Mills Sisters

Australian singers

Mills Sisters
Origin	Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia
Genres	Folk, blues, reggae
Years active	1950s – 1996

Members	Cessa Mills Ina Mills Rita Mills

The Mills Sisters, formerly known as the Singing Grandmas, were a group of three sisters from Torres Strait Islands, Rita Mills and twins Cessa and Ina.

Early life

Ina and Cessa, who were twins, were born in 1927,^[1] and Rita in 1934, on Naghir Island in the Torres Strait.^[2] They have Torres Strait Islander heritage, including a great-grandmother of the Kaurareg people (the traditional owners of Possession Island, aka Bedanug), and a grandfather from Samoa. Ina married an Indonesian man from Timor.^[1]

Their married names were Cessa Nakata, Ina Titasey, and Rita Fell-Tyrell.^[3]

Career

All three sang and Rita played guitar, Cessa the ukulele and Ina the tambourine.^[4]

Formerly known as the Singing Grandmas,^[1] the group started singing in the 1950s,^[5] with their first public appearances in pubs on Thursday Island,^[6] and in the 1980s started to tour outside the Torres Strait.^[5] They performed at the Brisbane Expo in 1988, the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland,^[6] around Australia, and in the early 1990s toured England, France and New Zealand.^[1] They also performed all over the Pacific^[7]

Their version of "TI Blues" (a song written by Seaman Dan) has been called "a signature tune for the Torres Strait".^[8] In 1995 they released an album, Frangipani Land.^[1]

Cessa and Ina retired in 1995^[6]^[3] or 1996 and Rita continued on a solo career,^[9] until retiring in 2001,^[10] and she died in 2004.^[11]^[12]

Musical styles and languages

The Mills Sisters had a repertoire of over 200 songs, which ranged from Torres Strait Island love songs to contemporary music, and included country, blues, reggae. They sang in many languages besides English: a variety of Samoan, Hawaiian, Papua New Guinean, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island languages.^[6]

Awards

The Australia Council for the Arts has since 1993 awarded a Red Ochre Award to an outstanding Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander) artist for lifetime achievement. It was awarded to the Mills Sisters in 1995.^[13]

In film

The half-hour documentary film Frangipani Land Forever was made by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Indigenous department in 2008 in their "Message Stick" series, directed by Douglas Watkin.^[14]^[3]

Discography

Frangipani land (1993) - New Market Music^[15]
Those beautiful TI girls (2002) - Zuna Entertainment^[16]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Ina's Story: The Memoir of a Torres Strait Islander Woman". Historians are Past Caring. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
^ Stewart, Paul (11 March 2001). "Rita calls it a day, at last". Sunday Herald Sun.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Message Stick - Frangipani Land Forever". ABC Commercial. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
^ The Australian, 13 December 2004, "Trailblazer sang Torres on to map" by Steve Connolly
^ ^a ^b Sunday Herald Sun, 14 March 1999, "Rita's family affair" by Paul Stewart
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Rita Mills". AustLit. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
^ Sunday Herald Sun, 11 March 2001, "Rita calls it a day, at last." by Paul Stewart
^ Pryor, Cathy (8 September 2001). "Northern Delights". The Australian.
^ Australian Associated Press General News, 28 March 2003, "Better late than never for Uncle Seaman" by Jordan Baker
^ "Sunnies select Cairns". Cairns Post. 31 August 2001.
^ Connolly, Steve (13 December 2004). "Trailblazer sang Torres on to map". The Australian.
^ "Tributes for Mills Sister". The Age. 8 December 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
^ "Red Ochre Award". Australia Council for the Arts. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
^ "Frangipani Land Forever (2008) - The Screen Guide". Screen Australia. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
^ Frangipani land listing
^ Those beautiful TI girls listing

List of Torres Strait topics

Torres Strait Islands,
islets, and cays

Bellevue group	Aipus Cap Kamutnab Keatinge Mabuiag Pulu Subur Warakuikul Talab Widul
Bourke group	Aukane Aureed Kabbikane Layoak Mimi Roberts Yam
Duncan group	Kanig Maitak Meth
Inner group	Port Lihou Yeta
Adolphus Channel group	Albany Bush Eborac Ida Middle Brother
Talbot group	Aubussi Boigu Moimi
The Three Sisters group	Bet Poll Sue
Yorke group	Keats Marsden Rennel Smith
Ungrouped	Allison Anchor Arden Badu Barn Barney Bond Booby Bramble Browne Campbell Canoe Castle Coconut Crab Dalrymple Darnley Dauan Dayman Deliverance Dove Dugong Dumaralug East East Strait Entrance Farewell Flat Friday Gabba Getullai Goods Great Woody Green Halfway Hammond Hawkesbury High Horn Kaumag Kerr Lacey Little Adolphus Little Woody Lowry Mai Meddler Moa Morilug Mouinndo Mount Adolphus Mount Ernest Murangi Murray Nepean Nicklin North North Possession North West Obelisk Packe Passage Pearce Phipps Portlock Prince of Wales Quoin Red Red Wallis Roko Saddle Saibai Salter Sassie Spencer Stephens Suarji Thursday Tobin Travers Tree Trochus Tudu Tukupai Turnagain Turtle Head Turtle Turu Twin Underdown Wednesday West Whale Woody Wallis York Yorke Zagai

People, culture,
communities and
languages

Notable Torres Strait Islanders	Christine Anu Seaman Dan Aaron Fa'aoso Josh Hoffman Nathan Jawai Ellen Jose Robert Lui Eddie Mabo Rachael Maza Patty Mills Rita Mills Mills Sisters Danny Morseu Tanu Nona Albert Proud Wendell Sailor Sam Thaiday Brent Webb Jesse Williams
Culture	Indigenous music of Australia Mabo (film) Taba Naba
Communities	Bamaga Kaurareg Mabuiag Meriam (people) Seisia
Languages	Bine Eastern Trans-Fly Gizrra Kalaw Lagaw Ya Meriam Torres Strait Creole Torres Strait English Wipi

Governance and
legal matters

Governance	Shire of Torres Torres Strait Islander Flag Torres Strait Island Region Torres Strait Regional Authority
Legal cases and principles	Akiba v Commonwealth Mabo v Queensland No 1 No 2 Terra nullius