Oodgeroo Noonuccal — the girl who fought for the rights of Indigenous Australians

Fierce Girls

ABC listen

Kids & Family, Stories For Kids

4.4 • 930 Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Kath Ruska's dad told her white people would never recognise Aboriginal culture, she hoped he was wrong. She became a famous poet, using her pen as a weapon to fight for Indigenous rights.

Her words took her all the way to Parliament House, where she demanded the Prime Minister do more to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

But she still had an English name, so she changed it to Aboriginal language -Oodgeroo, meaning paper bark, and Noonuccal, the name of her tribe.

Oodgeroo moved back to her island home — Minjerribah — and figured out the best way to make sure her culture was always remembered: she taught it to children, black and white.

Narrated by Gamilaroi and Dunghutti writer and podcast maker, Marlee Silva.

Extra narration by Peggy Webber.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a story of a girl who used her pen to fight for the
0:05.0	yes girl cow
0:09.2	this is a story of a girl who used her pen
0:11.7	to fight for the rights of indigenous Australians.
0:14.4	Ujurununuckle, read by Gamil Roy and Dungutty writer, podcast maker Marley Silver.
0:20.8	And if you're an Aboriginal or tourist state Islander person, we want to let you know that this
0:25.6	episode contains the name of someone who has died.
0:29.3	Ouch! Ouch!
0:35.0	! Kathleen rubbed her swollen hand.
0:38.0	It was the fifth time that day her teacher had whacked her
0:41.0	over the knuckles with a ruler.
0:43.0	We write with the right, the teacher said.
0:46.0	You know that, Kathleen Jean Ruska.
0:50.0	Kathleen couldn't help it.
0:52.0	Her brain was wired to right with the left. But in the olden days,
0:57.0	lefties weren't allowed. As soon as you reach for a pencil with the wrong hand? Whack! It made Kathleen feel like an
1:05.8	outcast. I'm a freak, she thought. A loner. It wasn't until she reached the water's edge on the way home that she felt like she truly belonged.
1:19.0	No one bothered her there. It was just the sea, the sand, the birds, the fish,
1:25.0	Min Jettiba, or, as white people called it,
1:30.4	North Stradbroke Island.
1:33.0	But Kathleen's mom and dad made her go to school.
1:36.0	Her mom was from the Pee Wee Clan,
	...

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