From Little things.. to little things
published this on 23rd of August 2021
Today marks 55 years since Vincent Lingiari led his people off Wave Hill Station in a peaceful protest in the name of land rights. Each year the Gurindji Land Corporation host a festival which unfortunately hasn’t been able to go ahead the last couple of years (due to the fear of covid getting into communities). Follow @freedomdayfestival on instagram to keep on top of next years plans!
In 1993 Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly released the song ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ which has been hugely successful. The song educated people about Vincent Lingari and the strike. Watch it here
But some years on and Ziggy Ramo’s (feat. Paul Kelly) has released ‘Little Things’ an adaption of the original which outlines how much human rights issues are still happening here in Australia for Indigenous people and how far we have to keep on fighting. Watch it here
Ramo’s is a lyrical genius and I cannot wait to see what he does next. But for now, I will leave you with the lyrics from ‘Little Things’. Get to know the words and share the stories.
Two hundred years of history that’s falsified
British invaders that we remember as heroes
Are you ready to tell the other side?
With a piece of paper called the Doctrine of Discovery
Invoked by Pope Alexander VI
Without this good Christian, our story don’t exist
From little things, big things grow
And he was armed with the Doctrine of Discovery
The same tactics were used by Columbus
It’s how today Australia claims Terra Nullius
Cause on that paper, the pope did write
That you’re only human if you’ve been saved by Christ
And if there are no Christians in sight
The land you stumble on becomes your god given right
From little things, big things grow
That’s the destruction of five hundred nations
The genocide of entire populations
Which planted the seeds for the stolen generation
And grew into my people’s mass incarceration
Now we pass trauma through many generations
The lord can’t discover what already existed
For two hundred years, my people have resisted
From little things, big things grow
And this side of history, you don’t write in your books
You don’t want the truth and you don’t want to listen
But how can you stomach Australia’s contradiction
We were allies against a terrible genocide
And I know it’s uncomfortable but the irony I see
Is that you fought for them, but you don’t fight for me
From little things, big things grow
Move on to what?
I still remember, have you forgot?
That Vincent Lingiari knew others were rising
Gurindji inspired us to keep on fighting
So call it Australia, go on call it what you like
I just call it how I see it and I see genocide
Now that you hear me, can you understand?
There will never be justice on our stolen land
From little things, big things grow
But this is the story of so much more
We know where we stand, we stand in our 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
From little things, big things grow
From little things, big things grow
From little things, big things grow
From little things, big things grow
From little things, big things grow
From little things, big things grow
Since 1991, four hundred and forty-one
Indigenous Australians have died in custody
The casualties of a war that never ended
But we are not yet defeated
Always was, always will be
Sovereignty was never seeded
