, culminated in the relative success of this seminal protest. The return of land was placed on the political agenda of the major parties; the Embassy achieved a semi-legendary status and inspired Aboriginal activists over the following years.
