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ABC News
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
The Black Woman of Gippsland uses a colonial legend to highlight present-day injustice
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this article contains references to people who have died It's 1839. Three Gunaikurnai people come across a wet lump on the beach. On closer inspection, it turns out to be a body, with face down in the sand, lips blue. The woman is a survivor of a shipwreck, perhaps the Britannia or the Britomart, both ships that were lost in the Bass Strait that year. This story is told in the opening scene of The Black Woman of Gippsland, a new play written and directed by Yorta Yorta/Gunaikurnai theatre-maker Andrea James (Sunshine Super Girl), presented by Melbourne Theatre Company for YIRRAMBOI festival. The Gunaikurnai people give the woman food, water and a possum-skin cloak, and she follows them when they move camp. Eventually, she becomes "kin": "And Auntie makes her a daughter / And Uncle makes her his wife." According to colonial legend, the woman on the beach is the White Woman of Gippsland, who colonial settlers believed was captured by local Gunaikurnai people in the 1840s. The story transfixed Melbourne at the time but had tragic repercussions for Gunaikurnai people that are still felt today. Though never confirmed, the woman's rumoured existence sparked several rescue expeditions. It resulted in the arrest of a Gunaikurnai lore man known as Bungelene, who died along with his wife after being imprisoned without charge for 18 months. "The capture of this woman was pinned on him, and he died in custody. He was one of our first black deaths in custody in this country," James tells ABC Radio National's The Stage Show. The play's protagonist, Jacinta (Chenoa Deemal), is a researcher completing her PhD, a "blakademic" who James says she modelled on women she admires, including Lou Bennett, a senior lecturer in Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, writer Romaine Moreton and artist Fiona Foley. "I've been influenced by so many incredible Aboriginal women scholars … so I knew I wanted this woman to be uber-smart, tussling it out in academia." Through Jacinta, we learn about the legend of the White Woman of Gippsland, the subject of her thesis. In 1840, Angus McMillan, a Scottish-born pastoralist and early coloniser of Gippsland, stumbled upon a group of Gunaikurnai people near Port Albert. "He said that he saw a woman clad in a cloak who kept looking back at him," James says. The group disappeared, leaving behind them a collection of objects typical of what might wash ashore after a shipwreck: clothing, tools, sewing supplies, blankets, bottles and a Bible. In a letter published in the Sydney Morning Herald in December 1840, McMillan — who went on to perpetrate numerous massacres of Gunaikurnai people, including the Warrigal Creek massacre in 1843, where 150 people were shot — suggested the woman was European and "a captive". McMillan also found the body of a two-year-old baby wrapped in a kangaroo skin bag, who he believed was also of European descent. "They assumed that it was this woman's baby. And so, from that, a legend was generated," James says. As rumours of sightings of the woman continued to circulate, the city's power brokers, meeting at the exclusive Melbourne Club (still in existence today), decided to act. "By then, all sorts of letters to the editor are being written about this poor, fluttering pigeon in a nest of vultures," James says. "They raised money to find this damsel in distress … [and] they sent this expedition party out." The rescue party pinned handkerchiefs embroidered with messages in English and Gaelic to trees, in the hope the woman, who was said to be Scottish or Irish, would find them. "There's a family on Gunaikurnai country who has one of these handkerchiefs in their possession," James says. Although the woman was never found, the story made its way into Gunaikurnai culture, too. References to shipwrecks and a white woman appear in traditional songs, which feature in the play. "There's [also] a story about a legend of a woman with long red hair who lived in a cave," James says. In these stories, the Gunaikurnai people don't hold the woman captive; they help her. It shows how the official historical record can mislead, James says. "[The colonisers are] thinking they're seeing one thing, but actually another thing is happening from our point of view. "It's about reading between the lines." Setting the story in the present day was a deliberate choice. "If it was just a purely historical telling, then people would say, 'That happened in 1840 — we've moved on,'" James says. When Jacinta goes off-grid to throw herself into her thesis, she inadvertently triggers a missing-persons case. Her Auntie Rochelle (Ursula Yovich) has to return to the police station where her sister, Jacinta's mother, died in a cell years earlier. "For her to put in a missing-persons report and to find her missing niece, she has to return to the scene of a crime," James says. James wrote the play against a tragic backdrop: the scourge of Aboriginal deaths in custody, including that of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day, who died in a police cell in 2017. At last count, there have been at least 590 Aboriginal deaths in custody since 1991. As James was writing the play, "these deaths in custody just kept happening", she says. "I couldn't help but feel the irony, the juxtaposition between all of the resources that were poured into this white woman that may never have existed, as opposed to the absolute violations that were happening right now to Aboriginal women. Or, as Jacinta puts it, "They spent all this time and money looking for a white woman … But who are the women who are really missing and dying?" The play also explores the tension between Indigenous and Western understandings of history. Jacinta has reached an impasse in her research; she's read her way through the archives, but "it feels like something is missing". She tries to explain the conflict to her PhD supervisor, who doesn't quite get it. The historical record is "contradictory", she tells him. She wants to yarn with her Elders; he wants her to seek approval from the ethics committee to conduct formal interviews. When he tells her the archives should be her primary source, she responds, "How valuable can they be when my people's voices are absent and the language is offensive and racist?" It's a conflict that still plays out today. Several monuments to McMillan remain in Gippsland, despite efforts by the Gunaikurnai community to have them removed or altered to explain his role in frontier conflict. "That's why it's really important to keep telling these stories because only one side of this story has been told for a very, very long time," James says. The Black Woman of Gippsland is at Southbank Theatre The Sumner, as part of YIRRAMBOI festival, from May 5-31, 2025.
