From Little Things Big Things Grow: Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody
Gather round people I’ll tell you a story
An eight year long story of power and pride ’Bout British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiarri They were opposite men on opposite sides Vestey was fat with money and muscle Beef was his business, broad was his door Vincent was lean and spoke very little He had no bank balance, hard dirt was his floor From little things big things grow From little things big things grow Gurindji were working for nothing but rations Where once they had gathered the wealth of the land Daily the oppression got tighter and tighter Gurindji decided they must make a stand They picked up their swags and started off walking At Wattie Creek they sat themselves down Now it don’t sound like much but it sure got tongues talking Back at the homestead and then in the town From little things big things grow From little things big things grow Vestey man said I’ll double your wages Seven quid a week you’ll have in your hand Vincent said uhuh we’re not talking about wages We’re sitting right here till we get our land Vestey man roared and Vestey man thundered You don’t stand the chance of a cinder in snow Vince said if we fall others are rising From little things big things grow From little things big things grow Then Vincent Lingiarri boarded an aeroplane Landed in Sydney, big city of lights And daily he went round softly speaking his story To all kinds of men from all walks of life And Vincent sat down with big politicians This affair they told him is a matter of state Let us sort it out, your people are hungry Vincent said no thanks, we know how to wait From little things big things grow From little things big things grow Then Vincent Lingiarri returned in an aeroplane Back to his country once more to sit down And he told his people let the stars keep on turning We have friends in the south, in the cities and towns Eight years went by, eight long years of waiting Till one day a tall stranger appeared in the land And he came with lawyers and he came with great ceremony And through Vincent’s fingers poured a handful of sand From little things big things grow From little things big things grow That was the story of Vincent Lingiarri But this is the story of something much more How power and privilege can not move a people Who know where they stand and stand in the law From little things big things grow From little things big things grow From little things big things grow From little things big things grow |
No More Boomerang: Ooderoo Noonuccal
No more boomerang
No more spear; Now all civilized- Colour bar and beer. No more corroboree, Gay dance and din. Now we got movies, And pay to go in. No more sharing What the hunter brings. Now we work for money, Then pay it back for things. Now we track bosses To catch a few bob, Now we go walkabout On bus to the job. One time naked, Who never knew shame; Now we put clothes on To hide whatsaname. No more gunya, Now bungalow, Paid by hire purchase In twenty year or so. Lay down the stone axe, Take up the steel, And work like a nigger For a white man meal. No more firesticks That made the whites scoff. Now all electric, And no better off. Bunyip he finish, Now got instead White fella Bunyip, Call him Red. Abstract picture now- What they coming at? Cripes, in our caves we Did better than that. Black hunted wallaby, White hunt dollar; White fella witch-doctor Wear dog-collar. No more message-stick; Lubras and lads Got television now. Mostly ads. Lay down the woomera, Lay down the waddy. Now we got atom-bomb, End everybody. |
Land Rights: Margaret Brusnahan
Listen to me, oh people of mine,
This is our heritage this country sublime. So don’t let it go, hold to it fast, This is the only link we have with our past. Our people before us lived off this land, Long before the white man took his stand. They and nature worked together as one, But where are our tribes, they’re nearly all gone? Pushed into backblocks where they couldn’t exist, Given no chance to object or resist. Stand up and be heard and take your place, Don’t let us become the lost human race. Our sacred grounds are ours to protect, If they want to take them, speak up and object. They don’t need every square inch of earth, This is our land, our right from birth. So let’s stand together and speak with one voice, Let the decisions be ours and not the whites’ choice. Don’t let our claims be taken so light, Let’s settle forever this fight for land rights. |
Poems Helping Us To Form A Deeper Understanding To An Issue
The poems ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’, ‘No More Boomerang’ and ‘Land Rights’ all work together to help the readers form a deeper understanding of the issue of Aboriginal land rights. They all work together to paint a picture of the people involved, add insight to the knowledge of the issue, as well as increase the readers understanding and empathy for the Aboriginals. All three of these poems are written from different perspectives, but all discuss the same issue. ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ gives the reader the facts of the Wave Hill Walk Off in a timeline like way. ‘No More Boomerang’ is a comparison between traditional and modern Aboriginal life, and ‘Land Rights’ discusses the Aboriginal’s losses and encourages them to fight for their land. Together, they provide a historical point of view, a comparison between traditional and modern life, and an encouragement to fight for land rights. Each poem varies in what emotion they display. ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ displays the Aboriginals as ‘lean…spoke very little…no bank balance’, and the white men as ‘fat with money and muscle’. ‘No More Boomerang’ uses a similar description for the white men, hinting them as being cruel people ‘Now we got atom-bomb, end everybody’. As ‘Land Rights’ describes the results of white actions ‘pushed into backblocks’ and encourages them to stand up for land rights, there isn’t as much specific emotion, just the general idea of white’s actions being bad. All these different opinions come together with the general idea of the Aboriginals being victims of the white man’s actions. ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ is from the opinion of an outsider with both the white’s and Aboriginal point of view being presented. ‘Vestey man roared and…thundered’ ‘Gurindji decided they must make a stand’. ‘No More Boomerang’ adds that the Aboriginals were losing many things over a period of time, and ‘Land Rights’ encourages Aboriginals to fight for the things they are losing. E.g. Land rights. Together they provide insight into the issue because they discuss it from a number of different perspectives. The three poems also increase the reader’s empathy and understanding for the Aboriginals by using comparisons which are easy to understand and commonly felt. By saying that the white men are fat and the Aboriginals have no bank balance the readers think of a powerful, rich white land baron and a disadvantaged Aboriginal. This leads to the reader’s empathy for them increasing. The readers can easily picture themselves in the position of the suppressed Aboriginal fighting against the establishment. By not using very sad nor extremely angry language the authors create understanding and empathy without pity. Instead they use comparisons and simplified facts to allow the readers to make their own conclusions. Overall, these three poems give the readers a deeper understanding of the issue of Aboriginal land rights.