William Townsend Onus Jnr (15 November 1906 – 10 January 1968) was an
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
political activist, designer, and
showman
Showman can have a variety of meanings, usually by context and depending on the country.
Australia
Travelling showmen are people who run amusement and side show equipment at regional shows, state capital shows, events and festivals througho ...
, also known for his
boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
-throwing skills. He was father of artist
Lin Onus
Lin Onus (4 December 1948 – 23 October 1996), born William McLintock Onus and also known as Lin Burralung McLintock Onus, was an Australian artist of Scottish- Aboriginal origins. He was the son of activist Bill Onus.
Early life
Willia ...
.
Early life and education
Onus was born on 15 November 1906 at the
Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve
Cummeragunja Reserve or Cummeragunja Station, alternatively spelt Coomeroogunja, Coomeragunja, Cumeroogunga and Cummerguja, was a settlement on the New South Wales side of the Murray River, on the Victorian border near Barmah. It was also ref ...
in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, the eldest child of William Townsend Onus Snr and Maud Mary Onus, née Nelson, from
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
.
His father was of
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, ...
background and his mother of the
Yorta Yorta people
The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wa ...
, and he had a brother,
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
,
and a sister, Maude, known as "Sissy". In 1916, in a time when many people were leaving Cummeragunja owing to land being taken and children being removed forcible, Maude also left, moving to nearby
Echuca
Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest ...
, in Victoria.
[
Bill grew up along with several other people destined to become advocates for and leaders of their people: ]Doug Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, (9 December 1906 – 4 June 1988) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering ...
, John (Jack) Patten, and Margaret Tucker
Margaret Lilardia Tucker MBE (28 March 1904 – 23 August 1996) was an Aboriginal Australian activist and writer who was among the first Aboriginal authors to publish an autobiography, in 1977.
Early life
Margaret Tucker was born at War ...
. He was educated at Thomas Shadrach James
Thomas Shadrach James (1 September 1859 – 9 January 1946), born Thomas Shadrach Peersahib, was a Methodist lay preacher, linguist and herbalist. However, it was as a teacher, first at Maloga Aboriginal Mission and later at Cummeragunja Reserve, ...
' mission school in Cummeragunja as well as spending two years at school in Echuca
Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest ...
from the age of ten.
In 1918 the family followed his father to the Riverina
The Riverina
is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...
,[ where William Snr worked as a drover.]
Working life and activism
In 1922, the age of 16, Onus left home to become a shearer, which he pursued for seven years.[
In 1929][ he moved to ]Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, where he initially worked at the Bankstown Aerodrome
Bankstown Aerodrome is a suburb south-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales. The suburb was gazetted in May 1994 and is the location of the Bankstown Airport. The suburb is bounded by the Georges River in the west and Condell Park
...
as a rigger. During the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
Onus took a number of jobs, including prospecting down the coast at Bega,[ and truck-driving upon his return to Sydney in 1934. He lived at the ]Salt Pan Creek
Salt Pan Creek is an urban watercourse of the Georges River catchment, located in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia.
Course and features
Salt Pan Creek rises west southwest of the suburb of Mount Lewis, w ...
camp in south-western Sydney, where refugees from the north and south coast and Cummeragunja lived, including Jack Patten, Jack Campbell, and Pearl Gibbs
Pearl Mary (Gambanyi) Gibbs (née Brown) (18 July 1901 – 28 April 1983) was an Indigenous Australian activist, and the most prominent female activist within the Aboriginal movement in the early 20th century. She was a member of the Aborigi ...
.[
In 1936, Onus appeared in Charles Chauvel's feature film ''Uncivilised'', then in 1937 had an acting role in Ken G.Hall's romantic melodrama '']Lovers and Luggers
''Lovers and Luggers'' is a 1937 Australian film directed by Ken G. Hall. It is an adventure melodrama about a pianist ( Lloyd Hughes) who goes to Thursday Island to retrieve a valuable pearl.
It was retitled ''Vengeance of the Deep'' in the US a ...
'' (retitled ''Vengeance of the Deep'' in the US and UK).[
In 1939, Onus joined the ]Aborigines Progressive Association
The Aborigines Progressive Association (APA) was an Aboriginal Australian rights organisation in New South Wales that was founded and run by William Ferguson and Jack Patten from 1937 to 1944, and was then revived from 1963 until around 1970 b ...
