These arrangements allow Indigenous Australians hunting and gathering rights and the use of the land for cultural activities, such as ceremonies and maintenance of sacred sites. Since the time the film was made, a number of national parks have been handed back to traditional owners, who have then entered into joint management partnerships with various government park authorities. The use of national parks by Indigenous Australians is a significant issue in the clip.

It is now recognised that this ongoing connection to the land is critical to the survival of Indigenous cultures. The film was made at a time when Indigenous Australians had started to campaign for land rights on the basis of a centuries-old bond with the land and a continuing obligation and right to protect, use and manage that land and when Tom tells Fingerbone Bill that it is illegal for him to camp in a national park, Bill dismisses this as 'white fella’s law’.Based on a popular children’s book by Australian author Colin Thiele, it uses the overlapping themes of alienation, marginalisation and loss that connect Storm Boy, his father Hideaway Tom, Fingerbone Bill and the pelicans to tackle issues such as black and white relations, family and environmentalism. Released in 1976, the film was an immediate commercial success in Australia and overseas. The clip shows scenes from the feature film Storm Boy.Storm Boy, meanwhile, is eager to see that his father and Fingerbone Bill, both pivotal figures in his life, get on. In the exchange that follows, the two men allude to land rights and the clash of white laws and black culture. After the ranger leaves, Storm Boy and his father, 'Hideaway’ Tom Kingsley, go to Fingerbone Bill’s camp to warn him that the ranger is looking for him and might force him to move on.

This clip shows the national park ranger with 'Storm Boy’ (Greg Rowe), who has deliberately led him on a fruitless search of the wetlands for 'Fingerbone’ Bill.

David gulpilil storm boy