Around 1954, after both parents died when Gus was 17, he and siblings moved to Hermannsburg, in Central Australia, to stay with their grandparents,[1] Johannes and Maria Ntjalka.[6]
In 1958 he married Rhonda Malbunka, and children followed: Serena, Ingrid, Warren, Baydon and Debbie.[1]Warren H Williams became a country music star, and was also inducted into the Country Music Hands of Fame in 2009.[7]
He initially became involved in evangelical Lutheran singing for family reasons; some of his great-uncles were evangelists, and his grandparents were among the first group of Aboriginal people baptised at Hermannsburg Mission.[6] Williams taught his sons guitar, and they all played together as a band. In the mid- to late 1960s, he sang with the church choir under Pastor Doug Radke, becoming its lead singer. In 1967 the Hermannsburg Choir toured to Adelaide, where they performed at the Adelaide Town Hall, as well as 12 other venues in regional South Australia and Victoria, and recorded an album.[6] During the tour, Williams, as compère and lead singer,[9] used his platform to make political statements and to help educate non-Indigenous audiences about Arrernte people and culture.[6] He and his wife also translated a German song of home and travel into Arrernte and performed it on the tour.[10]
In the mid to late 1970s, he toured remote communities with Herbie Laughton, and his sons joined him in the Warrabri Country Bluegrass Band.[1] In 1976[4] he moved to his mother's country,[6]Ali Curung (formerly Warrabri), becoming CEO of the council there and earning respect as a leader. He also created the first electric country band in the Northern territory, the Warrabri Country Bluegrass Band, and organised the inaugural country music festival,[4] first in Alice Springs and later in Ali Curung.[1]
Returning to Hermannsburg in the 1980s, Williams became involved in the land rights movement. Together with others, he led the successful push go get land returned from the Finke River Mission to the Ntaria Land Trust.[4] He became chair/CEO of the Hermannsburg council, a position he held for 30 years.[6][1]
He released six albums in the 1990s, and in 1993 visited the Tamworth Country Music Festival for the first time. He busked there with the Country Ebony band.[4]
Other roles
Williams was also a member or chair of many other organisations, including ATSIC, the Aboriginal Benefits Fund, the Central Land Council, Central Australian Football League, chair of the Hermannsburg Historical Society, and many others. It was said that Ngurratjuta, an organisation representing the Western Desert, was his favourite.[1]
^Hurley, A W, „Farewell My Country Hermannsburg, Gus Williams, and the Indigenised Heimatlied.“ Journal of Australian Studies, Vol. 41, N. 1, (2017): 18–31.
^"Harry & Wilga Williams". eHive. Retrieved 4 November 2022. From Australian Country Music Hall of Fame
Hurley, A W 2017 Farewell My Country Hermannsburg, Gus Williams, and the Indigenised Heimatlied. Journal of Australian Studies, Vol. 41, N. 1, (2017): 18–31.