ABC News
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
'Spectacular' 10-day First Nations international arts festival YIRRAMBOI kicks off in Naarm/Melbourne
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this article contains the names of people who have died. With a grand cohort of international talent joining local mob across this year's YIRRAMBOI — the Naarm/Melbourne-based biennial First Nations arts festival that both embraces and upends tradition — the decision was made to ease audiences in. "We're starting off slowly, being grounded onto Country and then really going out with a bang with the Uncle Archie Roach Block Party, making some noise on closing night," says co-creative lead Sherene Stewart (Taungurung/Filipino), who co-leads with J-Maine Beezley (Wakka Wakka/Kabi Kabi). "It's a spectacular and beautiful event." Billed as one of the largest-ever First Nations-led happenings in Naarm, the Block Party is named in honour of the late game-changing musicians Archie Roach (Gunditjmara and Bundjalung) and partner Ruby Hunter (Ngarrindjeri/Kukatha/Pitjantjatjara), whose collective voice helped fire up generations of activists and artists. Amos Roach, pictured with Sky Thomas, says his parents would more than approve of YIRRAMBOI's Block Party line-up. ( National Indigenous Times/Joshua Scott ) Curated by YIRRAMBOI music producer Sky Thomas, aka Soju Gang (Gunnai/Kurnai/Yorta Yorta/Wiradjuri), it's a giant street party centred on the Aunty Ruby Hunter Stage. It's headlined by Roach and Hunter's son, award-winning musician and dancer Amos Roach (Ngarrandjerri/Djab Wurrung/Gunditjmara). "It means so much to me that the Block Party carries my mum and dad's names," Roach says. "Growing up, I'd travel round the country with them performing and meet so many musicians and their kids, including Kutcha Edwards [also playing the Block Party]," he adds. "I know they'd love this line-up." Acclaimed Mutti Mutti songman Kutcha Edwards features in YIRRAMBOI. ( Susan Carmody ) That stacked line-up includes the likes of Miss Kaninna (Yorta Yorta,/Dja Dja Wurrung/Kalkadoon/Yirendali), who recently supported Irish rappers Kneecap, pioneering rockers Blackfire and Canadian roots star Leonard Sumner (Anishinaabe). "I'm hoping to catch as many performances as possible," Roach says. "I can't think of a better tribute." Stumble upon something new YIRRAMBOI will also stage the welcome return of Barring Yanabul, a free showcase of First Nations arts events in and around Bourke Street Mall. "Barring Yanabul translates to 'we all walk the path', and the idea is it's a great way to stumble upon something you've never seen before," Stewart says. Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung/Kalkadoon/Yirendali artist Miss Kaninna is performing at this year's festival. ( Supplied: Yirramboi Festival ) First dreamt up by YIRRAMBOI founder Jacob Boehme and a council of Elders, this year's iteration includes everything from installation art to psychic readings and drag stars, and it continues to evolve the idea of moving beyond designated spaces, decolonising where art can happen. "The idea was to remove barriers of engaging with new audiences," Stewart says. "You don't need to go and buy a ticket to engage with incredible work created within our communities, interwoven with international acts." The breadth of free works on offer is impressive, and it comes with a message. " For far too long, we were only seen as capable of traditional art," Stewart says. "That's an incredibly important part of our cultural inheritance, but we can also do anything and everything. " Hence a program with "a diversity of people and practices" and a little bit of everything for everyone, bringing "joy into the public sphere". Breaking down the door Continually expanding what YIRRAMBOI can do is built into the festival's mission statement. "Yirramboi means 'tomorrow' in the local languages of the Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung," Stewart explains. "I worked on the very first festival and remember going for a walk along the Birrarung with Jacob. He said to me, 'One day you'll be in a position where you have the opportunity to hold open the door, and when you do, pull through as many people as you can.'" It's advice that stuck. "As I've been able to grow and develop within YIRRAMBOI, we've gotten to the point where we say, 'Why not rip the door down?'" Already Occupied, a contemporary art project that's part of Barring Yanabul. ( Supplied: Yirramboi Festival/Keelan O'Hehir ) YIRRAMBOI's international offering is an excellent example of folks passing through that door in either direction. "J-Maine and I sat down and we really thought about how to program international artists authentically," Stewart says. "And it's all about self-determination." They invited Anishinaabe producer Sage Wright to help coordinate that aspect of the festival, including