3 July, 2012 9:10AM AWST

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy celebrates 40 years

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of Old Parliament House in Canberra has survived 40 years of political and social upheavel.

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Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Tony Coorey and Bertie Williams set up a beach umbrella on the lawns of Australia's Parliament House on Australia Day 1972. When they erected a hand written sign with the words 'Aboriginal Embassy' on it, they probably didn't realise what a long-lasting impact their actions would have.

As tents and other people joined the original beach umbrella group, word of their actions became national news.

40 years later, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is now listed on the Australian Heritage Commission's National Estate and it continues to provide a national focus for Indigenous people and their issues.

The fortitude and resilience of the Tent Embassy in Canberra has inspired other groups to establish smaller tent embassies in different locations.

The history of the Tent Embassy is now very much a part of the history of the country as a whole and the stories here explore the often turbulent, but never dull, stories of the embassies and its proponents.