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University of Qld, photograph by Jeremy Patten.
Sam Watson Sam Watson i(A47259 works by) (a.k.a. Samuel Watson)
Born: Established: 1952 Brisbane, Queensland, ; Died: Ceased: 27 Nov 2019 Brisbane, Queensland,
Gender: Male
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Mununjali / Munaldjali ; Aboriginal BirriGubba
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Works By

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1 Moth i "An Aboriginal woman was walking in a city street. It is suburban Melbourne.", Sam Watson , 2020 single work poetry
— Appears in: Etropic , vol. 19 no. 1 2020; (p. 28)
1 Equal and Opposite Forces Sam Watson , 2019 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Bjelke Blues : Stories of Repression and Resistance in Joh Bjelke-Petersen's Queensland 1968-1987 2019; (p. 31-37)
1 y separately published work icon Dave Hullfish Bailey, Sam Watson : CityCat Project 2006-2016 David Pestorius , Rex Butler , Sally Butler , Michele Helmrich , Sam Watson , Rex Butler (editor), Berlin : Sternberg Press , 2017 11489937 2017 anthology prose essay criticism art work

'CityCat Project 2006–2016 is the record of an extraordinary collaboration between American artist Dave Hullfish Bailey and senior Aboriginal writer and activist Sam Watson. The collaboration is structured around Maiwar Performance, in which the CityCat ferries that ply the Brisbane River (Maiwar) execute unannounced maneuvers near a site of significance to the Aboriginal people who lived on the lands around Brisbane before British colonization in the early nineteenth century. 

'After its first iteration in 2006, Watson designated the event a “Dreaming,” which meant that it should be periodically repeated. The performance has since been restaged in 2009, 2012, and 2016, with Watson seeing it as an important act of Indigenous empowerment: a way of restoring agency to the local Aboriginal people in bringing their past alive and allowing them to think that the future has not been definitively determined.

'Parallel to this recurring event is an evolving body of works in diverse media. At its core is Bailey’s lateral research-based process, which combines a highly reflexive approach to language with granular descriptions of material and cultural systems. The call-and-response collaboration between Watson and Bailey and the many irreducibilities within it, generates an articulation of place that is playfully extrapolative, yet politically and intellectually resistant.

'This publication includes an introduction by its editor, Rex Butler, and an essay and detailed timeline by CityCat Project curator, David Pestorius, which covers the activities of Bailey and Watson both before and throughout their work together. In addition, art historian Sally Butler reflects upon Watson’s literary production, while curator Michele Helmrich sheds light on the local historical context that significantly informs the collaboration.

'Copublished with Australian Fine Arts/David Pestorius, Brisbane' (Publication summary)
 

1 Time for a New Voice Sam Watson , 2011 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Tracker , April no. 1 2011; (p. 26)
1 Profile : Sam Watson Sam Watson , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , July no. 186 2009; (p. 4)
1 6 y separately published work icon Oodgeroo : Bloodline to Country Sam Watson , 2009 Brisbane : Playlab , 2009 Z1525619 2009 single work drama

'She was Oodgeroo, Custodian of Minjerribah and senior lore woman of the Noonuccal people. In November 1974, a BOAC aircraft was hijacked in Dubai by Palestinian terrorists.

The aircraft was flown to Tunisia and held on the tarmac for three days. Kath Walker, member of the steering committee for the 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture meeting in Nigeria, and later to be Oodgeroo Noonuccal, was on that plane. Walker pleaded with the hijackers on behalf of the passengers, particularly a German banker who had been targeted for execution. Despite Walker's efforts, the German was shot and his body dumped on the tarmac.

This traumatic event, and her regret at her inability to save the man's life, stayed with Kath Walker throughout her life. Oodgeroo's way was negotiation, but her son's was armed struggle.

In Brisbane in 1971, along with Sam Watson the author of this startling new play, Denis Walker co-founded of the Australian Black Panthers, based on the radical and often violent American civil rights organisation.

This new production, created with the involvement of Oodgeroo's family, weaves her family and cultural life with her time on the Tunisian tarmac to tell the previously untold story of the tensions that tore at the fabric of one of Australia's most prominent families.

She was Oodgeroo, Custodian of Minjerribah and senior lore woman of the Noonuccal people. She was Kath Walker, acclaimed poet and activist, beacon of hope. She was mother to her two sons.' Source: /www.laboite.com.au/ (Sighted 21/04/2009).