the Block Party and Barring Yanabul participants. "She sits in the office with us," Stewart says. "It's not just a moment in time where we pick up a show or program an international musician. It's about legacy building; creating relationships that will continue forevermore." Rock the block The Block Party builds a bridge between the past, present and future. "When Sky was curating the music program, she reinforced that Archie and Ruby transformed the landscape of the Australian music scene way back when they didn't get the opportunities we do today," Stewart says. "So having Uncle Kutch and Amos in there alongside emerging artists is vital. " When we talk about futures past, we have that responsibility to create platforms for the people that created platforms for us. " It's more important now than ever. "There has been a lot of hate, not only here but across the globe, including in the gender space," Stewart says. "We have survived for 80,000 years-plus, and that doesn't just happen. It happens because of the power and resilience of our communities. "YIRRAMBOI is a joyful act of resistance." YIRRAMBOI runs in Naarm/Melbourne from May 1–11.
The Age
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Think you know First Nations music? This block party will blow your mind
Soju Gang was probably always destined to become a DJ. 'When it comes to blackfellas, we grew up listening to everything. We grew up to blues, Motown jazz, but then heavy metal, rock, rap, hip-hop. Some people like folk music, some people get into more electronic music as well.' But, she says, music by First Nations artists is often 'pigeonholed into either a very specific rock sound or hip-hop R&B'. Soju Gang – real name Sky Thomas – hopes to shift that perspective. She's producing the Uncle Archie Roach Block Party at this year's YIRRAMBOI festival of First Nations artists. The block party will take place on May 10 across three CBD venues and feature more than 30 musicians and DJs, with acts ranging from neo-soul punk (DANCINGWATER) and glittery indie pop (Jem Cassar-Daley) to bad girl rapper Miss Kaninna. Then there are the international artists such as Kwakwaka'wakw/Cree vocalist Nimkish and her trashy bedroom pop, Canadian duo PIQSIQ, whose elaborate live looping of Inuit throat singing defies written description, and up-and-coming Kiwi DJ sensations Katayanagi Twins. Thomas travelled to last year's International Indigenous Music Summit in Toronto as part of the YIRRAMBOI team. 'We were there to showcase who we are and what we do, but it was also a way for me to properly interact with other First Nations artists across the waters.' It was a chance to learn more about the practices of other artists and see them perform, she says, but just as important were the stories behind the music. 'It's not just like, 'Oh, I like their sound, that's it.' It's about who people are and what they offer. When it comes to First Nations people globally, we are not a monolith. Everybody has their own specific story to tell.'
Sydney Morning Herald
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Think you know First Nations music? This block party will blow your mind
Soju Gang was probably always destined to become a DJ. 'When it comes to blackfellas, we grew up listening to everything. We grew up to blues, Motown jazz, but then heavy metal, rock, rap, hip-hop. Some people like folk music, some people get into more electronic music as well.' But, she says, music by First Nations artists is often 'pigeonholed into either a very specific rock sound or hip-hop R&B'. Soju Gang – real name Sky Thomas – hopes to shift that perspective. She's producing the Uncle Archie Roach Block Party at this year's YIRRAMBOI festival of First Nations artists. The block party will take place on May 10 across three CBD venues and feature more than 30 musicians and DJs, with acts ranging from neo-soul punk (DANCINGWATER) and glittery indie pop (Jem Cassar-Daley) to bad girl rapper Miss Kaninna. Then there are the international artists such as Kwakwaka'wakw/Cree vocalist Nimkish and her trashy bedroom pop, Canadian duo PIQSIQ, whose elaborate live looping of Inuit throat singing defies written description, and up-and-coming Kiwi DJ sensations Katayanagi Twins. Thomas travelled to last year's International Indigenous Music Summit in Toronto as part of the YIRRAMBOI team. 'We were there to showcase who we are and what we do, but it was also a way for me to properly interact with other First Nations artists across the waters.' It was a chance to learn more about the practices of other artists and see them perform, she says, but just as important were the stories behind the music. 'It's not just like, 'Oh, I like their sound, that's it.' It's about who people are and what they offer. When it comes to First Nations people globally, we are not a monolith. Everybody has their own specific story to tell.'
