Cathy Freeman was born in Mackay in Queensland in 1973. She is a very good runner and won a scholarship to boarding school where she was able to have professional coaching.
Freeman is the first Aboriginal sprinter to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games (1994). She also won a silver medal in the 1996 Olympic Games. She is very proud of her Aboriginal background and has carried the Australian and the Aboriginal flags around the track after winning a race. She has often appeared on television to encourage young people to live healthy lifestyles and to do their best.
She was made Young Australian of the Year in 1990 and Australian of the Year in 1998. She is the first person to receive both awards. In Atlanta, she was Australia’s only real gold medal hope, and to win she would have had to beat Perec, the 1992 gold medallist over 400m. Freeman ran the race of her life – making her the sixth fastest woman over the distance in history – but it was not enough for gold, she won the silver. However that silver medal made her the most successful Australian runner at Olympic level, male or female, since Debbie Flintoff-King at Seoul in 1988.
In 1997 she was also named Australian of the Year, becoming the first person to have been honoured with both the Young Australian and Australian of the Year awards
Oodgeroo of the tribe Noonuccal,
Custodian of the land Minjerribah (1920-1993) Born Kath Walker, an Aborigine from the Noonuccal tribe of Stradbroke Island, she was one of the first of the modern Aboriginal protest writers. She worked as a domestic servant in Brisbane, joined the army and during the 1960s became actively involved in the Aboriginal activist movement. Her work includes poetry, Aboriginal legends and political essays and speeches. Some of her work includes We are Going (1964), which was the first book ever to be published by an Aborigine, My People (1970) and Stradbroke Dreaming (1972).
NEVILLE BONNER
(1922 – 1999)
Neville Bonner was the first Aboriginal person to sit in Federal Parliament as a Senator for Queensland from 1971 to 1983.On his journey from poverty to parliament house he experienced unemployment and discrimination. As a politician he worked to improve conditions for Aborigines, and became a voice for his people.Neville Bonner was born in 1922. His mother was an Aborigine, but he never knew his father, an Englishman who went back to England before Neville was born.
“I was born on Ukerebagh Island, in the mouth of the Tweed River. Because there was nowhere else for my mother to go, in those days, people won’t know too much about it, but in those days, Aboriginal people had to be out of the towns before sunset. And they couldn’t get back into town again until sunrise the next day, my mother was not allowed to go to hospital to give birth to me, she gave birth to me in a little gunya under the palm tree, that still lives down there, on a government issued blanket. Those are the kind of things that we had to cope with when I was born and when I was a small child, right up into my teenage years and into my manhood.”
When Neville was about five, they left the island to live with his grandparents in a hollow his grandfather cut under some lantana bushes. They had old bags and blankets, but no furniture and few possessions.
Life was tough. When Neville was only seven he had to help his stepfather and grandfather earn money by clearing the bush.
“… my job was to crawl underneath the lantana bushes and with a little tomahawk, cut the lantana off at the root.”
When Neville’s mother died he and his brother Jimmy lived with their grandparents. His grandmother spoke beautiful English and insisted on Neville speaking properly.
“She had an enormous influence on me in my growing up years after mother died.”
She also insisted on Neville learning to read and write.
“We were never allowed to attend a normal state school…but my grandmother talked the head teacher into allowing me to go and I attended there from fourteen to fifteen years of age. I actually reached third grade in that short period of time and that’s the only formal education I’ve had.”
Neville loved school but when his grandmother died he was heart broken and packed his swag and set off to find work.
“For many years I was a bit of a loner. I was out on cattle stations, I became a head stockman. Suppose I’ve done every labouring job known to man, cane cutting, scrub felling, timber cutting.”
While working in north-west Queensland he met Mona Banfield. They married in 1943 and lived on an Aboriginal settlement called Palm Island.
Along with his wife and five sons, Neville lived on the island for 16 years. During this time he took an interest in changing the way his people lived.
When he left Palm Island he joined OPAL – One people of Australia League, which helped Aborigines with welfare, housing and education.
A major breakthrough came in 1967. A referendum changed the way Aborigines were treated.
“Well it was when we, the indigenous people, were first given the vote and we were allowed to be counted in the census.”
Neville decided it was time to enter politics, so he joined the Liberal Party.
“You’ve got to get into the system, work through the system and make the changes. If you say a law is a bad law, you don’t break it, you try to change the law.”
In August 1971 Neville Bonner was sworn in as Australia’s first Aboriginal senator.
“For the first time in the history of this country there was an aboriginal voice in the parliament and that gave me an enormous feeling of overwhelming responsibility. I made people aware, the lawmakers in this country, I made them aware of indigenous people. I think that was an achievement.”
For twelve years Senator Bonner represented his people, and helped to change the face of Aboriginal rights in Australia. Always a honest and gentle man, he never let anger dominate his personality.
