Those in a position of power and authority treat the First Australians with contempt and do not provide humane and decent opportunities for them to improve their sub-standard living conditions. That they often speak in their own language helps Davis draw attention to their cultural differences and their alienation from mainstream culture. Davis uses a variety of dramatic literary techniques to depict their struggle to survive in a hostile white culture, which treats them as “incompetent savages”. During the depression, life is particularly difficult for the Munday and Millimurra families who are controlled by apartheid-style policies. Throughout the play, Davis depicts the First Australians struggling to survive in sub-human conditions on an Aboriginal Reserve in the 1930s. No Sugar by Jack Davis was first performed as part of the Festival of Perth in 1985 to great acclaim. “The native must be helped in spite of himself”. No Sugar received standing ovations when performed in Vancouver and Edinburgh in 1986. Jack had eight years of education in public schools, then worked as a mill-hand, an engine driver, boundary rider and drover which brought him into contact with the tribal people and afforded examples of the everyday treatment and victimisation of the First Australians. According to Aboriginal poet Kevin Gilbert, Davis’s mother displayed grace and courage and a self-sacrificing spirit. Davis grew up in Yarloop, in a big family of 10. Jack Davis, Noong-ah, was born in 1917 in Perth his mother was taken from her tribe in Broome and reared by a white family his father, William Davis, was also removed and reared by whites. Strangers in “our own country”, No Sugar by Dr Jennifer MinterĮrnie Dingo, who performed in many of Jack Davis’s plays, writes: “We are not/ Strangers/ In our own country/ Just/ Strangers/ To a European society/ And it is hard/ To be one/ When / The law/ Is the other.” VCE Students Keeping up-to-date and ahead: unlock the key to an A+ essay. Workbook and Online Study page: See Arguments and Persuasive Language : an essay-writing guide.
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