Kasper Gus Ntjalka Williams (20 June 1937 – 13 September 2010), known as Gus Williams, 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 ...
country music singer who lived in
Central Australia
Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...
. He was known not only for his work in
Aboriginal country music
Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodeling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, the Australian bush ballad ...
, but also as a leader of his people. He created the first
electric country band in the
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 ...
, the Warrabri Country Bluegrass Band.
Biography
Kasper Gus Ntjalka Williams was born in
Labrapuntja[ on 20 June 1937 in ]Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
, in the 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 ...
of Australia, one of 11 children. He was an Arrernte
Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia.
It may refer to:
* Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?)
* Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...
man.[Hermannsburg (2) 1958 - 1959]
The family moved to the Alice Springs Telegraph Station
The Alice Springs Telegraph Station is located within the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, four kilometres north of the Alice Springs town centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Established in 1872 to relay messages be ...
in 1945, where his mother took up a post as a house governess.[ Gus did a variety of work in Alice, and also began playing ]Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
. He played with Central Australian Football League
The Central Australian Football League (CAFL) is an Australian rules football competition operating out of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia. Established in 1947, the CAFL is the oldest, most popular and important football leag ...
clubs Pioneer, Federal and Rove.[
Around 1954, after both parents died when Gus was 17, he and siblings moved to ]Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort town since 1971. It is situated on the river ...
, in Central Australia
Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...
, to stay with their grandparents,[ Johannes and Maria Ntjalka.]
In 1958 he married Rhonda Malbunka, and children followed: Serena, Ingrid, Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...
, Baydon and Debbie.[ ]Warren H Williams
Warren Hedley Williams (born 27 December 1963) is an Aboriginal Australian singer, musician and songwriter from Hermannsburg in Central Australia. As of 2013 he worked as a broadcaster on CAAMA Radio in Alice Springs.
Early life
Williams was ...
became a country music star, and was also inducted into the Country Music Hands of Fame in 2009.
He died on 13 September 2010, and was given a state funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...
by the Northern Territory Government
The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...
. Many tributes were read out in the NT Parliament.[
]
Career
He initially became involved in evangelical Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
singing for family reasons; some of his great-uncles were evangelists, and his grandparents were among the first group of Aboriginal people baptised at Hermannsburg Mission.[ Williams taught his sons guitar, and they all played together as a band. In the mid- to late 1960s, he sang with the church choir under Pastor ]Doug Radke
Hermannsburg, also known as Ntaria, is an Aboriginal community in Ljirapinta Ward of the MacDonnell Shire in the Northern Territory of Australia, ; west southwest of Alice Springs, on the Finke River, in the traditional lands of the Western A ...
, becoming its lead singer. In 1967 the Hermannsburg Choir toured to Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, where they performed at the Adelaide Town Hall
Adelaide Town Hall is a landmark building on King William Street in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The City of Adelaide Town Hall complex includes the Town Hall and the office building at 25 Pirie Street.
Description and history
Adelai ...
, as well as 12 other venues in regional 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 ...
and 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 ...
, and recorded an album.[ During the tour, Williams, as compère and lead singer,] used his platform to make political statements and to help educate non-Indigenous audiences about Arrernte people and culture.[
His cousin, ]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 ...
, brought other kinds of music to the community via a gramaphone
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
, and Williams developed a love for Australian country music
Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass music, bluegrass, to yodeling to Australian folk music, folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English ...
.[ Williams formed his first band, Palm Leaves.][
In the mid to late 1970s, he toured remote communities with ]Herbie Laughton
Herbert Patrick Laughton, (7 February 1927 - 2 December 2012) was a country singer from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. He is also a member of the Stolen Generations.
In 2005 he was inducted into the hall of fame at Music N ...
, and his sons joined him in the Warrabri Country Bluegrass Band.[ In 1976][ he moved to his mother's country,][ ]Ali Curung
Ali Curung ( Kaytetye: Alekarenge; formerly Warrabri) is an Indigenous Australian community in the Barkly Region of the Northern Territory. The community is located 170 km (106 mi) south of Tennant Creek, and 378 km (235 mi) no ...
(formerly Warrabri), becoming CEO of the council there and earning respect as a leader. He also created the first electric country band in the Northern territory, the Warrabri Country Bluegrass Band, and organised the inaugural country music festival,[ first in Alice Springs and later in Ali Curung.][
In 1977, ]Film Australia
Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diffe ...
made a half-hour documentary film called ''Country Outcasts
Harry "Buck" Williams (16 August 1927 – 1991) and Wilga Munro (born 1940 or 1943), known as Harry and Wilga Williams, were Aboriginal Australian musicians who performed professionally between the 1960s and 1980s, playing Aboriginal country musi ...
'', which followed Harry and Wilga Williams, along with Gus Williams, Malcolm "Mac" Silva, and Auriel Andrew as they toured Aboriginal communities in Central Australia. The tour included performances at Alice Springs, Hermannsburg, Papunya
Papunya (Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art, ...
, and Yuendumu
Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a t ...
.
Returning to Hermannsburg in the 1980s, Williams became involved in the land rights movement. Together with others, he led the successful push go get land returned from the Finke River Mission to the Ntaria Land Trust.[ He became chair/CEO of the Hermannsburg council, a position he held for 30 years.][
He released six albums in the 1990s, and in 1993 visited the ]Tamworth Country Music Festival
The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales. The festival is the second bigg ...
for the first time. He busked there with the Country Ebony band.[
]
Other roles
Williams was also a member or chair of many other organisations, including ATSIC
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...
, the Aboriginal Benefits Fund, the Central Land Council
The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern Te ...
, Central Australian Football League
The Central Australian Football League (CAFL) is an Australian rules football competition operating out of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia. Established in 1947, the CAFL is the oldest, most popular and important football leag ...
, chair of the Hermannsburg Historical Society, and many others. It was said that Ngurratjuta, an organisation representing the Western Desert, was his favourite.[
He met ]Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
, Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
, and the Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
.[
]
Honours
*1983: Medal of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
, for service to conservation and the environment[
*2000: Inductee into the Country Music Hands Of Fame in Tamworth][
*2001: ]Deadly Award
The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was held from 1995 to 2013.
Description
T ...
for Outstanding Contribution to Aboriginal Music[
*2004: Country Music Centenary Medal from CMAA for service to Australian society through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music][
*2005: Inducted into the hall of fame at the ]Indigenous Music Awards
The Indigenous Music Awards, formerly called the Aboriginal Peoples' Choice Music Awards, is an annual Canadian music award, given out to Indigenous people who are in the music industry.
The APCMA receives financial support of the Department of ...
[
]
Discography
Williams sang on ''Camp Fire Concert'', a souvenir album released by Sundowner Safari Tour Company.[
Albums released by Williams are:][
*''I'm Not Trying To Forget'' – Ntjalka Music
*''My Kind Of Heaven'' (1993) – Ntjalka Music
*''Southern Cross'' (1993) – Ntjalka Music
*''Storm In My Heart'' – Ntjalka Music
*''Straight From The Heart'' (1992) – Ntjalka Music
*''Through The Years'' (1994) – Hadley Records
]
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Gus
1937 births
2010 deaths
Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Recipients of the Centenary Medal
Musicians from the Northern Territory
Indigenous Australian musicians
Australian male singers
Australian guitarists
Australian country singers
20th-century Australian musicians
20th-century guitarists
20th-century Australian male musicians
Australian male guitarists