Women of the Sun is an Australian historical drama television miniseries that was broadcast on SBS Television and later the Australian Broadcasting Company in 1981. The series, co-written by Sonia Borg and Hyllus Maris, was composed of four 60-minute episodes to portray the lives of four Aboriginal women in Australian society from the 1820s to the 1980s. It was the first series that dealt with such subject matter, and later received several awards including two Awgies and five Penguin Awards following its release. It also won the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Award and the Banff Grand Prix in 1983.

Plot

The first episode, titled "Alinta: The Flame", dealt with the first contact between tribal Aboriginal people and Europeans. Set in 1820s, the story begins when two English convicts are found washed up on the beach by the Nyari. They are nursed back to health by the tribe, providing them with food and shelter, despite warnings by the tribal elders. The tribe is eventually encountered by early Australian settlers searching for grazing land. Their culture and rituals are threatened by these newcomers, who begin to settle on their lands, and leads to the annihilation of the tribe. Alinta (Yangathu Wanambi) and her child are the only survivors and the episode ends with Alinta determined that her daughter "carry the torch for her culture and the future".