Maureen Watson
| Maureen Watson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
9 November 1931 Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 4 January 2009 (aged 77) Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia |
| Nationality | Indigenous Australian |
| Title | Aunty Maureen Watson} |
Maureen Watson, also known as "Aunty Maureen" (9 November 1931 – 4 January 2009), was an avid supporter of Aboriginal rights in Australia, as well as a world renowned actor, vocalist, writer, musician and storyteller.
Watson was born on 9 November 1931, in Rockhampton, Queensland, her mother's Kungulu country and attended school in the Dawson Valley, where she involved herself heavily in sport. In 1944, at the age of 13, she was forced to leave her education after obtaining a serious injury falling off a horse. During adolescence, she worked alongside her father and developed skills in shooting kangaroos, trapping dingos, , droving and cattle, picking cotton, planting seed crops, driving tractors and bulldozing. Throughout her childhood, her family and visitors talked of political and social issues, which with her natural storytelling ability, assisted her in the rest of her life.
In 1952, at the age of 21, Watson married Harold Bayles, a Wakka Wakka man from Eidsvold, Queensland. Together they had five sons and, in 1970 together with her family, she moved to Brisbane. She joined the growing Aboriginal rights movement and commenced an arts degree at the University of Queensland. She was a founding member of a number of Indigenous organisations including Radio Redfern (now Koori Radio) and the Aboriginal people's gallery.
In 1982, along with her brother, Ross, Watson attended and was at the forefront of the Aboriginal protests at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. The protesters gathered and marched in Musgrave Park in South Brisbane, because they wanted the Aborigines Act removed, as Queensland was the last state to retain it. Hundreds of people were arrested, including Maureen who was arrested three times.
Watson produced an audiobook of numerous children's stories in 1994, called From Dreamtime to Spaceships. She created a children's picture book, Kaiyu's Waiting: An Aboriginal Story, illustrated by David Verral, and published in 1984.
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