Jack Davis (playwright) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jack Leonard Davis
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Jack Davis
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| Born | 11 March 1917 |
| Died | March 17, 2000 (aged 83) Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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| Nationality | Aboriginal Australian |
| Education | High school |
| Occupation | Playwright and Poet |
| Known for | Poetry, acting, writing, Aboriginal rights activism |
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Notable work
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No Sugar |
| Awards | Order of the British Empire Order of Australia |
Jack Leonard Davis AM, BEM (born 11 March 1917 – died 17 March 2000) was an important Australian Aboriginal writer and activist. He was a talented playwright and poet. Many people consider him one of Australia's most important Aboriginal authors.
Jack Davis was born in Perth, Western Australia. He lived most of his life there. He was part of the Noongar people from Western Australia. He often used the Noongar language in his plays. His writings explored themes of Aboriginal identity and culture.
Even though he became famous for his writing, Jack Davis didn't start writing full-time until he was in his fifties. His work focused on the experiences of Aboriginal people in Australia. His first book of poems, The First Born, was published in 1970. This made him one of the first Aboriginal poets to be published. Later, he focused on writing plays. His first play, Kullark, was performed in 1979. His plays became well-known around the world, even performed in Canada and England.
Jack Davis received many awards for his work. These included the Order of the British Empire in 1976 and the Order of Australia in 1985. He also received two special university degrees. Today, many Australian schools include his works in their lessons.
Contents
Jack Davis: A Life of Words
Early Life and Family
Jack Davis spent his first five years on a farm in Waroona, Western Australia. He had ten brothers and sisters. In 1923, a bushfire destroyed their farm. His family then moved to Yarloop. Jack and his family were part of the Bibbulmun and Noongar peoples. They spoke the Noongar language.
Jack's parents, William "Bill" Davis and his mother (whose name is not recorded), faced many challenges. They were taken from their own parents when they were children. This happened because of a government policy from the 1890s. This policy affected children who had both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal parents. It led to the Stolen Generations, where many Aboriginal children were removed from their families.
Jack's parents had to work for non-Aboriginal families. They never had the chance to go to school. His mother was seven when she started working as a servant in Broome. She felt well-treated but not truly part of the family. She did housework while the family's own children went to school. His father was eight when he started working. He took the last name "Davis" from his boss. Jack's parents met in Northam, Western Australia, and soon married. They had six daughters and five sons.
William Davis worked in the timber industry. It was hard to support eleven children with his income. But he loved hunting and the bush. This helped him provide food for his large family. In 1933, Jack's father died after a hunting accident. He was attacked by a bull. This left the family without money. They had to sell their home and move out of Yarloop.
After Jack and his brother Harold returned home from working at the Moore River Native Settlement, Harold went to fight in World War II.
Education and Challenges
Jack Davis went to school in Yarloop with his brothers and sisters. Because his father had Australian citizenship, his children could get the same education as European children. This also meant they were not forced to go to an Aboriginal settlement.
In 1932, when he was fourteen, Jack and his brother Harold were offered work. This offer came from A. O. Neville, the Protector of Aborigines. They were told they would learn farm skills at the Moore River Native Settlement. Their father was worried about them going to an Aboriginal settlement. But during the Great Depression, work was hard to find.
At the Moore River Native Settlement, Aboriginal people were meant to learn skills to fit into non-Aboriginal society. However, the promise of learning skills was not kept. The settlement kept Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people separate. Aboriginal people were not allowed to speak their own languages. Jack and his brother were among 400 Aboriginal people "offered" work there. After nine months, they left and went back to Yarloop. Jack's experiences at the Moore River Native Settlement later greatly influenced his writing.
A Career in Writing
Before becoming a writer, Jack Davis had many tough jobs. He worked as a stockman, horse trainer, drover, mill worker, driver, and kangaroo hunter. In 1970, when his first poetry book The First Born was published, he decided to focus on writing.
