Exploring the Legacy of Fred Biggs and His Contribution to Australian Aboriginal Poetry

Driving through the Navajo Nation at sunset, I took this photo of the red rocks at sunset. The color reminded me of Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, in Australia. This connection sparked my curiosity about Australian Aboriginal poets, leading me to discover Fred Biggs, a significant yet often overlooked figure in Aboriginal literature. Fred Biggs belonged to the Ngiyambaa (Wangaaybuwan) people of western New South Wales, a different group from those near Uluru.

It is important to highlight me learning, confronting my own false narratives and believes as I navigate poetry and life.

Who Was Fred Biggs?

Fred Biggs, born around 1877 in New South Wales, Australia, lived until 1961 in Menindee, NSW. His heritage was Ngiyambaa, an Aboriginal group from western New South Wales, through his mother. Unlike many poets who publish their own work, Biggs did not release books himself. Instead, his poems were collected and published by anthropologists, folklorists, and in anthologies of Aboriginal legends and folklore during the mid-20th century.

This method of preservation means that Biggs' poetry often appears under slightly different titles or versions, reflecting the oral tradition from which it emerged.

The Importance of Oral Tradition in Biggs' Work

Fred Biggs' poetry was passed down orally before being written down by others. Because Biggs did not publish his poems himself, the versions we have today come from various sources:

• Aboriginal legends anthologies from the 1950s and 1960s

• Collections of Australian Aboriginal folklore

• Articles by anthropologists who worked with the Ngiyambaa people

• Early anthologies of Aboriginal writing published before the 1970s

  
  

This oral-to-written transition means that Biggs' poetry carries the authenticity of Indigenous storytelling while also reflecting the perspectives of those who recorded it.

The Star Tribes and Other Themes in Biggs' Poetry

One of the poems attributed to Fred Biggs is The Star Tribes. This poem exemplifies the deep connection between Aboriginal people and the cosmos, a common theme in Indigenous Australian poetry.

“Look, among the boughs. Those stars are men…”

Discovering Fred Biggs is me learning about the world I live in, discovering poetry, and identifying my own false assumptions, like all aboriginal people are from the same tribe as the people who lived near the Uluruur.