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Kyana Corroboree: Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter perform Louis St John
Title:
Kyana Corroboree: Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter perform Louis St John
NFSA ID
267127
Year
1993
Warnings
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
At the official opening of the Kyana festival of Aboriginal arts, music and dance, on the Perth Esplanade in February 1993, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter perform the song 'Louis St John'. The song was later recorded for the album Looking for Butter Boy in 1997.
This is an exceptionally clear recording of their outdoor live performance. The vocal and solo guitar sparkle and the audio faithfully captures a song about the murder of Louis St John (Warren Braedon), who was killed by two men on his 19th birthday because he was black.
The racially-motivated murder affected Archie deeply, with him saying in an interview on ABC radio in 2007, 'Louis is me, and I am Louis'.
Archie also took part in a documentary about Louis and his family's stories alongside English actor Pete Postlethwaite and Pat Dodson called Liyarn Ngarn in 2007.
Notes by Beth Taylor and Adam Blackshaw
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.