Message Stick – Bill’s Wake

Clip 1: Protecting Kakadu

1 min 54 sec

Taken from the TV program Message Stick – Bill’s Wake (2001)

Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be G

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Availability of the complete title

Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.

Curator’s clip description

Peter Wellings, Jacob Nayinggul, George Chaloupka and John Christopherson talk about Bill Neidjie, a traditional owner of Kakadu. We see people arriving for Bill’s wake.

Curator’s notes

Beautifully shot, with strongly evocative music, this deliberately slow-paced clip effectively sets the mood for the start of the ceremony at the wake. The reference to Bill Neidjie caring for the future of his children is also nicely underlined by the camera dwelling on the crowds of children being brought to the wake.

Romaine Moreton, curator

australian screen