(APA),[ later becoming secretary and becoming a full-time employee of the association,] described as "an uncompromising radical". He was then living in the Sydney suburb of Newtown.[ He established the Moree branch of the APA, and was involved in the ]Committee for Aboriginal Citizen Rights
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
(associated with the Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
), which was attempting to reform the Aborigines Welfare Board
Aboriginal Protection Board, also known as Aborigines Protection Board, Board for the Protection of Aborigines, Aborigines Welfare Board (and in later sources, incorrectly as Aboriginal Welfare Board), and similar names, refers to a number of hi ...
of New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. In Redfern, where many families were arriving and settling, he organised fund-raising weekly dances. The funds were used for legal aid for Aboriginal war veterans, as well as the Redfern All Blacks
The Redfern All Blacks, also known as RABs or Redfern, are an Indigenous Australian semi-professional rugby league club based in Redfern, New South Wales, They are a part of the South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League.
History
Redfe ...
rugby league team, co-founded in 1938 with Wesley Simms.[
In 1939 he returned home to take part in the ]Cummeragunja walk-off
The Cummeragunja walk-off in 1939 was a protest by Aboriginal Australians at the Cummeragunja Station, an Aboriginal reserve in southern New South Wales.
Background
The Cummeragunja Mission was mostly home to Yorta Yorta people who had been rel ...
,[ which was one of the earliest mass protests of ]Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
.
Moving to Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
for the filming of Harry Watt
Harry Watt (18 October 19062 April 1987) was a Scottish documentary and feature film director, who began his career working for John Grierson and Robert Flaherty.
His 1959 film ''The Siege of Pinchgut'' was entered into the 9th Berlin Inter ...
's classic film ''The Overlanders'' in 1945, Onus saw Aboriginal stockmen being treated violently and being chained up.[
From 1946, Onus rejoined his parents][ in the Melbourne suburb of ]Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
**FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...
,[ this time working as a shipping clerk. He met his second wife, Mary Kelly, at a ]Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...
rally during this period.[ He joined forces with pastor and later co-founder of the Aboriginal Advancement League (AAL) ]Doug Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, (9 December 1906 – 4 June 1988) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering ...
,[ and with his brother Eric, the three travelled widely, using public rallies, community meetings, and the media to advocate for Aboriginal rights. They organised support for the ]Pilbara strike
The 1946 Pilbara strike was a landmark Strike action, strike by Indigenous Australian pastoral workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for human rights recognition, payment of fair wages and working conditions. The strike involved at l ...
in Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, and protests against the Woomera rocket testing range in South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.[
In 1949 Onus addressed a crowd at The Domain in Sydney with Bill Ferguson and ]Reg Saunders
Reginald Walter Saunders, MBE (7 August 1920 – 2 March 1990) was the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army. He came from a military family, his forebears having served in the Boer War and th ...
. He considered standing for federal parliament (as Ferguson did), but did not go ahead. The AAL was also involved in the push to retain Lake Tyers Mission
Lake Tyers Mission, also known as Bung Yarnda, was an Aboriginal mission established in 1863 on the shore of Lake Tyers in Victoria‘s Gippsland, region as a centralised location for Aboriginal people from around Victoria.
History
The Lake T ...
, an Aboriginal reserve
An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...
, and in 1963 he and his brother Eric Onus organised a march in Melbourne. They later teamed up with Stan Davey to form the Save Lake Tyers Committee, which eventually resulted in the first successful land rights claim in Victoria, when in 1971 Lake Tyers was returned to the traditional owners
Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...
.[
Activists started utilising Aboriginal culture as a form of activism, and Onus played a big part in many types of performance.][
In the 1950s he joined the protest against ]British nuclear tests at Maralinga
Between 1956 and 1963, the United Kingdom conducted seven nuclear tests at the Maralinga site in South Australia, part of the Woomera Prohibited Area about north west of Adelaide. Two major test series were conducted: Operation Buffalo in 195 ...
.[ When he intended to travel to the United States to talk about Indigenous rights in Australia with relation to the ]civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
there, his passport was suddenly cancelled. It later emerged that ASIO
''Asio'' is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in Europe, Asia, North and ...
had handed his file to the US embassy.
