Singers, sisters, soldiers, seekers: Lea Firth and the Black Sistaz on being ‘the voice’ for West Papua

Not having connection to land means [singing is] the only way to keep our culture alive' reflects West Papuan-Australian singer and songwriter Lea Firth (ne Rumwaropen) as she considers what ignites her passion for music (see Figure 1). 1 Lea, 42 years old, is one of three Rumwaropen sisters who, until recently, performed together as the Black Sistaz trio-a band that has earned a place in Australian music history for women, Pacific artists and decolonisation activists alike.The sisters -Lea, Petra and Rosa-are the daughters of the late Agustinus (August) Rumwaropen, a member of the renowned West Papuan rock-reggae-fusion band, the Black Brothers, active from the late 1970s.The women formed the Black Sistaz band as a means of perpetuating their father's musical-political legacy-that is, to campaign for independence in West Papua, a Pacific territory that has been subject to a brutal Indonesian military occupation since the early 1960s.In 2022, Lea began to concentrate on developing a solo singing career, building on her work as a backing vocalist for various artists including her now husband, Gamilaraay singer, Mitch Tambo. 2 In this article, I trace Lea's journey as a refugee, singer, daughter, sister, wife, mother, and women's empowerment and decolonisation activist.I explore the responsibilities that have been placed upon her and those that she has chosen to take on that require her to live both an ordinary life as a caretaker of her family and an extraordinary one as a representative of the West Papuan independence cause in Australia and role model for women.And I examine how Lea, as a member of the Black Sistaz and as a solo artist, has used her voice to convey her experience of living as a West Papuan woman abroad, singing her way through everyday life in family, church and community settings, while at the same time singing a testimony to the battle for justice in her homeland.Importantly, I document a shift in her activist strategy and use of her voice resulting from the realisation that 'the political' was exacting too much of a personal cost and that there are multiple ways of employing 'voice' for justice.1 Grace Dlabik, 'The Black Sistaz: Freedom Fighting through Music', Be Collective Culture, 2019, becollectiveculture. com/entry/the-black