Oodgeroo Noonuccal: not your typical Aboriginal… By Emily Hill, November 2017 Oodgeroo Noonuccal; high school dropout; domestic servant; divorced; deceased; this is not all she is known for. Oodgeroo Noonuccal, formally known as Kathleen Jean Mary Rusker born on November 3rd 1920, is an Aboriginal of the Noonuccal Tribe. Oodgeroo devastatingly passed away from cancer on September 9th 1993, aged 72. Oodgeroo is from North Stradbroke Island and is one of seven. She is an Australian poet, political
Protest Poetry: Time is Running Out Poetry is written for a variety of reasons like entertainment and expressing emotions. Poets like Oodgeroo Noonuccal (formerly Kath Walker) use poetry to express their feelings and protest against things happening in the world. Noonuccal was an indigenous Australian woman born into the Noonuccal tribe. She wrote poetry thoroughly throughout the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, demonstrating her point of view on social problems that were occurring at the time and in
history. Secondly, we must believe in further reconciliation between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. What are your thoughts? I urge you to read poetry written by Aboriginal poet and wordsmith, Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Her authentic voice speaks to us all, not only expressing
The Municipal Gum by Oodgeroo Noonuccal portrays the miserable, hopeless and despondent living conditions of the Aboriginal people. It expresses the feelings of the Indigenous people who are deprived and displaced from their native culture and native land by the white people. The general theme and the ideas addressed in this poem includes raising awareness of the tremendous discrimination and prejudice by white Australians against the aboriginal people. The discrimination is developed strongly within
By exposing issues surrounding prejudice, individuals are challenged to alter their ideals, promoting change in societies. Both Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird and Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poem Son of Mine raise ideas of bigotry that possess the ability to inspire societies to become more inclusive. Through exploring the transformative capacity of innocence, injustice and hope, composers allow the audience an alternative insight into prejudice. Untainted innocence provides prejudiced individuals
Maya Angelou and Oodgeroo Noonuccal in their poems ‘Still I Rise’ and ‘We are going’ explore the scandalous nature of discrimination and expose the reasons for its need to be challenged. Where Angelou explores the nature of discrimination in the context of a defiant African American woman in her free verse poem, Noonuccal , in contrast, exposes the anguish of continued prejudice and the annihilation of her Indigenous community after European settlement. ‘Still I Rise’ commences with Angelou’s
Good Morning, Miss Bunyoung and Classmates. Poetry surrounds us in our everyday life. It can alter people's emotions, feelings and set their imagination free.‘Then and Now’ is a poem written by the poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal. The poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, known until 1998 as Kath Walker, is a very important figure in Queensland history. She was a leading poet, writer and activist for Aboriginal rights. Hence, why her poem is in relation to the loss of Aboriginal culture/lifestyle in society. Subject
suffered loss of culture during this time. Oodgeroo Noonuccal is an Indigenous poet who expressed this through her poems before her death in 1993. The poem “We Are Going” expresses life as an Indigenous Australian as they slowly began to lose their culture. Indigenous people in Australia experienced loss of Place, something that Oodgeroo Noonuccal expressed through her use of poet devices. The use of repetition in “We are” in the poem is used by Noonuccal to establish a connection between the Indigenous
all these things is Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Noonuccal is an indigenous Australian woman who wrote in the 60s into 90s. She portrayed indigenous people suffering under the oppression of the European settlers in Australia. One of Noonuccal’s poems, ‘Time is Running Out’, expressed a very powerful message against mining. In this poem, she urges the indigenous people to act, defend and fight back against the oppressive and greedy European miners before the earth is destroyed. Noonuccal fulfills this purpose
Lee and Oodgeroo Noonuccal both portray the effects of prejudice upon individuals and how they explore, learn and change from it. Harper lee thoroughly demonstrates this, through her characters, as they grow, develop and understand the world around them. Further, she uses individuals with innocence as an influence to promote change within society and Individuals that have the willingness to discover can encourage their own self growth to promote change in their communities. Oodgeroo Noonuccal implements
