ABSTRACT
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy remains one of the most significant moments in Aboriginal political history. Its establishment in 1972 on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra grew from a decade of Aboriginal resistance and global social and political upheaval that included a highly divisive war in Vietnam and a highly visible, vocal and inspirational civil rights movement in the United States. It can be usefully compared to the earlier movement of the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA), which was founded by my grandfather Fred Maynard in the 1920s, and is all but forgotten today. This chapter explores some of the themes that connect the 1920s and 1960s movements.