Onus became a leader of Aboriginal Victorians
Aboriginal Victorians, the Aboriginal Australians of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, occupied the land for tens of thousands of years prior to European settlement of Australia, European settlement. Aboriginal people have lived a semi ...
in the fight for the "yes" vote in the 1967 referendum for over a decade,[ as the first Aboriginal president of the Aboriginal Advancement League (AAL),][ and in the same year became a representative on the Victorian Aboriginal Welfare Board.][
He was the first Aboriginal ]Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
.
As a showman and entrepreneur
During the 1940s and 1950s Onus became famous for his skill at boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
-throwing, performing at various tourist sites in Victoria and NSW, and also toured New Zealand.[
Working from home he began a new career as a businessman, selling Aboriginal art. After a serious road accident in 1952 disabled him for a year, he was afterwards able to use the compensation money to establish Aboriginal Enterprises, selling Aboriginal art and souvenirs in Belgrave, Victoria. Branches were opened at ]Port Augusta
Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...
, South Australia (1964), and at Narbethong, Victoria
Narbethong is a town in central Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Maroondah Highway, north east of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Narbethong and the surrounding area had a population of 205.
History
The first Europea ...
(c.1965). They sold bark paintings from Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
as well as artefacts, furniture, textiles, and pottery produced locally. His businesses provided training and employment to many Aboriginal people (as well as non-Aboriginal), including family members: brother Eric became manager of the Narbethong branch with his wife Winnie; sister Maude (Sissy) and several of her sons (James Onus, and Joe, Bruce
The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...
, Dennis and John McGuinness); his son Lin; daughter Isobel and her son Warren (Woz) Owens.[
]
Performance and filmmaking
In August 1946, Onus was involved in a production called ''White Justice'' about the Pilbara strike
The 1946 Pilbara strike was a landmark Strike action, strike by Indigenous Australian pastoral workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for human rights recognition, payment of fair wages and working conditions. The strike involved at l ...
, co-produced by the AAL and Melbourne's New Theatre[ in ]Flinders Street, Melbourne
Flinders Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Running roughly parallel to the Yarra River, Flinders Street forms the southern edge of the Hoddle Grid. It is exactly 1 mi (1.609 km) in length and one and a half chains ( ...
.[ An excerpt from the play, which featured Eric Onus and his wife Wynne, ]Reg Saunders
Reginald Walter Saunders, MBE (7 August 1920 – 2 March 1990) was the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army. He came from a military family, his forebears having served in the Boer War and th ...
, Doug Nicholls, and many then-residents of Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
**FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...
,[ was captured on ]35mm film 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
by Bill Onus, making him possibly the first Aboriginal filmmaker[ (an accolade formerly assumed to belong to his nephew Bruce McGuinness for his 1972 film ''Blackfire'']). The nine-and-a-half-minute film was only rediscovered in 2021, having never been released (possibly due to pressures exerted on potential distributors by ASIO
''Asio'' is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in Europe, Asia, North and ...
) and ended up in the National Film and Sound Archive
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...
years later. It features in his grandson Tirki Onus's film '' Ablaze'', about his grandfather.
In 1949, Onus organised an Indigenous revue which brought together traditional ceremonies
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular) ...
and acts with more contemporary acts and Indigenous artists. The revue was called ''Corroboree 1949'' and was performed in Melbourne at Wirth's Olympia (the present site of the Victorian Arts Centre
Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central ...
[). The acts included ]Margaret Tucker
Margaret Lilardia Tucker MBE (28 March 1904 – 23 August 1996) was an Aboriginal Australian activist and writer who was among the first Aboriginal authors to publish an autobiography, in 1977.
Early life
Margaret Tucker was born at War ...
, Edgar Bux, Miss Georgie Lee, May Lovett, Joyce McKinnon, Ted "Chook" Mullett and his Gum Street Band.
In February 1951, Onus shamed the Victorian Government
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...
for excluding Aboriginal people from jubilee celebrations planned that year, causing them to allocate £2000 plus the services of non-Indigenous professionals, including theatre director
A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
Irene Mitchell, scriptwriter Jean Campbell, and set designer
Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly train ...
