Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of people who have died.
Billy Craigie, Bert Williams, Tony Coorey, Michael Anderson, Bobbi Sykes, Paul Coe.
These names, and so many others, should be as familiar to every Australian as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X are the world over.
Still We Rise, a new documentary airing tonight on ABC TV, chronicles a time 50 years ago when activists planted a beach umbrella on the lawns opposite Parliament House in Canberra, initiating what's become known as the Aboriginal tent embassy.
The film's expert use of archival footage and images from the 1970s captures the defiance and charisma of the revolutionaries, whose fight for justice for First Nations people has received national and international attention.
And while the sustained coverage of the 80s and 90s is now occasional, the protests continue.
Writer/director of Still We Rise, John Harvey, said the Aboriginal tent embassy is the longest continuing protest in the world.
"Billy Craigie – he was one of the first ones there," Harvey told ABC News.
"He said that he was asked by a police officer how long they'll have this protest for.
"And he said 'we'll be here until we have land rights', and the tent embassy still remains today.
"So, 50 years later, it's still there in Canberra, and people are still fighting for land justice, and also other Indigenous rights as well."
Harvey, from Saibai Island in the Torres Strait, said the embassy was primarily about highlighting injustices against First Nations people.
"It's kind of off the back of the 1967 referendum in Australia [in which Australians voted overwhelmingly to amend the Constitution to allow the Commonwealth to make laws for Aboriginal people and include them in the census].
"And there were young Indigenous activists, particularly in the cities, who weren't happy with what had happened since '67.
"And then the prime minister of the time, William McMahon, had issued an Indigenous policy on, of all days, Invasion Day on the 26th of January.
"And part of that policy was, there was a bit about land rights, and it essentially meant that Indigenous people would have to lease their own land back from the government.
"And that's what really triggered the idea of having a protest and the tent embassy in Canberra."
Harvey said some involved in the movement were involved in black theatre and were able to bring street theatre to the protests, getting their voices heard in the street, but also on the stage. He said some of the words spoken in the film are "quite prophetic".
"We've really tried to tap into the energy of the time, because I feel like it was a real time of change for the country" he said.
"The country had had a number of years of conservative governments.
"There were large, really large, protests against the Vietnam War and conscription, against Apartheid in South Africa and so there was this energy around within the country and really the young activist tapped into that as well, in terms of land rights issues and Indigenous issues.
"And that's what we've really tried to tap into is the feeling and the energy of the time.
"And in many ways, some of the energy, it's kind of interesting, we kind of go in these cycles, and it feels like a similar feeling today, in many ways."
He said the grassroots nature of a tent combined with the stature of an embassy established a relatable 'David and Goliath' image in people's minds.
"It became a symbolic place right outside of the colonial seat of power in front of Parliament House and Parliament House Lords, that could embarrass and remind the government about all of these Indigenous issues they were failing to address and it did that on a national level.
"And it was very, very clever, because on a national level, people could relate to it. The ordinary person in the street could relate to it because initially they just sat underneath a beach umbrella – four guys underneath a beach umbrella, and then they had a tent.
"And they tapped into this broader Australian humour.
"But also, significantly, they started getting international attention. It appeared, I think, in the New York Times and BBC and it was that that really then started to bring that focus back into what was happening here in this country.
"It wasn't just an issue that we could judge South Africa for how they had Apartheid and in fact, we were doing that here."
When asked why some of the activists in the film, while well-known in some circles, aren't necessarily household names to the average Australian, Harvey said it was a really good question.
"I think, unfortunately, the reasons why, are the reasons why we haven't probably addressed land justice enough, they're similar reasons.
"But certainly, I think a film like this is about sharing these stories with the next generation, with young people, so that people can start to learn about who was there at the time and what they did and how it all connected.
"Because the way that it connected then is the way that it's connected now.
"It hasn't changed."
The world premiere of Still We Rise will take place at 8:30pm tonight (Thursday, December 8) on ABC TV and ABC iview
