Message Stick

12:00am – Thursday, January 1 on ABC1

Sunday, 10 June 2012 In this episode, Message Stick revisits the story of Jimmy Governor, a former police tracker turned murderer who was pushed to the edge by a cruel and unjust society of the day.

The story is told through elements of actual events and the visually moving theatre production ‘Posts In The Paddock’, played out by family members of both Jimmy Governor and his victims.

12:00am – Thursday, January 1 on ABC1

Sunday, 3 June 2012 Message Stick takes a look into the life of Neil Coyne aka NC Viper – the only professional Noongar wrestler working in Perth.

In addition to wrestling, NC Viper is a father to six kids, an actor, part-time radio DJ, and runs workshops emphasising a positive lifestyle.

Viper is also a crowd favourite – fighting for good not only in the wrestling scene, but also in Western Australia’s Noongar community.

1:30pm – Sunday, May 27 on ABC1

The Urab Dancers are serving as a beacon for the young Porumalgul people of the Torres Strait who believe that language and dance have something to offer them, and indeed that they have something to offer in return. They have shared their cultural performances and stories with wider audiences and this year plan to undertake a tour to several destinations on mainland Australia. What’s in store for a group of young people who are now realising their cultural past holds the key to their very modern future.

The Torres Strait is home to the Porumagul people of the Kulkulgal nation. This community is one of the smallest in the Torres Strait, and is keenly aware of the problems facing many Indigenous communities in Australia in their loss of cultural identity and tradition.

In the past, Elders have been the cornerstone in maintaining the teaching and practice of traditional and cultural knowledge; but recently an unexpected social shift has occurred in some communities whereby the young people have become the proactive element within those roles.

1:30pm – Sunday, May 20 on ABC1

Musician Benny Walker’s back-drop is the festival that his grandfather helped establish in his home town of Echuca. Offering a seamless blend of soul, blues, reggae and folk, singer-songwriter Benny Walker is without doubt one of Australia’s most promising rising stars and 2012 is shaping up to be a big year for this young Yorta-Yorta man.

A lot of interest has been building around Benny Walker since the release of his self-titled debut album in 2008. Now his highly anticipated album ‘Summer Sun’ is shaping up to be a huge success for him. With regular shows around regional Victoria and an East Coast tour planned to promote his new album, this singer-songwriter barely has time to himself these days and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Born and bred in the Victorian town of Echuca, Benny’s main passion has always been music. His father and both grandfathers all played in bands and have been a steady form of support and big influence throughout Benny’s career.

Like his brother (AFL star Andrew Walker) Benny has grown to be a strong Indigenous role model. He spends time between Echuca and Melbourne but uses his free time giving talks to young Aboriginal people at the YMCA and works with the Richmond Football Club as a mentor.

Recently Benny has been invited to perform at some of Australia’s finest music festivals and his thoughtful, sunny rhythms combined with his smooth soulful voice have been described by many as ‘simply amazing’. But first he returns to Echuca to perform at the Riverboat Festival to continue a family tradition which now spans three generations.

1:30pm – Sunday, May 13 on ABC1

Murrungga Island is situated in the top end of Arnhem Land. This is where Message Stick finds 95-year-old Baymarrwangga or as she is affectionately known, ‘Big Boss’. Baymarrwangga was also awarded ‘The Senior Australian of the Year’ on this year’s Australia Day.

In the nine decades since her birth on the island of Murrungga, Baymarrwangga has seen the arrival of missionaries, Japanese and European fishermen and has endured harsh times through the war. Her story documents a historical legacy of government neglect and suppression of bilingual education: because of this the language and culture of the Yan-nhangu people was nearly lost.

Undaunted, Baymarrwangga has almost single-handedly nurtured transmission of local knowledge from generation to generation through a lifelong commitment to caring for her culture and country. Her single greatest achievement has been the Yan-nhangu Dictionary.

The Dictionary Project is actively capturing and recording rich and vibrant rituals plus the ecological knowledge of the sacred ancestral sites of the seas and islands. The purpose of the Dictionary Project is to preserve the Yan-nhangu language, culture and local knowledge from the potentially damaging consequences of rapid global change, and most importantly to safeguard it for future generations.

Baymarrwangga had also started the Crocodile Islands Rangers Program where a dedicated group of rangers patrol just under 10,000 square kilometres of the Arafura Sea defending the breeding and nesting sites of many endangered turtle and other species.

In the face of many obstacles, this great-great-grandmother has shown extraordinary leadership in caring for the cultural and biological integrity of her beloved Crocodile Islands.

1:30pm – Sunday, May 6 on ABC1

Twenty-six-year-old Matty Shields shot to fame after walking onto the Australia’s Got Talent stage in his underwear to perform a pole dance routine.

Raised on the outskirts of Walgett in New South Wales, a town 700 kilometres north west of Sydney with a population of 2000 people, Matty was born to a young teenage mother and raised by his great aunt and uncle.

From an early age he showed glimpses of his star quality; swinging off the monkey bars and re-enacting dance moves he saw on music shows on the weekend. But Matty describes his childhood as lonely. There weren’t many opportunities presented to young people in the town and Matty suffered heavily from bullying in school.

After finding solace within the Catholic church, Matty was offered the chance of a lifetime by the local priest and teacher at his school: a scholarship to one of the most prestigious boys’ schools in Sydney.