1 From The Kadaitcha Sung Sam Watson , 2008 extract novel (The Kadaitcha Sung)
— Appears in: Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature 2008; (p. 131-133) Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 1253-1255)
1 3 The Mack Sam Watson , 2007 single work drama 'It is almost time; Bullocky must place his hand upon the shoulder of the man in the family, who will succeed him as the Mack. That man, unquestioned and unchallenged will be the leader of the family, his authority absolute. Bullocky had sired two sons; fate had taken his older boy from him in a terrible car smash, Peacey crippled, Birdie into a locked ward. Now he is waiting for Peacey to come back in and step up to the mark and claim that mantle that is rightfully his. Time is pressing, he and Nanna must return to the tribal country and "walk the line" to safeguard the sacred sites. But before he can go, Bullocky knows that he must ensure the succession and stabilize his family network. Birdie must come out of the hospital, Corowa must settle down and Peacey must become the man that they all knew he could be.' Source: http://www.jwcoca.qld.gov.au/ (Sighted 14/02/2007).
1 Bora Ring of the Red Dragon Sam Watson , 2006 single work autobiography
— Appears in: School Days 2006; (p. 28-35)
1 Sorry Day i "They killed the song", Sam Watson , 2004 single work poetry
— Appears in: Kurbingui Star , June-July no. 13 2004; (p. 11)
1 From : The Kadaitcha Sung Sam Watson , 2002 extract novel (The Kadaitcha Sung)
— Appears in: Hot Iron Corrugated Sky : 100 Years of Queensland Writing 2002; (p. 130)
1 Reading and Writing 'The Kadaitcha Sung' : A Novel by Sam Watson Bronwyn Davies , Sam Watson , 2000 single work criticism
— Appears in: (In)scribing Body/Landscape Relations 2000; (p. 189-214)
1 Reviews Sam Watson , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , December vol. 27 no. 2 1999; (p. 56)

— Review of Steam Pigs Melissa Lucashenko , 1997 single work novel
1 y separately published work icon Pilgrims: Sam Watson (Aust), Cees Nooteboom (Netherlands), Tim Severin (UK) & Colm Tobin (Ireland) Sam Watson , Adelaide : University Radio 5UV , 1998 Z1392136 1998 single work interview
1 Uncovering Police Responsibility for Daniel Yock's Death Sam Watson , 1996 single work prose
— Appears in: Voices of Aboriginal Australia : Past, Present, Future 1996; (p. 221-226)
1 1 form y separately published work icon Black Man Down Sam Watson , ( dir. Bill McCrow ) Australia : 1996 Z537148 1996 single work film/TV A journey into the very core of the Aboriginal psyche, Black Man Down takes us into the realm of a troubled young warrior who has been beaten at a protest rally, and subsequently locked up by the police. Sitting alone in the cell he is watched by a dreamtime spirit when death comes calling.
1 53 y separately published work icon The Kadaitcha Sung Sam Watson , Ringwood : Penguin , 1990 Z25559 1990 single work novel fantasy

"The Kadaitcha Sung tells the story of Tommy Gubba, son of Koobara, son of the chief of the Kadaitcha clan, and Fleur, a white woman, of Northern European descent. Tommy was born secretly after his uncle Booka Roth killed his father to become the last of the Kadaitcha clan. The Kadaitcha clan is in the novel an "ancient clan of sorcerers" (1) called by Biamee to stand among the tribes of the South Land (i.e. Australia) when he returned among the stars. Tommy is initiated and called by Biamee to recuperate the heart of the Rainbow Serpent stolen by Booka Roth, without which Biamee cannot "complete his earthly manifestation". Ensuing from the war that Booka waged against his own people, the veil of mists that Biamee had set upon the South Land is lifted, and "other mortals" come from "all corners of the globe and from every branch of the family of man" (33) and join forces with Booka, defeating the tribes of South Land that cannot match the weapons of the invaders (34). Tommy is to take revenge on the migloo ("fair-skinned" people), who have "raped and pillaged" (31) his people, and conquered the entire land (35). A fast pace narrative, The Kadaitcha Sung is also an action-packed novel, to which this quick introduction cannot do justice."

Source: Estelle Castro, 'Imaginary (Re)Vision', 2007

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