Samuel William Watson (16 November 1952 – 27 November 2019), also known as Sammy Watson Jnr, 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 I ...

activist from the 1970s, who in later life stood as a Socialist Alliance candidate. He is known for being a co-founder of the Australian Black Panther Party in 1971/2. Through work at the Brisbane Aboriginal Legal Service in the early 1990s, Watson was involved in implementing the findings of the

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) (1987–1991), also known as the Muirhead Commission, was a Royal Commission appointed by the Australian Government in October 1987 to Federal Court judge James Henry Muirhead, ...

. From 2009 was deputy director at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. He was also a writer and a filmmaker, and received honours for his 1990 novel ''The Kadaitcha Sung''.

Life

Watson was the grandson of Sam Watson, who was of the Birri Gubba nation. His grandfather worked in ring-barking camps and saved enough money to hire a lawyer to release him from the ''

Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 The ''Aboriginal Protection Act 1869'' was an Act of the colony of Victoria, Australia that established the Victorian Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines, to replace the Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of the Abo ...

''. He was one of the first Aboriginal people to achieve this status. His lifelong partner was Cathy. Watson's son is the poet Samuel Wagan Watson, and a grandson is known as Sam Watson the fifth.

Career

1970s activism

Watson's first foray into Indigenous rights activism started when he was just 16, handing out

how-to-vote card How-to-vote cards (HTV) are small leaflets that are handed out by party supporters during elections in Australia. Voting in the Australian lower house uses a preferential voting system. Voters must rank every candidate on the ballot in order for ...

s at the

1967 referendum The 1967 Australian referendum occurred on 27 May 1967 under the Holt Government. It contained three topics asked about in two questions, regarding the passage of two bills to alter the Australian Constitution. The first question (''Constitution ...

. He developed a strategy which entailed seeking equality for

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 ...

"by elevating the

race struggle An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

to a

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The form ...

". Watson was involved with, and a spokesperson for, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in its early days in the 1970s. In 1971, Watson and fellow Brisbane activist

Denis Walker Wilfrid Denis Walker is a former Rhodesian cabinet minister resident in the United Kingdom. He is known for his monarchist activities and anti-communism and is also company secretary, director and treasurer of the International Monarchist L ...

founded the Australian Black Panther Party, also known as the Black Panther Party of Australia (Brisbane Chapter), declaring it "the vanguard for all depressed people, and in Australia the Aboriginals are the most depressed of all". The new party's

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

was declared at a conference held at

Queensland University , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = Br ...

from 28 January to 2 February 1972, saying that it would "work in a revolutionary way to achieve human rights for Aboriginal people and the alleviation of racism and racist government policy". Its stated aims were "Freedom, full employment, an end to robbery by the white man of the black community, restitution to the dispossessed, land and mineral rights, decent housing, education relevant to black history and culture, exemption from military service, an end to police brutality, murder and rape of black people, freedom for blacks in gaol, all blacks to be tried by people from their peer group, United Nations plebiscite of blacks in Australia, land, bread, housing, clothing, justice and peace". Watson said that many Indigenous Australians were inspired by the American

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. New ...

. Watson features in an episode of the 2013 documentary TV series Desperate_Measures''_about_the_Black_Panthers. He_protested_the_Joh_Bjelke-Petersen.html" ;"title="Desperate Measures (2013 Australian TV series)">Desperate Measures'' about the Black Panthers. He protested the Bjelke-Petersen_government's_treatment_of_Aboriginal_people,_and_marched_against_the_1971_South_Africa_rugby_union_tour_of_Australia.html" ;"title="Joh Bjelke-Petersen">Bjelke-Petersen government's treatment of Aboriginal people, and marched against the

1971_Springbok_rugby_tour,_the_Opposition_to_Australian_involvement_in_the_Vietnam_War.html" "title="1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia">1971 Springbok rugby tour, the Opposition to Australian involvement in the Vietnam War">Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and for civil liberties.

Deaths in custody (1990s)

Through work at the Brisbane Aboriginal Legal aid, Legal Service in the early nineties, Watson was involved in implementing the findings of the

. The film ''Black Man Down'' is a fictionalised exploration of the commission's findings.

Socialist Alliance

Watson was the Indigenous rights spokesperson for the Socialist Alliance, and ran as their candidate in the 2004 and 2007 federal election in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. He was a candidate for that party at the 2009 state election for the seat of South Brisbane, running against the ALP state premier

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In ...

. Watson received 344 votes (1.36%). He represented the Socialist Alliance again as a candidate for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in the 2010 federal election, where he received 3,806 votes (0.12%).

Other activities

Watson is also a writer and a filmmaker, known for his 1990 novel ''The Kadaitcha Sung'' and his 1995 film ''Black Man Down''. In December 2009, Watson was appointed a deputy director at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the

and taught two courses in Black Australian Literature.Unit Staff
, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the

In October 2009, Watson was one of several people who criticised the supermarket chain Coles for naming its

house brand A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

line of

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be s ...

s "Creole Creams". Coles subsequently decided to repackage and rename the product. Watson was a member of the working party involved in the creation of the

First Nations Australia Writers Network The First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN) is the peak advocacy body for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, storytellers and poets in Australia. History The seeds for the organisation were sown at the Guwanyi Indigenous ...

(FNAWN) in 2012.

Recognition and awards

Watson won the National Indigenous Writer of the Year Award in 1991 for his 1990 novel ''The Kadaitcha Sung''. It was also shortlisted for the

Victorian Premier's Literary Award The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...

. His essay, ''Blood on the Boundary,'' shortlisted for the 2017

Horne Prize The Horne Prize is an Australian award established by Aēsop and ''The Saturday Paper'' in 2016 for a literary essay of up to 3000 words on Australian life. The prize is valued at $15,000 (Australian) and named in honour of Donald Horne (1921– ...

, was highly commended by the judges who commented that it "stands out for its vigour, for its muscularity and recklessness of style. It is also very funny, in its own weird way".

Death and legacy

Watson died at a hospital in Brisbane on 27 November 2019.Horn, Allyson. (27 November 2019)
Queensland's Indigenous leader and trailblazer Sam Watson passes away
, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 December 2019. He was remembered as "a giant of the Brisbane activist community". Queensland deputy premier

Jackie Trad Jacklyn Anne Trad (born 25 April 1972) is a former Australian politician. She was Deputy Premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2020, Treasurer of Queensland from 2017 to 2020 and represented the Electoral district of South Brisbane for the Labor ...

said that "Across more than half a century, he made an indelible contribution to the advancement of the rights of Indigenous Australians". In July 2020 memorial to Watson was created in the form of a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

in Bunyapa Park, in West End, Brisbane, painted by

Kamilaroi The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

street artist Warraba Weatherall.

Works

* ''Black Man Down'', documentary film directed by Bill McCrow, April 1996 * ''The Kadaitcha Sung'',

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austr ...

*''Oodgeroo – Bloodline to Country'', 2009,

References

External links

Denis Walker and Sam Watson discuss aspects of the Black Movement from the 1960s onwards...
(Video, 58 mins) Recorded 6 February 2006, for the ''Taking To The Streets'' exhibition in Brisbane Town Hall, presented by the Museum of Brisbane.
''Desperate Measures''
on

SBS on Demand SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share. As of 2022, SBS is the lowest ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Sam 1952 births 2019 deaths Place of birth missing Australian male novelists Indigenous Australian politicians Indigenous Australian writers Writers from Queensland Australian indigenous rights activists