Alan Sharpley (holding the sign) and John Newfong (far right) at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra

On 26 January 1972 four Aboriginal men set up a beach umbrella on the lawns opposite Parliament House in Canberra. Describing the umbrella as the Aboriginal Embassy, the men were protesting the Australian Government’s approach to Aboriginal land rights.

Support for the Tent Embassy grew quickly and by April it included at least eight tents. It attracted both Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people from across the country who joined in solidarity over the land rights movement.