Kath Walker

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker)
Oodgeroo Noonuccal at Brisbane's King George Square, March 1975
Born	Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska 3 November 1920 Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), Queensland, Australia
Died	16 September 1993(1993-09-16) (aged 72)
Residence	Moongalba
Nationality	Aboriginal of the Noonuccal tribe in Australian
Other names	Kath Walker and Kathleen Ruska
Education	book keeping, typing, & shorthand
Occupation	Domestic Servant, AWAS Full Corporal, Writer, Teacher, Poet
Employer	Australian Women's Army Service, Noonuccal-Nughie Education Cultural Centre
Known for	poetry, acting, writing, Aboriginal rights activism
Political party	Communist Party of Australia Australian Labor Party Australian Democrats
Board member of	Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI)
Spouse(s)	Bruce Walker
Children	Denis Walker, Vivian Walker
Parent(s)	Ted and Lucy Ruska
Notes
Mary Gilmore Medal (1970) * Jessie Litchfield Award (1975) * International Acting Award * Fellowship of Australian Writers' Award * Member of the Order of the British Empire * Honorary Doctorate (Queensland University of Technology) * Honorary Doctorate (Macquarie University) * Doctorate (Griffith University)

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (/ˈʊdɡəruː ˈnuːnəkəl/ UUD-gə-roo NOO-nə-kəl; born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, formerly Kath Walker) (3 November 1920 – 16 September 1993) was an Australian poet, political activist, artist and educator. She was also a campaigner for Aboriginal rights. Oodgeroo was best known for her poetry, and was the first Aboriginal Australian to publish a book of verse.

During the 1960s Kath Walker emerged as a prominent political activist and writer. She was Queensland state secretary of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), and was involved in a number of other political organisations. She was a key figure in the campaign for the reform of the Australian constitution to allow Aboriginal people full citizenship, lobbying Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1965, and his successor Harold Holt in 1966. At one deputation in 1963, she taught Robert Menzies a lesson in the realities of Aboriginal life. After the Prime Minister offered the deputation an alcoholic drink, he was startled to learn from her that in Queensland he could be jailed for this.

She wrote many books, beginning with We Are Going (1964), the first book to be published by an Aboriginal woman. The title poem concludes:

The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter.
The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place.
The bora ring is gone.
The corroboree is gone.
And we are going.