Precious stories of family told in songs
JESSIE Lloyd doesn’t want any stories or songlines to be forgotten.
She’s spent years working with elders to uncover precious stories from the mission days and is telling those stories through song.
It’s called the Mission Song Project and, tonight, it’s on at the Darwin Festival.
“The show is focusing on events before and after the 1957 strike on Palm Island in Queensland,” Lloyd said.
In 1957, seven Palm Island men led a strike against the discriminatory treatment of indigenous people, after a petition to the superintendent demanding improved wages, health, housing and working conditions, was ignored.
Led by Lloyd’s grandfather, Albie Geia, this important event in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history is littleknown by the general population.
“These are my family songs, my family is from there,” Lloyd said. “This is the chapter where I focus on my family with four generations of songs spanning from 1900 to 1999.”
The overall project aims to reveal what daily life was like for indigenous Australians on Christian missions and staterun settlements through the power of music.
Lloyd will perform with Deline Briscoe, Jessica Hitchcock, Candice Lorrae and an all-star band.
The show starts at 7pm tonight at the Lighthouse and costs $36. Tickets available at darwinfestival.org.au