William Townsend Onus Jnr was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, designer, and showman, known for his boomerang-throwing skills.
30 Facts About Bill Onus
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Bill Onus's father was of Wiradjuri background and his mother of the Yorta Yorta people, and he had a brother, Eric, and a sister, Maude, known as "Sissy".
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Bill Onus grew up along with several other people destined to become advocates for and leaders of their people: Doug Nicholls, John Patten, and Margaret Tucker.
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Bill Onus was educated at Thomas Shadrach James' mission school in Cummeragunja as well as spending two years at school in Echuca from the age of ten.
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In 1922, the age of 16, Bill Onus left home to become a shearer, which he pursued for seven years.
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Bill Onus lived at the Salt Pan Creek camp in south-western Sydney, where refugees from the north and south coast and Cummeragunja lived, including Jack Patten, Jack Campbell, and Pearl Gibbs.
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In 1939, Bill Onus joined the Aborigines Progressive Association, later becoming secretary and becoming a full-time employee of the association, described as "an uncompromising radical".
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Bill Onus was then living in the Sydney suburb of Newtown.
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Bill Onus established the Moree branch of the APA, and was involved in the Committee for Aboriginal Citizen Rights, which was attempting to reform the Aborigines Welfare Board of New South Wales.
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From 1946, Bill Onus rejoined his parents in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, this time working as a shipping clerk.
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Bill Onus met his second wife, Mary Kelly, at a Communist Party of Australia rally during this period.
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Bill Onus joined forces with pastor and later co-founder of the Aboriginal Advancement League Doug Nicholls, and with his brother Eric, the three travelled widely, using public rallies, community meetings, and the media to advocate for Aboriginal rights.
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Bill Onus considered standing for federal parliament, but did not go ahead.
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The AAL was involved in the push to retain Lake Tyers Mission, an Aboriginal reserve, and in 1963 he and his brother Eric Bill Onus organised a march in Melbourne.
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Activists started utilising Aboriginal culture as a form of activism, and Bill Onus played a big part in many types of performance.
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Bill Onus became a leader of Aboriginal Victorians in the fight for the "yes" vote in the 1967 referendum for over a decade, as the first Aboriginal president of the Aboriginal Advancement League, and in the same year became a representative on the Victorian Aboriginal Welfare Board.
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Bill Onus was the first Aboriginal Justice of the Peace.
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Bill Onus's businesses provided training and employment to many Aboriginal people, including family members: brother Eric became manager of the Narbethong branch with his wife Winnie; sister Maude and several of her sons ; his son Lin; daughter Isobel and her son Warren Owens.
19.
An excerpt from the play, which featured Eric Onus and his wife Wynne, Reg Saunders, Doug Nicholls, and many then-residents of Fitzroy, was captured on 35mm film by Bill Onus, making him possibly the first Aboriginal filmmaker.
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In 1949, Bill Onus organised an Indigenous revue which brought together traditional ceremonies and acts with more contemporary acts and Indigenous artists.
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Bill Onus presented artist Albert Namatjira and actor Robert Tudawali to showcase Aboriginal culture.
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Bill Onus said that it means "let's get together and have fun", although this meaning has been disputed.
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Bill Onus had roles in several Australian feature fiction films, including:.
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Bill Onus became well known for presenting ABC Television's 12-part children's series, Alcheringa in 1962, which recognised and showcased Aboriginal culture.
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Bill Onus contributed to the associated Alcheringa book series published by Rigby Ltd in Adelaide.
26.
Bill Onus appeared with Doug Nicholls in the nine-minute-long documentary Forgotten People, produced by the Aborigines Advancement League.
27.
The documentary suggests that the film company that produced Bill Onus' film was put under political pressure to drop it.
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Bill Onus married Bella Elizabeth Patten on 12 May 1928 at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in West Wyalong, in the Riverina region.
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Bill Onus was the sister of Jack Patten, who led the Cummeragunja walk-off in 1939.
30.
Bill Onus's work has been showcased in exhibitions such as Making a show of it and Modern Times: the untold story of Modernism in Australia.