By KEIRA JENKINS
As Queensland’s Truth and Healing inquiry is about to begin, acclaimed musician Uncle Joe Geia has marked historical moments with a musical oration.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been telling stories through dance and music for generations.
Continuing this tradition, Uncle Joe Geia delivered the 2024 Meanjin Oration in a unique way – through his songs.
Geia is an acclaimed singer songwriter, guitarist and didgeridoo player, first coming to prominence as a member of the Australian reggae band No Fixed Address.
The oration’s theme, “Sing for the Black – From the Act to Treaty” a nod to the themes of truth-telling, activism and history, which feature prominently in Geia’s songs.
“We have 500 dialects here in this country of Aboriginal languages,” Geia said.
“And the way we communicated with the other 499 was through song dance and art.
“That’s what I always think about our music and our art today … it’s within us.”
Chelsea Watego discussed the history and activism central to the songs Uncle Joe Geia had performed.
Following the musical oration, these themes were further fleshed out in a panel discussion moderated by the director of the university’s Carumba Institute, Chelsea Watego, discussed the history and activism central to the songs he had performed.
Introducing the discussion, Professor Watego said it came at a historic moment, with the first anniversary of the voice referendum defeat approaching in October.
Prof Watego acknowledged the speakers were not far from Queensland’s Parliament House, where the Aboriginals Protection Act, which controlled the lives of Indigenous people in the state, was signed.
“This esteemed power that we have here, that you get to listen to, represent the Indigenous resistance that smashed the act, but also are leading truth-telling and treaty negotiations in this very moment,” she told the crowd.
Reflecting on the defeat of the 2023 voice referendum, panellist Aunty Cheryl Buchanan said she was not bothered by the result.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that everything that happens to our people comes in waves,” she said.
“We’ve ridden the wave all the way from the beginning of colonisation.”
Ms Buchanan is a member of the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry in Queensland, which begins its first public hearings on Monday.
She said she had seen a real appetite for a truth-telling process from communities around the state.
“It’s going to go like wildfire,” Ms Buchanan said.
“We’re already starting to see that people are wanting to share their stories.”
AAP
