AustLit
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See full AustLit entry
Oodgeroo (meaning 'paperbark tree') of the Noonuccal people of Stradbroke Island was known as Kath Walker until she returned to her language name in 1988 as a sign of protest against Australia's Bicentenary celebrations and as a symbol of pride in an Aboriginal heritage.
Brought up on North Stradbroke Island east of Brisbane, Oodgeroo Noonuccal was educated at Dunwich State School until the age of thirteen and then became a domestic servant.
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Read an extensive collection of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's poetry online at the Austalian Poetry Library here.
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Short Film on Oodgeroo Noonuccal
"Don Featherstone's short film on Indigenous Australian poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Warning: this video contains images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."
During the video, a clip shows Oodgerro Noonuccal reading an excerpt of her poem "The Dispossessed". Read the poem here.
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Oodgeroo Noonuccal reading her poems
Excerpt from This is Your Life: Kath Walker (Lifetime Associates Pty Ltd, Australia 1980). Oodgeroo Noonuccal reads two of her poems, "Sounds Assail Me" and "Assimilation - No!". Read the poems here and here. -
Faith Bandler and Oodgeroo Noonuccal on 1967 referendum
Excerpt from This is Your Life: Kath Walker (Lifetime Associates Pty Ltd, Australia 1980). Watch Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Faith Bandler recount how they helped campaign for the 1967 Referendum. -
"In the fourth program in a series exploring memories of childhood, the poet and activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal recalls her early life growing up on her tribal country, Minjerribah, or Stradbroke Island, off the coast of southern Queensland."
The segment is available to download here on ABC's archives.
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Listen to Oodgeroo Noonuccal read her poem "Civilisation" in full here. Read along with the poem available here.
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Listen to Oodgeroo Noonuccal read her poem "We Are Going" in full here. Read along with the poem available here.
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Volume 16 No. 4 of the journal Australian Literary Studies comprises of a collection of tributes to Oodgeroo. Read the range of articles here.
Read William Hatherell's article "'Back to Nature': Oodgeroo's Return to Stradboke" here. Hatherell discusses Noonuccal's life and work at Moongalba, where she constructed the Noonuccal-Nughie Education and Cultural Centre.
An essay by Ellen van Neerven discussing the legacy of Oodgeroo Noonuccal can be found here.
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North Stradbroke Island begins to become Minjerribah. A new cultural centre marks North Stradbroke Island (Oodgeroo Noonuccal's childhood home) transition back to being Minjerribah, the island's Indigenous identity.
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