Hyllus maris biography template

A ground-breaking television series, Women of the Sun was, according to Moran in his Guide to Australian TV Series, born out of co-writer Sonia Borg's desire for a more balanced televisual representation of Indigenous Australians: 'Angry at the plight of Aborigines, she was concerned that many scriptwriters could conceive of Aboriginal women only as prostitutes.' To counter this tendency, she contemplated a series that showed Australian history from the perspective of Aboriginal women, a project for which she sought the colloboration of sociologist and social worker Hyllus Maris.

Because, as Moran notes, it 'portrayed the history of Aboriginal people since the incursion of the whites, focusing on the relations between blacks and whites over the previous 200 years', Women of the Sun 'was a direct counter to the various official histories in preparation for the Bicentennial celebrations in 1988'.

Women of the Sun is divided into four parts, each of which focuses on

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A Tribute to the Concrete låda (For Aunty Hyllus), Moorina Bonini

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I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land in which I work and live, the Wurundjeri people and the Boonwurrung. I pay my respect to all Elders past, present and emerging of the Kulin Nations. Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land. Sovereignty has never been ceded.

My Great Aunt, Hyllus Maris, wrote a metaphor entitled ‘The Concrete Box’. This poetic text provides a new perspective of Aboriginal people within Australia and poses a question – when will the time come for all Kooris to have their freedom, peace of mind and their health? Three generations after and I continue to voice her question.

Aunty Hyllus is able allude to the history, the injustices and incarceration of Aboriginal people through her text, which is familiar and accessible to all. ‘The Concrete Box’ presents an example of colonial power structures, economic history and the disconnect from Coun

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Spiritual Song of the Aborigine

Hyllus Noel Maris (1933-1986), Aboriginal rights campaigner, community worker, educator, poet and scriptwriter, was born on 25 December 1933 in Cummeragunja, Victoria, third of nine children of New South Wales-born parents Selwyn Roderick Briggs, labourer, and his wife Geraldine Rose, née Clements. Hyllus was of Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri (Woiworung) descent and spent her early childhood at Cummeragunja Aboriginal station, New South Wales. Her grandmother educated her in Aboriginal culture, genealogy and history, and both parents were activists; her father was also a prominent sportsman.

In 1939 more than 150 Aboriginal people ‘walked off’ Cummeragunja in protest at substandard conditions. Their actions provided a catalyst for the greater politicisation of Aboriginal people throughout Victoria. The Briggses were among a group who then settled on the ‘Flat’ in the Mooroopna-Shepparton area of Victoria. The Flat’s close-knit, family-based community ch