Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows Arrernte recording artist Warren H Williams with non-Indigenous fellow musicians John Williamson and Ted Egan. Williamson sings part of his song 'A Thousand Feet’ and Williams and Egan work on their song 'Mbantua’. Williams and Egan then are shown singing outside the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility, located near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Williams speaks in English, Aboriginal English and Arrernte (subtitled) about the importance of making expressions of Indigenous culture widely accessible.

Educational value points

• This clip provides a fine example of harmonious race relations, showing the warmth of the relationship between Warren Williams and Ted Egan. The way they go about sharing the development of the song 'Mbantua’ is constructive and even-handed, and it is Egan who suggests singing sections of the song in the Arrernte language. Mbantua is phonetic spelling of Mparntwe, the Arrernte word for Alice Springs and its surrounds.

• The inclusion of John Williamson, a well-known non-Indigenous person, singing his song 'A Thousand Feet (Have Walked through Here)’, prompts reflection on the endless stretch of history represented by Indigenous occupation and stewardship of the land now called Australia.

• Ted Egan AO (1932–) is an 'Australian National Living Treasure’ and was Administrator of the Northern Territory 2003–07. Egan is an author and songwriter with a distinguished career in Aboriginal affairs, historical studies, and the preservation and promotion of Australia’s cultural heritage. He has worked with Indigenous people across Australia, including such places as Borroloola, Groote Eylandt, Maningrida and Yuendumu.

• The scene outside Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility draws a witty yet unstated contrast between the two men cheerily singing the words 'the cluster of roofs that shine in the midday sun’ and the mysterious domes of the Pine Gap Facility that loom behind them. The Facility was jointly established by the Australian and US governments in December 1966 and carries out secretive satellite military surveillance and communication functions.

• Williams is shown communicating in a comfortable way, both in speech and in song, using three different languages – in Arrernte, in the very common dialect Aboriginal English and in English. He suggests that the mixing of languages 'spreads it out, makes the song for everyone’. He also notes that 'we have to include White culture to stop them misunderstanding us’.

• Williams’s discussion of the need to make his culture more widely accessible is accompanied by footage of an Alice Springs street parade, in which students from Yipirinya school are participating. Yipirinya is an independent school for Aboriginal students who learn bilingually and biculturally. In the clip they are shown carrying a version of Yipirinya, the Giant Caterpillar, which is the major Ancestral Being of the area.

• The clip is from a documentary produced by the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), which is owned by the Aboriginal people of central Australia. CAAMA was established in 1980 for the social, cultural and economic advancement of Aboriginal peoples, through the promotion of Aboriginal culture and the generation of economic benefits in the form of training and employment in media production.

A 60 Minutes crew are filming Warren H Williams and John Williamson around a campfire.

Stay awhile and it’s all too clear
A thousand feet have walked through here…

Warren and two other men walk through the scrub.
Warren Williams (voice-over in language, subtitled) That 60 Minutes mob turned up and John wrote a song, ‘1,000 Feet’. One thousand feet have walked through here. You’d think you’re the first to walk here but there were lot of people walking through here for a long time.

In a studio with Ted Egan.
Ted Egan So, 'A Town Like Alice’. (Speaks the lyrics in language from the page).

Warren is interviewed outside.
Warren Williams (voice-over in language, subtitled) I sang with old Ted Egan. He asked me, 'Why don’t we put some Arrernte into a song?’ So we both translated it to Arrernte and we sang about ‘A Town Like Alice’. We changed it to 'Mbantua’.

Back in the studio.
Ted Egan Time to get some tune.

Ted and Warren perform 'Mbantua’ outside. There is more footage of them in the studio.
Warren Williams (voice-over) Ted has helped a lot of Aboriginal people through the years.

In the studio.
Ted Egan Let me just sing it from the top.

Warren and Ted are singing at Pine Gap. This is intercut with footage of Warren being interviewed.
Warren Williams (voice-over) It was funny when we filmed a music clip at Pine Gap. They were making a video of us at the same time we were filming. Camera and cars were everywhere. Every move we made, people followed. I was a bit — not scared, just worried.

Ted and Warren (Singing)

Give me a cluster of roofs that shine
In the midday sun…

Warren Williams ‘A town like Alice and a place for me…’ When you talk about land and we translate it into Arrernte, the Arrernte spread it out and makes the song for everyone. All people, not just for writers or singers. When we translate it, it’s right for everyone. It’s an Aboriginal point of view, not just for one person but everyone. And today’s culture means we have to include white culture and stop them misunderstanding us.