Kathy Mills

Kathleen Mary McGinness,[lower-alpha 1] later commonly known as Kathy Mills and also known as Mooradoop,[2] was born on 6 April 1936 in Katherine in the Northern Territory of Australia.[1]

Her paternal grandparents were Stephen McGinness, an Irish seaman from Dublin (about whom she wrote a poem), and prominent elder Lucy McGinness, aka Alngindabu, whose children included several leaders and activists.[1] Their son John Francis "Jack" McGinness (aka Kingulawuy[3]), activist and the Northern Territory's and Australia's first elected Aboriginal union leader in 1955, holding the position of NAWU president over three stints until 1963,[4][5] was Kathy's father.[1]

Her mother was Kingarli (died 1954),[6][7] later called Polly Wakelin, a Gurindji woman who was removed from Wave Hill Station to Kahlin Compound, making her one of the Stolen Generation. However she did not transmit bitterness about her life, but rather passed on her Aboriginal culture.[1]

Kathy Mills was a Kungarakung (paternal grandmother's link) and Gurindji (mother's line) woman.[8][9]

Mills became a strong advocate for services addressing alcohol policy and alcoholism and was a key figure in the establishment of the FORWAARD alcohol rehabilitation centre in Darwin[10] in 1967.[11]

Mills was the first woman to be elected to the Northern Land Council,[12] and was involved in the establishment of Batchelor College (later Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education).[13]

Mills was appointed a co-commissioner for the Northern Territory to the panel of the Stolen Generations Inquiry, which produced the Bringing Them Home report and was a major factor in having the Stolen Generations issue recognised at a national level.[12][13] She was also a champion of language maintenance for Aboriginal Australian languages.[13]

She also participated in numerous NT Writers Festivals.[13]

In 2018, she was one of a panel of three at a presentation of the film Buffalo Legends, about a "a group of men who knocked down the barriers of racism on the sporting field"and helped to forge multiculturalism in Darwin.[14]

Her debut anthology of poetry, entitled Mookanunganuk : Selected poems by Mooradoop Kathy Mills, was published in 2020.[2][15]

A theatrical work, Jarradah Gooragulli – Dance of the Brolgas , co-written with Jada Alberts and described as a blend of "storytelling, dance, music, language, cinematography, and song to tell a creation story alongside the story of two lovers" was being staged at Brown's Mart Theatre in Darwin from 17 to 28 May 2022, at the time of her death.[3]

• 1986: NAIDOC national and Northern Territory Aboriginal of the Year

• 2000: Centenary Medal for "services to women, Aborigines, art and music"[16]

• 2005: Inducted into Northern Territory Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame (with husband David)[17]

• 2006: NT Senior Australian of the Year[18]

• 2019: Order of Australia Medal for service to the Indigenous community[19][20]

• 16 March 2022: Honorary Doctorate by Batchelor Institute, "in recognition of her exceptional contributions to the wellbeing of First Nations peoples throughout her life"[13]

Mills was married to David[17] (also born in 1936[21]) and they had 11 children, with three alive as of 2003.[22] Among her children are the members of musical group the Mills Sisters,[lower-alpha 2] who are known for their 1986 recording of Mills' song "Arafura Pearl".[23] The whole family was musical. Parents Kathy and David were both accomplished singer/songwriters and musicians.[17] David played guitar, steel guitar, ukelele, mandolin, and drums, and had an excellent singing voice. Kathy played the ukelele.[21] The children include:[22]

• Allyson (Ali), the main singer in the family;[22]
• Robert, who played the guitar;[22]and
• June, well known in Darwin as a cultural knowledge and Welcome to Country presenter, artist, and songwriter. June released her debut solo album I’ll Be The One on Skinnyfish Music.[17]

Kathy and her youngest brother, Speedy McGinness, feature in a 1999 documentary film called Wrap Me Up in Paperbark, about their quest to get their mother's remains returned to her traditional Gurindji country, from Darwin cemetery in Larrakia country, where she was buried.[6][7]

A 26-minute documentary film about Mills and her family, entitled Arafura Pearl, was made by Indigenous filmmaker Steven McGregor and released in 2003 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as part of their "Message Stick" series.[24][25][26] It is available for purchase at ABC Commercial.[27]

Mills also features in Blown Away (2014), a documentary film directed by Danielle MacLean about Cyclone Tracy, which caused extensive damage to Darwin in 1974. The film shows previously unrecorded responses by Indigenous Darwinians to the disaster, and Mills relates how she and her family survived by cramming into a tiny storeroom underneath their house. Her son "Arafura Pearl" also features in the film.[28][29]

Mills died on 24 April 2022.[8] A memorial ceremony was held for her in Darwin by family and friends on 16 May 2022.[30]

Mills was renowned for her fantastic memory, for both songs and historical and cultural information, which could then be passed down, and she worked hard to contribute to the community of Darwin and Aboriginal people everywhere.[21]

The local Aboriginal organisations established in Darwin as a result of her work, including the alcohol rehabilitation service FORWAARD; a women's shelter; and the Danila Dilba Health Service, remain as part of her legacy.[30]

Her song "Arafura Pearl" is listed as an icon by the Northern Territory Heritage Society.[31]

Arafura Pearl: A Festival of Women was established in 2020 by Tracey Bunn, as "a celebration of women in Darwin". She chose to name the festival after the song because of its connection with Darwin, and because of the Mills family consisting of many strong women. Kathy's daughter June Mills opened the inaugural edition of the festival in September 2020.[31]

• "Kathy Mills". AustLit./page/18222218
• You Belong to My Heart – Aunty Kathy Mills on SoundCloud