Oodgeroo Noonuccal; Aborigine Activist and Published Poet

Oodgeroo Noonuccal, 72, the first aborigine to have a book of poems published. She used her writings to campaign for better treatment of Australia’s indigenous people. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1970 in recognition of her work. But she returned the honor to Queen Elizabeth II in protest in 1988 when Australia marked two centuries of European settlement. She changed her name from Kath Walker to her traditional tribal name in the 1980s. In Brisbane, Australia, on Thursday.