Past Programs
Arts and Culture - 2005
2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999
Tooloyn Koortakay - the revival of a lost tradition
09/12/2005
The Aboriginal people of south-eastern Australia once had a long tradition of making cloaks from possum skins. This week on Awaye! we hear how a group of culture-proud Koori women is attempting to revive the tradition, using extremely rare examples from the nineteenth century as templates. Also, we meet Rosie Barkus, the self-taught textile artist, who's just been appointed to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council.
"Colouring the Landscape: The Emergence of Indigenous Film"
10/06/2005
The Sundance Film Festival's Bird Runningwater yarns with Ngati Pikiao/Ngai te Rangi Filmmaker, Merata Mita exploring the landscape of Indigenous film on a global scale - recorded at the "Message Sticks Festival" at the Sydney Opera House.
Case 442
03/06/2005
Frank Byrne last saw his mum when he was 8-years-old, and after a lifetime searching for her, he finally found her buried in a Perth cemetery. His very emotional and private story is documented in a new film, Case 442, which has just premiered at the Sydney Message Sticks Festival. And, Libby Stewart and Beryl Cruse talk about life on the far south coast of New South Wales, where they still retain traditional practises which they've documented in their newly released book - Mutton Fish.
"Trudell" the film by Heather Rae
27/05/2005
Filmmaker, Heather Rae talks about her documentary about John Trudell, a Native poet and activist, who was spokesperson for Indians of All Tribes occupation of Alcatraz island in 1968 and Chair of the American Indian Movement in the 1970s. The film "Trudell" took 12-years to make, and premieres this weekend at the Message Sticks Festival at the Sydney Opera House.
Jedda (Repeated)
20/05/2005
Awaye! speaks with Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, who played the young Jedda, the Chauvels' daughter, Suzanne ... and Territory Administrator Ted Egan takes us back to the 1955 premiere, when he watched the movie alongside that other great Indigenous film icon, Robert Tudawali.
Melville Island Anniversary
13/05/2005
65-years before Captain Cook allegedly "discovered" Australia, Dutch explorer Marten van Delft landed on Melville Island, just off the coast of Darwin, and after initial hostility with the local Aboriginal community, he stayed for 7-weeks. Last week, the community celebrated this anniversary by re-enacting the first documented European contact with Aboriginal people.
Nomads: the Aboriginal descendants of the Afghan camel drivers
06/05/2005
We repeat a special feature called Nomads - the Aboriginal descendants of the Afghan camel drivers, and a harrowing but inspirational story of Jack and Lallie Akbar, who in the 1920s were banished from Western Australia, for falling in love.
Black artwork in Paris
29/04/2005
We find out why and how a new French museum in Paris is incorporating the artworks of eight Aboriginal artists into the structure of it's building - one of the curators of this project, Brenda Croft from the National Gallery of Australia, will fill us in on the details...
Changing Lives of Inuit People
22/04/2005
This week we talk to two generations of Inuit from the high Arctic regions of Canada about how the lives of Inuit people are changing - and how they're experimenting with new forms of self-government and economic independence for Aboriginal people.
Uncle Banjo
15/04/2005
A panel of authors and elders pay tribute to Uncle Banjo Clarke, a highly respected elder from western Victoria, at the re-launch of his biography, "Wisdom Man".
"Black Medea"
08/04/2005
This classic Euripides tale is retold by Indigenous director Wesley Enoch. In his version, Medea sacrifices land and culture of Central Australia for Jason and the city with disastrous results. Awaye! asks what meaning do the classics have in contemporary Indigenous life?
The Natives are getting funny
01/04/2005
This program's title is the name of Indigenous theatre company Ilbijerri's show in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It's black comedy in both senses of the word.
The Freedom Ride - 40 years on
25/03/2005
It's 40 years since the Freedom Ride through western NSW, by a busload of young idealistic Uni students led by Dr Kumantjayi Perkins. They sought to expose the extreme racial segregation experienced by Aboriginal people in towns like Walgett, Bourke and Moree. This year another group of students retraced the journey in a bus to ask: what's changed? The answer: not a lot.
The New Kakadu Man
18/03/2005
Jonathon Nadji has big shoes to fill - the shoes of his iconic father, Big Bill Neidjie, who became known to all as the Kakadu Man. Big Bill's dream was to create a sanctuary for Gagudju culture where non-Aboriginal people could gain a sense of what it means to belong to the land. Today Jonathan Nadji is chairman of the Kakadu Board of Management where he's putting his father's wishes into practice by leading traditional owners into a new era of tourism.
Garry Lee & Kath Fisher
11/03/2005
Larrakia man, Gary Lee is the NT's first ever Aboriginal curator of Aboriginal art. He talks to Ursula Raymond about community expectations of taking on the job at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory ... and Rhoda Roberts talks to Indigenous circus trainer, Kath Fisher.
Terri Janke
04/03/2005
Indigenous lawyer and author Terri Janke reads from her first novel, "Butterfly Song", and talks about the emotional truth she finds in writing fiction.
Tom E Lewis
25/02/2005
Tom E Lewis was a young, talented and charismatic actor best known for The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith. After a long absence from our screens, he tells Rhoda Roberts about his new lease on life and a new musical career ... plus, Professor Leroy Little Bear of the Blackfoot Nation talks about Aboriginal rights in Canada.
Jedda's 50th anniversary
18/02/2005
Awaye! Friday 18 Feb at 1pm, repeated Saturday 19 Feb at 6pm
Jedda turns 50 this week. The Charles and Else Chauvel film classic, that is. Awaye! speaks with Rosie Kunoth-Monks, who played the young Jedda, the Chauvels'daughter, Suzanne ... and Territory Administrator Ted Egan takes us back to the 1955 premiere, when he watched the movie alongside that other great Indigenous film icon, Robert Tudawali.
Nomads: the Aboriginal descendants of the Afghan camel drivers
11/02/2005
This week we journey to the geographical heart of the continent in search of the Aboriginal descendants of the Afghan camel drivers. It's a story of cultural survival against all the odds, as told by the descendants themselves. We hear from Eric Sultan, who's attempting to revive the Muslim faith of his ancestors in Alice Springs, the artist Ian Abdulla and Mona Wilson, who explains how her Aboriginal mother and Afghan father became outlaws. A special feature produced by Awaye!'s Daniel Browning.
The Sapphires
04/02/2005
This week on Awaye! we catch up with the cast members of "The Sapphires". It's the true story of the four singing McRae sisters from Cummeragunga, an all-girl Aboriginal musical group who performed for Australian troops during in the Vietnam War. And on the eve of Waitangi Day, we hear about treaty politics and reconciliation in Aotearoa from Joe Williams, Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court and chairman of the Waitangi Tribunal. We present excerpts from his address to the AIATSIS conference in Canberra in November.