Neville remarried in 1972. Heather Ryan had worked beside him for many years and is still his fiercest supporter.
Neville Bonner continued to speak out on issues which divide black and white Australians.
“We’ve got to come together, that’s what we want for Australia. A one people. We’re all Australians, regardless of your ethnic background, regardless of your political belief, regardless of your religious beliefs we are all Australians.”
In 1998, shortly before the Constitutional Convention Neville Bonner announced he was dying of lung cancer but vowed to continue working.
Neville Bonner died of lung cancer at Ipswich, Qld in February 1999. He was 76 when he died. He is survived by four of his five sons by his first marriage, his second wife Heather, and three stepchildren.
344
Другие работы по теме:
Arc De Triomph Essay Research Paper Jeremy
Arc De Triomph Essay, Research Paper Jeremy Crowe Arch de Triomphe The famous Arch de Triomphe was a monument of all the battles Napoleon won during his rein in France. The Arch was dedicated to Paris in 1836. The designer of the Arch was a man named named Jean Francois-Therese Chalgrin. The designer wanted it to be an impresive Arch so he made the arch 165 feet high and 145 feet long.
Caesar Essay Research Paper Julius Caesar was
Caesar Essay, Research Paper Julius Caesar was one of the most famous men of antiquity, who was dictator of Rome and “a man of letters”. Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 B.C. His family, the gens Julia was ancient and patrician, but at the time it was only beginning to reemerge. Caesar could not feel safe in Rome while Sulla was still alive.
Little Women By Louisa May Alcott 18321888
) Essay, Research Paper Louisa May Alcott’s most famous novel, Little Women is based on her own family life in Concord, Massachusetts. Like Jo, the book’s heroine, Louisa hungered to gain independence and to
Robinson Crusoe Essay Research Paper Daniel Defoes
Robinson Crusoe Essay, Research Paper Daniel Defoe?s most famous novel was published in 1719 with the full title, The Life and strange and surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. It is based, in fact, upon the experiences of Alexander Selkirk who had run away to sea in 1704 and requested to be left on an uninhabited island to be rescued five years later.
Goya Essay Research Paper Between the years
Goya Essay, Research Paper Between the years 1810 and 1814 he produced his famous series of etchings “The Disasters of War” and his two masterpieces “The Second of May, 1808″ and “The Third of May, 1808″. These paintings show an extraordinarily powerful and expressive use of colour. Goya concentrated exclusively on achieving a horrific effect, excluding everything that was irrelevant.
The Name Judith Essay Research Paper Is
The Name Judith Essay, Research Paper Is it important to know what is behind your name? Now in days, many names are given without knowing their meanings or where they come from. For example, I was given the name of Judith just because my parents heard it and liked it. It depends where and in which culture were they raised.
Dianne Day Essay Research Paper Dianne Day
Dianne Day Essay, Research Paper Dianne Day isn t as famous as Mary Higgins Clark but she had a childhood similar to her. When she was a baby in Mississippi her father died. Dianne went on to live with her grandparents and they also were not a well-financed family. When Dianne was seven she rejoined her mother was now remarried.
King James Essay Research Paper Chapter Two
King James Essay, Research Paper Chapter Two of William James’s Pragmatism called “What Pragmatism Means” begins with the famous metaphysical question: Does the man go round the squirrel or not? What he means by this is if a man walks around a tree in a full circle, and a squirrel is one of the tree branches, how come it never occurs to the man to say that he not only walked around the tree, but the squirrel as well?
Charles Darwin Essay Research Paper Charles DarwinOne
Charles Darwin Essay, Research Paper Charles Darwin One of the most famous names in science and in the economy today, is Charles Darwin. Darwin is best known for his contributions in science; his famous theory of evolution. He also contributed to the market and command economy with his belief, “survival of the fittest.”
American Flag Essay Research Paper Betsy Ross
American Flag Essay, Research Paper Betsy Ross lived from 1752 to 1836. She was born to Elizabeth Griscom in Philadelphia. In 1773 she ran away with John Ross to get married. But her
Marie Curie Essay Research Paper Marie Curie
Marie Curie Essay, Research Paper Marie Curie is the most famous woman of physics. She has been recognized for her work with Nobel Prize awards in both physics (1903) and chemistry (1911). She got a late start with her education obtaining her license in physics in 1893 and the corresponding degree in mathematics in 1894.
History Essay Essay Research Paper The coming
History Essay Essay, Research Paper The coming of Europeans to Australia has changed the aboriginal lifestyle in a very large way.The Europeans changed the aboriginal lifestyle by taking their land, forcing them into slavery, making the aborigines do all the jobs and taking half-cast children away from their parents.