It still wasn’t an easy transition for him with the bullying continuing at his new school, but he kept his head high and joined a Catholic youth group which allowed him to perform a traditional Aboriginal dance for the Pope in 2008 during the World Youth Day proceedings.

And since finishing school Matty has found a love for pole dancing where he captured the attention of the whole nation.

1:30pm – Sunday, August 7 on ABC1

In this series we get to know five of Australia’s most talented and ambitious Indigenous people as we recognise and celebrate them. The Wenitongs: they’re proud, and if necessary, they can be loud – sending out their message far and wide. Mark Wenitong and his children, Joel and Naomi, are determined to make the world a better place whether it’s through medicine or the healing power of music. The Wenitongs are an inspirational family who draw their strength from generations of dedicated elders whose legacy lives on in the work of Dr Mark Wenitong – one of Australia’s first crop of Indigenous GPs, and two of his musically-gifted children, Joel and Naomi, who form two-thirds of the hip-hop group – The Last Kinection. Overcoming personal hardships, including a life-threatening car accident, is the fuel that fires this talented and grounded trio to strive for successes that leave a positive mark on society at large. Hailing from the Kabi Kabi nation of South East Queensland, as they are making a name for themselves around the country they always remember who they are and where they come from.

6:30pm – Monday, May 30 on ABC1

Message Stick’s 6.30pm season continues, with five new stories exploring themes as diverse as Indigenous artists, women hunter-gatherers, and the future of ‘The Block’.

Monday May 30 at 6.30pm – Jeffrey Samuels Jeffrey Samuels is an evocative artist, charismatic and complex, his contribution to the Australian art scene spans over 30 years. Producer: Adrian Wills Tuesday May 31at 6.30pm – Wanja the Wonder Dog Wanja, Aunty Barb’s blue heeler dog was an integral part of the community, known to all for her ability to sniff out the police – in uniform and undercover.

She was ‘the Block’s guardian angel’. Producer: Jotz Productions – Angie Abdilla.

Wednesday June 1 at 6.30pm – Eight Ladies Journey through Alyawarr Country with eight ladies as they hunt echidna and gather bush tucker. Producer: CAAMA – Dena Curtis Thursday June 2 at 6.30pm – Back to Waiben Message Stick’s intrepid I.T. guru, Majhid Heath visits the beautiful Thursday Island for the 12th National Remote Indigenous Media Festival and the Torres Strait Island Media Association’s 25th Anniversary. Producer: Rima Tamou Friday June 3 at 6.30pm – Brick by Brick With the ‘Pemulwuy’ housing development becoming a reality, what does it hold for the future of ‘The Block’ and the Aboriginal community? Producers: Pauline Clague/Kelrick Martin

6:30pm – Monday, May 23 on ABC1

This year Message Stick airs in a new timeslot and will screen in a series of seasons – the first consisting of 15 episodes over three weeks. These will go to air at 6.30pm from Monday May 23 to Friday June 10.

Monday May 23 at 6.30pm – The Wilma Reading Story Jazz singer Wilma Reading who spent most of her career abroad, sang with some of the jazz greats but knew little fame or recognition in her own country.

Tuesday May 24 at 6.30pm – Tales From the Daly River Wungung, a young boy out hunting with his grandparents does not listen to their advice, and his fate is sealed when he disturbs a little grey spirit.

Wednesday May 25 at 6.30pm – Dancing with the Prime Minister August 1968, 1200 people crammed the Sydney Town Hall to celebrate the first national Aboriginal debutante ball where the guest of honour was the then, Australian Prime Minister, John Gorton.

Thursday May 26 at 6.30pm – Constructive Mob A touching, sometimes humorous and ultimately inspiring journey into the lives of Indigenous road workers as they battle to overcome personal struggles and long term unemployment.

Friday May 27 at 6.30pm – Red Dust Red Dust Healing applies simple yet effective techniques that equip participants with ‘tools’ to build a better future as leaders for their families and communities.

1:30pm – Sunday, September 26 on ABC1

Jimmy Little was Australia’s first Aboriginal recording star with his worldwide 1960s hit song Royal Telephone. Jimmy was born into a musical family on the banks of the Murray River, and although one of nature’s gentlemen, from an early age he had a steely resolve to succeed. In the early 60s Jimmy even outsold the Beatles in Australia and became one of the first Indigenous Australians to break through on radio and television.

Frances, his daughter, is an historian, writer, filmmaker, and activist. And Jimmy’s grandson, James Henry, has inherited the full complement of musical genes. According to James “my earliest memory of performing would’ve been when my grandfather taught me how to play You are My Sunshine, and then I’d play that sometimes up on stage with him. When my grandfather would be playing in a band with all my uncles and they would have jam sessions together, seeing that musical camaraderie kind of made me feel like I wanted a bit of that in my life as I got older.” Nothing demonstrates the power of bloodline more than the extraordinary story of Jimmy’s stolen generation niece. Jimmy’s sister, Monica had a daughter who was taken as a baby and raised by a caring, white family. Decades later and oblivious to her ancestry, soprano, composer and actor, Deborah Cheetham realised that her uncle was none other, than ‘The’ Jimmy Little.

Deborah has written Australia’s first Indigenous opera about the ‘Cummeragunja Walk-Off’ a protest against maltreatment, in which coincidently, Jimmy’s father played a role.