Oodgeroo Noonuccal: a Well-Known Australian Aboriginal Rights Defender
Oodgeroo Noonuccal advocated on Aboriginal and Indigenous rights, she also wrote poems about Aboriginal and Indigenous culture, beliefs, and rights and was an educator who advocated continually for Aboriginal rights and freedoms around the 1960s. Oodgeroo was most known for the poems she wrote and she was the first Aboriginal to write a poem of verse. Oodgeroo published her poems during 1964-1990 and officially published 162 poems. Her poems were affiliated strongly with Aboriginal culture and beliefs and indirectly showed how Aboriginal and Indigenous people were treated as compared to white Australians and the racial discrimination they experienced during this time. She has received many awards for her poetry and activist efforts and actions. Oodgeroo was born in Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) in Queensland in 1920.
She was the second youngest to seven children. Oodgeroo’s mother, Lucy, was the daughter of an Aboriginal woman who was from inland Queensland and a father who had migrated from Scotland to Australia. Oodgeroo’s father, Edward, was part of the Noonuccal clan from Moreton Bay. Her mother, Lucy, was part of the Peewee clan. Oodgeroo became increasingly known as an Aboriginal activist and leader during the 1960s.
Around this time in the 1960’s, there were many Civil Rights protests, Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, the Civil Rights act of 1964 was put into place, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave everyone equal rights including African American and Indigenous Australians and US president John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated.
Oodgeroo was part of the FCAATSI, the Federal Council for the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders around 1962, and advocated strongly for the citizenship rights of Indigenous and Aboriginal Australians.
Oodgeroo voted “yes” for the 1967 referendum to go ahead. In this referendum, Australians voted for Aboriginal and Indigenous people to be included in the census. This census was crucial to Australian history because it meant that those who were of Aboriginal and Indigenous culture were no longer classified as “flora and fauna” and were officially counted as people. The “flora and fauna” act was discarded permanently and was finally acknowledged as being discriminatory and immoral to Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians. This referendum meant that Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians were able to achieve the same equal rights, freedoms, and opportunities as those who were non-Aboriginal and non-Indigenous. Oodgeroo Noonuccal was in favor of this referendum because it was put in place to abolish racism, mistreatment, and discrimination against Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians. This was important for Oodgeroo personally because her family were also Aboriginal Australians so she advocated strongly for the abolishment of discrimination and mistreatment against her culture.
There was a “celebration” in which the reenactment of Captain Cook's landing in Australia was taking place. While this re-enactment was going on, there were many multicultural protests by Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians occurring at the same time. This protest was at La Perouse, with Oodgeroo attending and marching with hundreds of fellow protestors who were boycotting the re-enactment. Oodgeroo participated in this protest because she believed this re-enactment of such a horrible time in history where so many Aboriginals were mistreated and degraded, to be completely immoral and wanted to openly show her distaste for it along with many others.
Oodgeroo, while she was advocating and campaigning for the “yes” vote for the 1967 referendum, she and Faith Bandler met with the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. The Prime Minister has offered Oodgeroo a drink to which she declined and said that it was illegal to offer an Aboriginal person alcohol and that he and his staff could be put in jail for this. Many have said that this encounter has caused Menzies to reconsider what he originally thought about Indigenous people.
In Oodgeroo’s poem, “All One Race” she stated, “Black tribe, yellow tribe, red, white or brown, From where the sun jumps up to where it goes down, Hens and pukka-sahibs, demoiselles and squaws, All one family, so why make wars?'. This statement refers to Aboriginal Australians being treated as if they were inferior to white Australians. This preconceived inferiority was the main reason for Indigenous Australians not receiving equal rights and opportunities and refers back to the 1967 referendum. In her poem “White Australia”, Oodgeroo reflects on the fact that all races should be treated equally and none should have any advantages over another. She states that racism and discrimination on the basis of one’s skin color is immoral and everyone should feel equal to each other. This reflects the discrimination and mistreatment Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians experience in comparison to their white counterparts based on their culture, beliefs, and outward appearance and links to her many protests for equal rights for Aboriginals like the Captain Cook reenactment protest.
When Oodgeroo voted “yes” to the 1967 referendum act, this connected briefly to the Civil Rights movement and also connected to the United Declarations of Human Rights (UDHR); article 1, article 3, article 5, and article 7.
Article 1- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. This connects with Oodgeroo because when she was advocating for the 1967 referendum she would believe everyone should be equal and she was trying to advocate for Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians to also be treated equally. This is the main reason why she voted yes for the 1967 referendum to proceed.
Article 3- We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety. This connects with Oodgeroo because she stood up for her own freedom and safety when the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, illegally offered her a drink to which she declined. She stood up for her own rights to protect her safety.
Article 5- No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This statement refers to Oodgeroo because she joined the FCAATSI to be an activist on behalf of all Indigenous people and openly advocated for Aboriginal rights and freedoms, like when she was protesting against the Captain Cook reenactment at La Perouse because this promoted the mistreatment and inequality of Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians.
Article 7- All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. This refers to Oodgeroo especially when she was voting in favor of the 1967 referendum to proceed which was promoting Indigenous and Aboriginals receiving equal rights and opportunities, as well as putting an end to the open discrimination towards them. It also refers to the many poems she has written in which she states that equality should be experienced among all races.
Oodgeroo had an impact during the 1960s because of her active protests and advocating for Aboriginal rights, as well as her poems which spoke to a wide variety of people. She was an Aboriginal Australian who had succeeded in what she wanted to achieve; spread the word about Aboriginal and Indigenous rights and freedoms and hope for there to be a change. The outcome of her actions was that her advocating for Aboriginal rights had actually convinced many people that they deserve equal rights and this had a flow-on effect during this time.
I believe that Oodgeroo was successful in her pursuit of voicing her opinion on Indigenous rights because she changed a lot of people's views about Indigenous Australians and how they should be treated. Oodgeroo participated in many protests, the Captain Cook reenactment protest, the 1967 referendum, citizenship rights of Aboriginals, her interaction with Prime Minister Robert Menzies and her beautifully written poems that show the courage and pain of Indigenous culture, while simultaneously standing up for Aboriginal rights and beliefs.