The Prince And The Pauper Mark Twain
(1835-1910) Essay, Research Paper In 1835, when Halley’s comet streaked across the skies, Mark Twain was born in an obscure farm town. Sevebty five years later, when the comet reappeared, Twain died, a famous author.
The Mona Lisa Essay Research Paper Mona
The Mona Lisa Essay, Research Paper Mona Lisa The most famous painting in the world is undoubtedly Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, also known as “La Gioconda.”
Lucille Ball The World
’s Greatest Actress Essay, Research Paper Just mention Lucy, and everyone knows who you’re talking about. Lucille Ball is without a doubt the world’s greatest actress and the most famous redhead. She is remembered most for her famous TV character, Lucy Ricardo, but there was more to her than just the famous character she portrayed on I Love Lucy.
Miles Davis Essay Research Paper Miles Dewey
Miles Davis Essay, Research Paper Miles Dewey Davis was born on the 26th of May 1926, in Alton, Illinois. He became famous around the world for his incredible trumpet and flugelhorn playing, but he was
Chinese Kites Essay Research Paper The Kite
Chinese Kites Essay, Research Paper The Kite: China, Fifth/Fourth Century BC. Two kitemakers, Kungshu P’an who made kites shaped like birds which could fly for up to three days, and Mo Ti (who is said to have spent three years building a special kite) were famous in Chinese traditional stories from as early as the fifth century BC.
Paula Abdoul Essay Research Paper She started
Paula Abdoul Essay, Research Paper She started off being a sister.. of 5 big brothers! Who once formedthe jackson 5. A famous black pop group When she was still a veryyoung lady. She wanted to sing like her brothers..but her fatherwho was the directer of the jackson 5 thought hat girls didn,tbelong in the world of singing.
Romeo And Juliet By William Shakespeare 1564
– 1616) Essay, Research Paper Perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous play, Romeo and Juliet combines the contrasting elements of humor and sorrow, bawdiness and civil strife, and innocent love and ignorant hate to rouse
Basics On Keats Essay Research Paper John
Basics On Keats Essay, Research Paper -John Keats was born in 1795 and died in 1821 -John Keats was born in Moorfield, England -John Keats had two brothers, George and Tom, and a sister Fanny
Newspaper And Magazines Essay Research Paper Newspaper
Newspaper And Magazines Essay, Research Paper Newspaper and Magazines Nowadays, we cannot use the old attitude to read newspapers or magazines, especially when reading those reports which are about the lives of famous
Scrooge Essay Research Paper Ignorance
Scrooge Essay, Research Paper Ignorance & Want In the famous story A Christmas Carol, the Ghost said to Scrooge “”These are your children Ignorance and Want.” as he opened his robe to reveal two small unfortunate poverty stricken children. By this, the ghost meant that because of the cruelty of the world and irresponsibility, these innocent children must suffer.
Movie The Paper Chase Essay Research Paper
Movie: The Paper Chase The most famous quote in the movie, “The Paper Chase”, would have to be when Kingsfield says, “You’ll come in here with a scull full of mush and leave
Julius Caesar Essay Research Paper Julius Caesar10044
Julius Caesar Essay, Research Paper Julius Caesar 100-44 BC Born in 100 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar became one of the most famous and remembered Romans of all time. His parents were Gaius Caesar and Aurelia. Julius Caesar’s most famous
Aboriginal People Essay Research Paper Many of
Aboriginal People Essay, Research Paper Many of the Aboriginals have developed a way of life that they are satisfied with, but by these big organizations taking control over their communities they have no way of stopping them, without the support of other people in the community. Many aboriginals have lived on these reservations most of their lives, so much of their history has been from living there.
As You Like It By William Shakespeare
(1564 – 1616) Essay, Research Paper One of Shakespeare’s most famous works, As You Like It possesses many classic elements of comedy. The personal divisions at the outset (two Duke-brothers at war, two other brothers filled
Aboriginal People The Wrongs Done To Them
Essay, Research Paper What Wrongs Have White Administrators Done to Aborginal people In The Past? Have all wrong Been Righted? Even though Hardy wrote his book in 1968, he gives a good definition of
Aboriginals In Australia Essay Research Paper ABORIGINIESHoW
Aboriginals In Australia Essay, Research Paper ABORIGINIES HoW WERE THEY TREATED? Since the beginning, Australia was said to be a colony of settlement, not of conquest. The legal fiction of terra nullius- the land belonged to no one with no official negotiations, no treaties was how the land is said to be the basic injustice on which modern Australia was built.
Hamlet 12 Essay Research Paper Hamlet
Hamlet 12 Essay, Research Paper Hamlet’s “Tragic Flaw” Hamlet’s famous soliloquy (Hamlet, act III, scene 1) shows his depth and ability in thinking, and shows Shakespeare’s ability to manipulate language. Throughout the play, Hamlet stops to think before acting on anything. The more he thinks, the less he does.