The Power and Purpose of Literature: Boisbouvier Oration 2018

I thought I would begin this talk about the power and purpose of literature by talking about my 1998 book Take Power. The title came from a Gurindji Elder while telling the story of the ten-year battle his people fought against Vestey's, a British pastoral company that owned the Wave Hill pastoral property in the north-west of the Northern Territory, when in 1966, 200 Gurindji, the traditional landowners, walked off the cattle station where they worked on their stolen lands because of the harsh treatment they were receiving from the management of the pastoral property. Vincent Lingiari, who led his people off Wave Hill, said: 'We can't go back to that Vestey's. Vestey's been treating me like a walagu (dog). Make mefella worry.' The Gurindji kept telling their story straight, and eventually they achieved land rights over part of their traditional lands.