Oodgeroo: Contents page

Oodgeroo (of the tribe Noonuccal)(1920–95) was born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, on Minjerribah (the Stradbroke Islands). She became a domestic servant at the age of 13, and served in the Australian Women’s Army Service from 1942 to 1944. In 1970, Oodgeroo Noonuccal (under the name Kathleen Walker) was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to the community. She returned the award in 1987 in protest against the forthcoming Australian Bicentenary celebrations in Brisbane in 1988. She was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Mary Gilmore Medal (1970), the Jessie Litchfield Award (1975), and the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Award. She also held an honourary doctorate of letters (Macquarie University) and was awarded the degree of Doctor of the University from Griffith University. Her first book of poetry was We Are Going (1964), the first book of published poetry by an aboriginal Australian.