Dres Hardingham. '' An Aboriginal Moomba: Out of the Dark'' was staged with great success over five nights and a matinee performance in June 1951 at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne
The Princess Theatre, originally Princess's Theatre, is a 1452-seat theatre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1854 and rebuilt in 1886 to a design by noted Melbourne architect William Pitt, it is the oldest surviving entertain ...
, with actors paid out of AAL funds. Organised by Onus and Doug Nicholls, the revue included Indigenous opera singer Harold Blair
Harold Blair (13 September 1924 – 21 May 1976) was an Australian tenor and Aboriginal activist. He has been called the "last great Australian tenor of the concert hall era".
Early life
Blair was born at the Barambah Aboriginal Reserve at ...
and Indigenous blues singer Georgia Lee in the line-up. Onus also presented artist Albert Namatjira
Albert Namatjira (born Elea Namatjira; 28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959) was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential Australian artists. As a pioneer of cont ...
and actor Robert Tudawali
Robert Tudawali (1929 – 26 July 1967), also known as Bobby Wilson and Bob Wilson, was an Australian actor and Indigenous activist. He is known for his leading role in the 1955 Australian film ''Jedda'', which made him the first Indigenous Aus ...
to showcase Aboriginal culture.[
As a result of the success of the revue, in 1955 Onus suggested the name for the ]Moomba
Moomba (also known as the Moomba Festival) is held annually in Melbourne, Australia. Run by the City of Melbourne, it is Australia's largest free community festival. The Melburnian tradition is celebrated over four days, incorporating the La ...
festival in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. He said that it means "let's get together and have fun", although this meaning has been disputed.[
]
Documentaries
Onus had roles in several Australian feature fiction films, including:
* ''Uncivilised'' (1936)
*''Lovers and Luggers
''Lovers and Luggers'' is a 1937 Australian film directed by Ken G. Hall. It is an adventure melodrama about a pianist ( Lloyd Hughes) who goes to Thursday Island to retrieve a valuable pearl.
It was retitled ''Vengeance of the Deep'' in the US a ...
'' (1937) (retitled ''Vengeance of the Deep'' in the US and UK[)
* ''The Overlanders'' (1946)
In the 1950s and 1960s, Onus started using ]8mm film 8 mm or 8mm may refer to:
;Film technology
*8 mm film, a photographic cine film format principally intended for domestic use. The term may also refer to later variants:
** Super 8 mm film
** Single-8 film
** 8 mm video format, a type of video recor ...
(the home movie
A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...
format), filming local tourists as well as visiting celebrities. This included footage of Jamaican singer Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
learning how to throw a boomerang at Aboriginal Enterprises.[
He became well-known for presenting ]ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to:
*ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or
*ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia
ABC Television or ABC ...
's 12-part children’s series,[ '' Alcheringa'' in 1962, which recognised and showcased Aboriginal culture.]
He appeared with Doug Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, (9 December 1906 – 4 June 1988) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering ...
in the nine-minute-long documentary ''Forgotten People'' (1967), produced by the Aborigines Advancement League
The Aboriginal Advancement League was founded in 1957 as the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League (VAAL), is the oldest Aboriginal rights organisation in Australia still in operation. Its precursor organisations were the Australian Abori ...
.
Onus features as the subject of the 82-minute film '' Ablaze'', made by his grandson, opera singer Tiriki Onus
Tiriki is one of sixteen clans and dialects of the Abaluyia people of Western Kenya. The word ''Tiriki'' is also used to refer to their Geographical Location in Hamisi Division, Vihiga County, in the Western province of Kenya. Hamisi Constitue ...
, co-directed with Alec Morgan
Alexander Mitchell Morgan (5 June 1908 – 10 March 1957) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of David Morgan, and Mary Moir Morgan, née Mitche ...
(director of the documentary ''Lousy Little Sixpence'' (1983)), premiering in the Melbourne International Film Festival
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fest ...
in August 2021, after six years in the making. The film was released in Australian cinemas in May 2022. The film also starred Uncle Jack Charles
Jack Charles (5 September 1943 – 13 September 2022), also known as Uncle Jack Charles, was an Australian stage and screen actor and activist, known for his advocacy for Aboriginal people. He was involved in establishing the first Indigenous t ...
