Deemed Unsuitable for Children: The Editing of Oodgeroo's Stradbroke Dreamtime

Abstract

In lieu of abstract, here is the first paragraph of the article: Oodgeroo of the Tribe of Noonuccal, Custodian of the Land Minjerriba, spent three decades of her life in the public sphere. In the 1960s, known as Kath Walker, she established and consolidated her reputation as a pan-Aboriginal activist and 'people's poet’. Her voice was received as representative of Aboriginal experience and concerns, as she lamented the lack of civil rights, impoverished living conditions, the loss and destruction of traditional cultures and lands. Strident political poems such as ‘Aboriginal Charter of Rights' and 'Oration' were first delivered at political gatherings and became catch- cries for the political struggle of organisations such as the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) and the National Tribal Council. However, for the majority of her public life Oodgeroo spurned this title as people's poet, preferring to be known as an 'Educator'.