From 1969 to 1973, he managed the Aboriginal Advancement Council Centre in Perth. Then, from 1973 to 1979, he became an editor at the Aboriginal Publications Foundation. This foundation published a magazine called Identity. The magazine focused on sharing Aboriginal literature.
Jack Davis's Works
Jack Davis started his writing career by publishing poems. His first collection, The First Born, came out in 1970. His second poetry book, Jagardoo, was published in 1977. It featured illustrations by Harold Thomas, who also designed the Aboriginal Australian flag.
Later, he focused on writing plays. He wrote five plays for adults and two for children.
Plays for Adults
- Kullark, 1979
- The Dreamers, 1981
- No Sugar, 1985
- Barungin, 1989
- In Our Town, 1990
Plays for Children
- Honey Spot, 1987
- Moorli and the Leprechaun, 1994
Jack Davis also started a play called Wahngin Country, but he never finished it. He was very interested in how history was told. He felt that Aboriginal history and their point of view were often left out.
Jack Davis wanted to tell the Aboriginal story. He found that plays were a great way to do this. He used the Indigenous tradition of oral storytelling and turned it into written plays. His works explore the history and unfair treatment of Aboriginal people. This includes their first meetings with white settlers. His plays often hint at the long history of Aboriginal people, even when they are not directly talking about the past.
Kullark
Kullark means "home" in the Noongar language. This play is often seen as a historical account. It describes the beginning of white settlement in Western Australia in 1829.
The play criticizes the way colonial history was recorded. It tells the story of first contact between Aboriginal people and white settlers from an Aboriginal perspective. It follows an Aboriginal family affected by these historical events. Jack Davis includes details like the trading of poisoned flour and the massacres at Pinjarra in 1834. He wanted to give Aboriginal people a voice and share their history, which had often been ignored. Kullark was his first step in telling these important historical stories.
The Dreamers
The Dreamers was first performed in 1972. It was published in 1981. The play focuses on the memories of three Aboriginal men who worked at the Moore River Native Settlement. Jack Davis wanted to show both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal audiences a true picture of Aboriginal life in cities.
No Sugar
Jack Davis's play No Sugar was first published in 1986. It became very popular and won the Australian Writers Guild Award for best stage play that year. The play is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression. It tells the story of an Aboriginal family forced to leave their home and work at the Moore River Native Settlement.
The play shows how Aboriginal people resisted being forced to change their culture. It also highlights the challenges they faced. No Sugar uses a lot of the Noongar language. This helps to show the importance of Aboriginal culture. It also shows the feeling of being isolated when people cannot understand your language and customs.
A production of No Sugar was performed at the Black Theatre Arts and Culture Centre in Redfern in 1994. This play is sometimes studied in high schools in Victoria, Australia. There has been some discussion about whether the themes and language are too complex for students learning English.
Barungin
Barungin was published in 1989. Its title means "Smell the Wind" in the Noongar language. This play focuses on the high number of Aboriginal people in jail. It also highlights the many deaths of Aboriginal people in custody. In the year the play was published, Aboriginal Australians made up ten percent of people in jail across the country. In Western Australia, where the play is set, this number was even higher, at 35 percent. The play brings attention to these serious issues.
List of Works
Plays
- Kullark (1972)
- The Dreamers (1982)
- No Sugar (1985)
- Honeyspot (1985)
- Moorli and the Leprechaun (1986)
- Burungin (1988)
- Plays from Black Australia (1989)
- In Our Town (1990)
Poetry
- The First-born and other poems (1970)
- The Black Tracker (1970)
- Jagardoo : Poems from Aboriginal Australia (1978)
- John Pat and Other Poems (1988) Publisher Dent Australia ISBN: 0-86770-079-3
- Black Life : poems (1992)
- Wurru : poem from Aboriginal
Other Works
- Jack Davis : A life-story (1988)
- A Boy's Life (1991)
- Paperbark : A Collection of Black Australian Writings (1992)