, and won an AWGIE Award
The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967.
The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...
for "Documentary – Broadcast or Exhibition". The documentary suggests that the film company that produced Onus' film was put under political pressure to drop it.
Death, family and legacy
Onus died in 1968 of a coronary occlusion.
His business enterprises had created a model for cultural maintenance, and helped to foster and rebuild Aboriginal social cohesion and cultural pride, and his actions contributed to "projecting a new and distinctive contemporary Aboriginal presence in south-eastern Australia".[
Onus married Bella Elizabeth Patten on 12 May 1928 at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in ]West Wyalong
West Wyalong is the main town of the Bland Shire in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Located west of Sydney and above sea level, it is situated on the crossroads of the Newell Highway between Melbourne and Brisbane, and th ...
, in the Riverina region. She was the sister of Jack Patten
John Thomas Patten (27 March 1905 – 12 October 1957) was an Aboriginal Australian civil rights activist and journalist.
Biography
John Patten was born in 1905 to John James Patten and Christina Mary Patten, née Middleton, at Cummeragunja Res ...
, who led the Cummeragunja walk-off
The Cummeragunja walk-off in 1939 was a protest by Aboriginal Australians at the Cummeragunja Station, an Aboriginal reserve in southern New South Wales.
Background
The Cummeragunja Mission was mostly home to Yorta Yorta people who had been rel ...
in 1939. They had two daughters, Christine (1928–1951) and Isobel (1930–), before getting divorced in 1941.[ One of Christine's daughters is ]Christine Donnelly
The Aboriginal Dance Theatre Redfern (ADTR) is an Australian non-profit organisation providing cultural and dance programs for Aboriginal Australian, located in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. It was founded in 1979 by Christine Donnelly, who re ...
, founder and still director of the Aboriginal Dance Theatre Redfern
The Aboriginal Dance Theatre Redfern (ADTR) is an Australian non-profit organisation providing cultural and dance programs for Aboriginal Australian, located in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. It was founded in 1979 by Christine Donnelly, who r ...
; the other, Aiyisha, is also involved in the visual and performing arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
. Isobel's son is Warren "Woz" Owens, an actor.[
On 10 June 1947, in Melbourne, he married Mary McLintock Kelly, a ]Scot
The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...
, after meeting at a Communist Party rally. Her parents, although disapproving of the marriage, had a house built for them next door to them, at 33 Terry Street, Deepdene. Their child,[ artist ]Lin Onus
Lin Onus (4 December 1948 – 23 October 1996), born William McLintock Onus and also known as Lin Burralung McLintock Onus, was an Australian artist of Scottish- Aboriginal origins. He was the son of activist Bill Onus.
Early life
Willia ...
was born on 4 December 1948). Lin's children are Kenneth and Biralee from his first marriage, and Tiriki Onus
Tiriki is one of sixteen clans and dialects of the Abaluyia people of Western Kenya. The word ''Tiriki'' is also used to refer to their Geographical Location in Hamisi Division, Vihiga County, in the Western province of Kenya. Hamisi Constitue ...
from his second marriage, an artist,[ ]opera singer
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...
, and filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
.
Writer, filmmaker, and activist Bruce McGuinness is a nephew of Bill Onus.[
]
Recognition
After his death, there has been a greater appreciation of Onus' work and achievements. His work has been showcased in exhibitions such as ''Making a show of it'' (subtitled ''Indigenous entertainers and entrepreneurs in 1950s Melbourne''; held in Melbourne in 2008) and ''Modern Times: the untold story of Modernism in Australia'' (Heide Museum of Modern Art
The Heide Museum of Modern Art, also known as Heide, is an art museum in Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum houses modern and contemporary art across three distinct exhibition buildings and is s ...
, 2009). Other examples are held in the collections of the National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia, in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''National Muse ...
, Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...
, Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle Hill. Although often de ...
, and South Australian Museum
The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultu ...
.[
]
Footnotes
References
*Eckersley, M. 2012. ''Australian Indigenous Drama''. Tasman Press. Altona.
External links
*
''Making a Show of It''
– photographs from the 2008 exhibition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onus, Bill
1906 births
1968 deaths
Indigenous Australian actors
Australian indigenous rights activists
Wiradjuri