For 40-plus years as a musician, the idea of music as a means of truth telling has been a pivotal aspect of Uncle Joe Geia's own compositions.
It is the essence of what the Murri storytelling singer-songwriter, from North Queensland, conveys to his audience. 'From Rations To Wages To Treaty' is a project that celebrates his music, but also the stories that form the songs.In a multimedia experience, he has videos and images displayed on a screen behind him, which is integral to telling the stories, as he performs with his band. It's the stories of struggle and triumph, and the importance of culture for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
"As a singer-songwriter, having 40-plus years of experience, I'm writing about these changes, the leaders," Geia explains.
"My lyrics are about that moment of a group of Aboriginal people marching towards a line of fleet horsemen, and having placards say 'Always Was Always Will Be', and 'Land Rights Now'."
Uncle Joe digs into these moments, the people and the events that make up these encounters. He then expresses them through the form of song, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to know and be proud, but for all peoples to know the true history of this country and the continual resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
'From Rations To Wages To Treaty' is a project that traces the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. "Aboriginal people used to live on rations: flour, sugar and tea. Then we started to receive wages. But some of it was stolen wages.
"They're still waiting for their payday yet," Geia says, "and then the treaty? I take that from Yothu Yindi. We must look at it this way. That song was out before voice for anything. That song was playing. 'Treaty' was playing when ATSIC was up and running. And in 2005 John Howard abolished ATSIC. At that time, the only thing that kept on going in the front line were the voices of the Aboriginal artists and singers and songwriters.
"Everything else in Parliament was switched off. It was Aboriginal artists coming through radio stations, coming through the speaker of a car. And 'Treaty' was a top hit. We still were rockin'.
"Then you have Archie Roach singing about the institution of Aboriginal people, the taking away. You have Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly singing with a song of hope, 'From Little Things, Big Things Grow'. So the issues without ATSIC, being a voice for the people in Parliament. It was the artists that kept the voice alive."
Geia is a part of this rich history of song that keeps voice alive and strengthens Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice, with his Aboriginal anthem 'Yil Lull', in which he encourages us all to "sing for the black. . . for the red. . . and for the gold, stories told for young and old".
It's in this sharing of stories that we learn from each other and heal as well. The idea of positive change and healing is so central to the 'From Rations To Wages To Treaty’ project.
Another Joe Geia classic is 'Uncle Willie', where he sings about his own Uncle who was one of seven leaders in the 1957 Palm Island Strike. Geia reminds us that it is important to remember that "things that we have today that've been opened up by certain people.
"Uncle Willie was one of seven leaders on Palm Island. That and my father was one of the leaders; he was looked at as the main instigator and with six other guys, they caused a strike – The Palm Island 1957 Strike.
"At this point it was from rations to wages, that's what they were striking about. They didn't want to receive flour, sugar and tea anymore. They wanted the right to wages.
"Exactly like the superintendents that ran the whole show. They were the ones that lined up in the mornings, at six o'clock in the morning. They were digging the roads, planting the trees, building the houses, and working on the farms."
Geia explains the importance of a book that came from this strike written by Uncle Willie Thaiday – 'Under The Act' – which is the first book to be written and published fully by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Geia recalls how it came together. "It was put together by a little organisation called Queensland Black Publishing company. There was this fella Shorty Neil and he recorded it all on cassette tape, he sat down with Uncle Willie and recorded his stories. And from those tapes he printed out that story on a typewriter. That was the book.
"As young fellas in those days we used to go off to the publishing company and help with the mailout of those books. So you know, me as a writer here I am sort of seeing things and I thought, 'I'm going to write a song about this old fella Uncle Willie'."
While Geia shined a light on Uncle Willie, Joe reminds us that there are so many strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders and leaders, such as "Chicka Dixon, Bruce McGuinness, Gary Foley, Kath Walker, Donald Brady, Cheryl Buchanan, Lionel Fogarty, the list goes on."
They're not just from one place either, with many different mobs coming together to fight as Geia calls it through the "struggle". Uncle Joe touches on the importance of having places for people to come together to share stories and experiences, something which he is able to do with 'From Rations To Wages To Treaty'.
"I didn't mention Tiga Bayles, these people were, like 15 years ahead of themselves. When you look at Aboriginal radio, when you look at Triple A Murri radio, how well equipped that little organization is, for someone to say, 'my community needs this', and get the facilities and all the things, and they've set up a building that has recording, that has an FM frequency. In those days it was hard."
There is power and strength to be found in truth telling, and the ongoing resistance that comes in different forms. Something Geia is acutely aware of, as he reflects on his role in an honest way.
"I don't know whether to call myself a musician who sat down and wrote a song, or whether I'm looked at as an activist, because I write about that era. But that's what the show is about.
"There are people and leaders who are in my song, when I sing my songs, I think about them. And they to me, even up to this very date and into the future, they are often the untold and unheard of."
Joe Geia and his band bring 'From Rations To Wages To Treaty' to Horizon Festival at Coolum Civic Centre (Sunshine Coast) 26 August. Horizon Festival runs throughout Sunshine Coast 25 August to 3 September.
