“Black power has connotations of violence for some people, but we see it as black autonomy. It is the right to be self-determining. And black power is a reality – it’s here to stay. It’s not separation we want, but we do want to retain our identity, the result of thousands of years of heritage.” 

– Lin Onus, Yorta Yorta man, 1971

“I kind of hope that history may see me as some sort of bridge between cultures, between technology and ideas.” (Lin Onus, artist statement, 1990)

William ‘Lin’ Onus was a Yorta Yorta artist, sculptor and activist. Born in 1948, Lin came from a politically active family, with his father William ‘Bill’ Onus active in Aboriginal rights movements during the 1950s and 1960s and his mother Mary a member of the Communist Party. Lin was given his Koori name Burrinja – meaning ‘star’ – by his uncle Aaron Briggs. In February 1971, Lin organised the first ever forced land rights claim, a few metres from here in the Sherbrooke Forest. “You could go to meetings and vote for resolutions until you are white in the face – but with no effect”, said 22-year-old Lin. “Now is the time for us to do something concrete.” The protest, which lasted three months, was cut short by vandals but succeeded in highlighting the importance of land rights to a wider audience and drawing attention to Aboriginal rights just as his father Bill Onus had done with Aboriginal Enterprises years before. 

IMAGE:

Lin Onus

Birrikala Djini Bunnarong Bugaja (Butterflies in Sherbrooke Forest), 1993

synthetic polymer on canvas

240 x 240 cm

Image courtesy of Lauraine Diggins Fine Art

© Lin Onus Estate/Copyright Agency, 2025