A Comparison of Civilization by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Beds Are Burning by Peter Garrett In the Australian culture, there have been many debates about the rightful ownership of Australian land and about whether the Aborigines have the right to retain the land taken from them. Further more, indigenous writers have expressed anger and protest towards the loss of their culture to white civilization. Peter Garrett and Oodgeroo Noonuccal are two artists who seek to raise the issues of the native
such as juxtaposition, irony, visual imagery and through exploring themes of technology, family, memory, survival and identity, showing him as a lost Indian boy to an adopted Australian and as a man on a mission to reconnect with his Indian roots. Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poem “We Are Going” is also highly successful in exploring the concept of identity, through poetry with the use of poetic techniques, language and themes like dispossession and identity as it explores the collective identity of Aboriginal
national wellbeing (Australia, n.d.). However, this advocacy for Indigenous rights and recognition was advanced be civil right activists in the 1950’s and 1960’s. One significant activist from this period and until her death in 1993 was Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Oodgeroo Noonuccal has significantly contributed to the civil rights of the Indigenous people in Australia due to her tireless campaigning to educate non-Indigenous Australians and enact political change that would not only recognize Indigenous Australian
The ideas of land and County are demonstrated through Eckermann’s poem, ‘Ngingali’, as well as through Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poem, ‘Community Rain Song’, both depicting an Aboriginal link to the land and Country. Another idea of land and Country is expressed through Martin Harrison’s short story, ‘Country and How to Get There’, concentrating on the outcomes of European settlement which included the issues involving the land and Country. Eckermann’s poem, ‘Ngingali’, conveys an Aboriginal link to the
the cultural background of the Indigenous people of Australia. This has been portrayed in the deep, protest plea for Aboriginal Human rights, the poem, ‘Aboriginal Charter of Rights’ by, Oodgeroo Noonuccal in 1962. Aboriginal people have been identified as the continuous civilization on Earth. Oodgeroo Noonuccal, an educated Aboriginal woman has penned a poem outlining what she sees as the plight of Aboriginals in white Australia. The concentrated use of words and message help us, as the audience
influences how you relate to the world and what you think is important. The statement Personal context shapes point of view is revealed by the texts, “This Land is Mine, This Land is Me”, by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody and “Then and Now”, by Oodgeroo Noonuccal. This is extrapolated through the language devices and the visual techniques these texts portray. Throughout the song ‘This Land is Mine, This Land is Me’, it indicates the two characters personal context. The song is about the Aboriginal and
Writer and political activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poetry represents and captures the growing reaction by a new generation of Indigenous Australians against the long-standing colonial mentality. Oodgeroo uses poetic and language techniques such as repetition and emotive language to portray these
Poetry is beautifully written text that can provide a wide view on a topic and helps to illustrate the beliefs and values of society; poetry is often a representation of Australian identity. Oodgeroo Noonuccal, the poet of Last of his Tribe and The Past has portrayed examples of Australian identity and a strong emotional portrayal of the Indigenous displacement and mistreatment in each of these poems. Clearly, these poems provide an insight into their adversity. Last of his Tribe provides a serious
about the Australian Indigenous people. This is because they are a part of Australia’s history and cultural background and we need to appreciate their uniqueness. This is illustrated though the poems ‘No More Boomerang’ and ‘Then and Now’, by Oodgeroo Noonuccal. It is also represented in the picture book ‘The Rabbits’, by Shawn Tan and John Marsden. These texts demonstrate how the Aboriginal people experienced a loss of culture, land and traditions due to the colonization of Australia. Throughout the
Australia who regarded themselves as the Noongar people. Through their differing responses we gather a strong understanding of the effect white settlement had on their lifestyles and thus how it permeated their culture. Similarly, authors like Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Bennelong provide The discriminating factor between the two groups is the way they view the whales. The life and soul of a whale is the most important aspect for Bobby Wabalanginy, the novel’s protagonist, however the monetary value a whale