Indigenous singer, performer and songwriter Ruby Hunter was born by a billabong in the Riverland region of South Australia. At the age of eight she was forcibly removed at night from her extended family and told that she was being taken to the circus. For years afterward Hunter was placed in various foster homes and institutions and suffered the many traumas associated with being separated from her Aboriginal family. In her late teens she met Archie Roach at the Salvation Army drop-in centre in Adelaide. At that stage Roach had not begun his music career but played the guitar and sang. Hunter was inspired by his music, learnt to play the guitar and began to write her own songs. The couple began a family together and later married.

In 1990 Archie Roach recorded his first album, Charcoal Lane, produced by Paul Kelly and Steve Connolly. One of the highlights of the album was the track Down City Streets, written by Ruby Hunter. In 1992 and 1993 Hunter toured with Roach in America, London and Berlin. In 1994 she released her debut album, Thoughts Within. Produced by Jen Anderson, the album featured Archie Roach, Tiddas, David Bridie, Andrew Pendlebury and Helen Mountfort and was nominated for a number of awards. The album launched her career as a performer and songwriter in her own right. Hunter continued to tour with Roach both nationally and internationally in the next decades and released her second album, Feeling Good, in May, 2000.

Hunter's songs and music reflect her personal history, women's issues, social issues and indigenous issues. In 2000 she appeared with Roach in The Land of Little Kings, a feature length documentary about the experiences of indigenous Australians who were removed from their families as part of the "stolen generation". In 2001 Hunter made her acting debut as the tracker's wife in the Australian film One Night the Moon.

Hunter was a founding member of the Black Arm Band, a band dedicated to the spirit of reconciliation. In 2004 she collaborated with Paul Grabowsky, Archie Roach and the Australian Art Orchestra to Produce Ruby’s song: a story of her life.

Hunter died on Wednesday 17 February 2010 at her home in south-west Victoria.

Information from

• National Union Catalogues - Music Australia

Record number

991472

Born

• 1955, SA

Died

• 17 February 2010, Victoria

Gender

female

Heritage

• Ngarrindjerri Kukatha Pitjantjatjara

Activities

• musician
• performer
• instrumentalist
• singer
• songwriter
• guitarist
• Aboriginal rights activist

Honours

• Deadly Sounds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Entertainment and Community Awards, 2000
  For: Female Artist of the Year
• Deadly Sounds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Entertainment and Community Awards, 2003
  For: Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach for Outstanding Contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music

References

• Hamilton, Susi (reporter), Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, ABC Riverland, 29/05/2003http://www.abc.net.au/riverland/stories/s866236.htm Last accessed 16 June 2004
• Ruby Hunter http://www.festivalrecords.com.au/viewartist.cfm?Artist... Last accessed 16 June 2004
• Ruby Hunter http://www.mushroommusic.com.au/songwriterbio.cfm?id=79 Last accessed 16 June 2004
• Land of the Little Kings http://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/1886377/20/2329353 Last accessed 16 June 2004
• The Age, 20/03/1993
  p50, Freeman-Greene, Suzy, Wringing joy from bitterness

Updated

30 June 2004

To cite this page

http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-ma-ANL%3AMA~991472

Ruby Hunter

Information from

• National Library of Australia - National Library of Australia

Record number

991472

Updated

19 February 2010