Who? Poet, Educator, Activist, Creative AKA KATH WALKER
Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska was born in November 1920. She was a descendant of the Noonuccal people of Minjerribah. [North Stradbroke Island]. Her totem was Kabool the carpet snake, who could not be eaten by his people.
Kath was strongly influenced by her parents. Mother Lucy was one of the ‘stolen generation’, who was not taught to read or write at the mission, gaining domestic skills instead. Her father, Ted Ruska, was the foreman of a gang of Aboriginal labourers employed by the Queensland Government. Their measley income was supplemented by using the traditional hunter/gatherer skills of the Noonuccal people.
Lucy was determined her children would read and write. Her father said to her ‘Just ‘cos you’re Aboriginal doesn’t mean you have to be as good as most white children – you have to be better.’
Kath attended Dunwich State School which she left at 13 to become a poorly paid live-in domestic servant. In 1941 she joined the Australian Women’s Army Service. [AWAS]. She was promoted to corporal, worked in switchboard operations and later as a pay clerk.
In 1942 Kath married Bruce Walker – a descendant of the Logan and Albert River Aboriginal people – though a dependence on alcohol led to domestic violence and the complete breakdown of that marriage.
To support herself and young child Kath became a domestic servant for the family of Sir Ralph and Lady Cilento who encouraged Kath to write and taught her to draw and paint.
In 1964 her poetry anthology, “We Are Going”, was the first book to be published by an Aboriginal woman. The title poem ends:
“The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter.
The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place.
The bora ring is gone The corroboree is gone And we are going.”
“The Dawn is at Hand ” was published in 1966 and the third collection “My People: A Kath Walker Collection,” was published in 1970.
In the 1960’s Oodgeroo fought for Aboriginal rights. In 1963 she met Sir Robert Menzies, the Australian Prime Minister. When he offered her a drink of wine she told him that if he had done that in Queensland he could have been put in gaol. It was not until 1967 that Aboriginal people had the right to vote.
In 1972 Oodgeroo returned to the birthplace of her people – the Noonuccal. She established an education and cultural centre at Moongalba [sitting down place] on Stradbroke Island. By 1987, 26,500 children had experienced sitting down and learning at Moongalba.
In 1988 she adopted a traditional name: Oodgeroo – paperbark tree – and Noonuccal – the name of her people.
Oodgeroo Noonuccal earned many awards:
• 1970 Mary Gilmore Medal
• 1975 Jessie Litchfield Award
• International Acting Award
• Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Award
• Doctor of the University from Griffith University.
In 1970, as Kath Walker, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to the community. In 1987 she returned it as a protest against the forthcoming bicentenary celebrations of Australia. She stated, “Next year, 1988, to me marks 200 years of rape and carnage, all these terrible things that the Aboriginal tribes of Australia have suffered without any recognition even of admitted guilt from the parliaments of England…. From the Aboriginal point of view, what is there to celebrate? … I can no longer with a clear conscience accept the English honour of the MBE and will be returning to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England.“
Oodgeroo Noonuccal died in 1993 at the age of 72.
Note:
This is very much an abridged version of a life and I recommend reading:
#A-ZChallenge 2024
Australian Trivia
Our Indiginous people feel much the way she does. Sad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is sad, Susanne, and not much we can do other than spread the story….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting. What a life!
LikeLiked by 1 person
And that’s an abridged version!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thinking back to 1988 we have come a long way in recognising the damage caused to indigenous people over the last 200 plus years but looking at the results of our last referendum it seems many Australians want to put it in the too hard basket and forget about it. Thanks for the recommendation. It looks like interesting reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have read it. It is a little shocking, though we should not be surprised….
LikeLike
A great Australian. I used to share her poetry with my students.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think we need to spend more time nurturing a love of poetry and sharing stories, as well as promoting the successes of our past and our future.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A woman of conviction! I’m going to have to see if I can find some of her poems online (because I know that the library won’t have any)!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You go girl!
LikeLike
Nothing trivial about that woman. More power to her decendents.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She was certainly a fine role model for her descendants and the indigenous as a whole.
LikeLike
I too will have to look up some of her poems…
LikeLiked by 1 person
This Challenge certainly provides the opportunity to learn new things about all manner of topics. Just wish I could retain it these days:)
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing this (their stories) with us, and for the book recommendation! I am adding it to my list. I enjoy reading stories by and about Indigenous peoples.
LikeLike
I like reading about trailblazing women, and this was one hellova trailblazer. Thanks for dropping by:)
LikeLike