Who was Oodgeroo Noonuccal?
Oodgeroo Noonuccal, also known as Kath Walker, was an Aboriginal Australian poet, activist and educator from North Stradbroke Island in Queensland. In 1964 she became the first Aboriginal person to publish a book of poetry.
Born in 1920 on Minjerribah, North Stradbroke Island, she was a Noonuccal woman of the Quandamooka people. She left school at 13 to work as a domestic servant and later served in the Australian Women's Army Service during the Second World War.
Her first collection, We Are Going, published in 1964, became one of the best-selling poetry books in Australia. Its poems spoke about Aboriginal rights, dispossession and hope.
Activism
She was a leading campaigner for the 1967 referendum, working with the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.
In 1987 she returned her MBE in protest against the Bicentenary celebrations planned for 1988, and took the name Oodgeroo Noonuccal.
She founded the Moongalba education centre on Stradbroke Island, where thousands of children and adults came to learn about Aboriginal culture and the environment. She died in 1993, and her poems are widely taught in Australian schools, keeping her message of justice and pride alive.
Did You Know?
Oodgeroo means paperbark tree in her language.