Chanting "Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land," more than 500 members of Aboriginal communities from across the country and their supporters marched from Civic in the centre of Canberra to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in front of Old Parliament House on January 26, also known as Invasion Day.
The embassy was also the site of the second meeting of the Indigenous National Freedom Summit, following its founding in Alice Springs in November 2014.
Ngunnawal elder Aunty Agnes Shea addressed the marchers after they arrived at the tent embassy. "We've got to keep the fire burning and keep going along to make everyone listen to what we have to say in our country," she said, the January 26 Canberra Times reported.
Wiradjuri elder and spokeswoman Jenny Munro said the day was about the recognition of sovereignty through a united voice.
"We are trying to talk with one voice -- the ones the Australian government is listening to are not the voices of our people," she said. "We own this land. We've had to fight this battle for the last 227 years because we were illegally occupied.
"If we start talking and going down the road where we are a free and equal people, then we might be able to build a nation on those building blocks."
Western Australian Aboriginal human rights campaigner Marian McKay, who had travelled by bus with more than 30 other activists from WA, voiced her concern about WA Premier Colin Barnett's announcement that the state government intended to close down more than 150 remote Aboriginal communities.
"We're angry because we're sick of the genocide. In WA we suffer the worst conditions of any community in the country, and we are seeking help to fight these attacks," she said.
At a rally in Garema Place, Civic, before the march to the Tent Embassy, Aboriginal leaders condemned the ongoing oppression of Indigenous First Peoples, and called for unity in the struggle for Indigenous rights and sovereignty.
"The road to freedom means to come together and stay together as a people. We will then be able to provide some future for our children and the right to exist as an independent people in our country.
"They are bulldozing our communities. This is a day of mourning, not a day of celebration," said Aboriginal Tent Embassy co-founder Michael Anderson.
Following the march, representatives of Aboriginal communities addressed the gathering, noting the historic role of the tent embassy as a beacon for the Indigenous movement over 42 years.
During the afternoon, music was followed by the presentation of the Isabell Coe memorial sovereignty lecture.
A forum held on the following day discussed the way forward for the Aboriginal movement before protesters marched up the hill for a solidarity gathering outside New Parliament House.
The community representatives present gave notice that they would be back on February 9 with a list of demands for Indigenous rights and sovereignty.
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