Legendary Indigenous musician Archie Roach and his late wife Ruby Hunter.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article may contain images and voices of deceased persons.
“I don’t sing these songs as an act of a revolution, just recognition and truth telling.”- Archie Roach
Imagine for just a moment, a car pulling up outside your property. Four men in white shirts and black ties step out and into your house. Two men restrain you, the parents, while your six- and eight-year-old’s are dragged screaming into the car.
This occurred between 1869 and 1969 to over 100,000 First Nations people in this so-called civilised country.
Can you imagine the trauma this caused the children and their families? The timeline to me is astonishing. I was born in 1963, so our Indigenous neighbours, the Walley family who lived three houses down from us in Medina, WA, must have been terrified.
Peter Walley was one of my closest friends growing up and I still remember him telling me stories of his friends and relatives that were removed and taken to despicable homes such as Sister Kate’s where the intent was to ‘breed out the blacks’.
Peter’s older brother Dr Richard Walley, an accomplished artist, musician, academic and Noongar Leader, has gone on to have a brilliant career and was given the honour of presenting the Welcome to Country at the 2021 AFL Grand Final.
Richard’s career may have been completely different if he and his siblings were another statistic in the archaic treatment of our First Nations people. It certainly altered the courses of the lives of Archie Roach and his late wife Ruby Hunter in a major way.
As Archie wrote in his biography, Tell Me Why, he and Ruby both loved their white foster parents despite their removal from country, however the longing to get home was too overwhelming.
They met in a Salvation Army hostel in Adelaide, both just 16 years old. Their journey together is lovingly told by Archie in Tell Me Why.
It’s a tumultuous story riddled with alcohol abuse but thankfully some sparkling redemption, due to unconditional love, courage through enormous adversity and sublime artistic talent.
In yet another superb Australian-made documentary, Director Philappa Bateman and Archie Roach as producer have celebrated the life and creative spirit of Archie and Ruby like we’ve never witnessed before.
Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow uses footage taken from a 2004 concert series which was a collaboration both artists did with composer Paul Grabowski and his Australian Art Orchestra.
It intimately captures rehearsals, interviews and very funny behind-the-scenes moments, mostly stolen by the cheeky and effervescent presence of Ruby.
It is also a tribute to Ruby’s homeland, the Ngarrindjeri people of the Murray River. The music entwines with glorious, breathtaking shots of the Murray, the one place Ruby always felt was home. This is truly a heartfelt ode from Archie to Ruby.
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Naturally it’s the music that takes over the film and the performances from Archie and Ruby are effortless and at times ethereal. The orchestra is red hot and compliment both singers as they adjust to different interpretations of their songs.
I don’t pretend to fully understand Aboriginal culture, but this film provides another level of insights to better understand our First Nations people.
There is something deeply spiritual within the music and the landscapes. In a Q&A after the premiere, Grabowski, a self-confessed private school kid from Melbourne, mentioned he knew absolutely nothing about Aboriginal culture prior to working with Archie and Ruby.
His experience has led to several other projects, experimenting with traditional Indigenous forms of music, at all times determined to continue educating himself.
The biggest disappointment with the general white Australian population has been our inability to listen to our First Nations people. Kevin Rudd’s 2007 apology to the Stolen Generation was noble but little in terms of reconciliation has happened since.
Successive governments never seem to get it right. I don’t know if it’s some overwhelming paranoia whereby compensation claims for the early systematic ethnic cleansing and barbaric policies of the last century will suddenly materialise, but it really can’t be that hard.
How about starting with some trust and LISTEN to what’s being said? Treating our First Nations people with respect and understanding as to why the non-inclusion in the Constitution and the 26th of January are so hurtful, would be a great start. Just ACKNOWLEDGEMENT would be helpful.
The genocide and enforced slavery of our Aboriginals didn’t occur in ancient Greek or Roman times. For many people today it was only a grandparent or great grandparent-distance away.
In my opinion we’ve been lucky to have First Nations people of such gentle temperament. Other colonised nations, such as the Maoris in New Zealand, weren’t so kind to the invaders and are much more empowered as a race.
We owe it to ourselves to educate our kids to better understand this incredible culture, the oldest in the world. We fawn over our Indigenous athletes but we need to look much deeper.
Ruby Hunter was a force of nature and despite significant health issues, Archie draws on her spirit and is still performing strongly as ever, most recently at the Myer Music Bowl and a week later at his home town of Shepparton.
Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow is a magnificent tribute to two national treasures and adds to the valuable resources available for white Australians, such as SBS’s First Australians to better understand our First Nations people.
Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow is now showing at selected cinemas. Here is the trailer:
Archie has a comprehensive website including his recordings and merch. Everything sold on the site goes to the Archie Roach Foundation to support young Indigenous artists.
*You can read more of Ian Wilson’s work at WWW.ISOWILSON.COM
