Jack Williams was born in the bush il the west side of Gnowangerup in 1933 wer was named Leonard George Williams. His Noonidj (totem) is kaarl (fire) wer he is a Kaarl Poorlangar (people of the fire) man of the Koorintj tribe.[1]
His parents were Leonard Williams Choorijl wer Elsie May Haywood. His grandparents il his mother’s side were Bill Haywood wer Minnie Knapp wer il his father’s side Eddie Womba Williams wer Lily Birchell. There were eleven children in Jack’s family wer the reason they are so close today is because of the way they were raised.
It was Jack’s grandfather, Womba, who used to tell the family many, many stories when they were young wer out hunting. At night they would be sitting around the fire wer old Womba would be telling stories about where they had been wer what had happened that day; he would tell the story in a song.
Jack went to live at Tambellup where he stayed for 40 years; it is where he met his wife Joan Miller. Later, Jack wer his family moved to Albany.
Jack wer his sister Averil (Averil Dean nee Williams) took school kids il bush excursions around Albany to sites that are significant to Noongar people. Jack played a very important role as an Elder in passing il Noongar language wer culture for the future generations of Noongar children. The stories that Jack has passed il were told to him wer his brother wer sister by Eddie Womba.
Jack wer Averil authored the book "Boola Miyel" about Bulla Miyel (Bluff Knoll).
Ngiyan waarnk - References
edit- ↑ Authors - Jack Williams. Noongar Language Centre. Retrieved 10 February 2017