Ningali Cullen

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Ningali Cullen
Born1942
Ooldea, South Australia
Died10 May 2012
Canberra
NationalityAustralian
Other namesNgingali Cullen, Audrey Kinnear, Ningali Cobby
Known forAboriginal activist

Ningali Cullen (1942–2012) was an Aboriginal activist and co-chair of the National Sorry Day Committee.

Early life

Cullen was born at Ooldea, South Australia in 1942.[1] Along with her brother and one of her sisters, she was taken from her family at the age of 4.[2] Cullen and her brother were taken to the Koonibba Lutheran Mission Home near Ceduna, South Australia.[1]

She was educated at Concordia College and was their first female Aboriginal student.[1]

Nursing career

After finishing her schooling, Cullen trained as a nurse at the

Port Augusta, South Australia to work at the hospital there.[1] Cullen was horrified by the discrimination against Aboriginal people, particularly those living on the nearby missions.[1][2]

During this time Cullen married Lawrie Kinnear. The couple had three children.[2]

Career as an activist

Cullen reconnected with her mother May Cobby, a Yankunjatjara woman, for the first time since she had been taken, after discovering that Cobby was living near Port Augusta.[2] This emotional reunion was cut short by Cobby's disappearance in 1965 from Port Pirie.[2]

Cobby had been waiting at a roadhouse with her daughter Mabel, the only one of her four children not to be taken from her as a child.[2] Staff at the roadhouse called the police, who came to ask May and Mabel to leave the roadhouse.[3] Mabel was taken into custody by the police and May was left at the roadhouse, despite Mabel's protests.[3] Cullen, who had been at work, later arrived to find that May had vanished.[3] She demanded an inquest into May's disappearance, but no trace of her mother was found.[1]

Cullen later stated that her mother's disappearance pushed Cullen to become an activist for her people.[4] She worked to improve access to healthcare in Aboriginal communities and became a prominent member of the Port Augusta Aboriginal community.[1] She was involved in projects including the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program[5] and also worked in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.[3]

Cullen was elected to the Nulla Wanga Tjuta Regional Council, part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), in 1990.[1] Two years later she moved to Canberra to take up a job as Health Policy Officer for ATSIC, later moving to the Office of Indigenous Affairs.[1]

National Sorry Day

A million people have said sorry. At last, many non-Indigenous Australians understand what we have endured. Now we can move on to healing.

Ningali Cullen[6]

Cullen was a member of the National Stolen Generation Working Group established following the release of the Bringing Them Home report on 26 May 1997.[7] She was responsible for the Journey of Healing initiative launched on 26 May 1996,[2] and following Carol Kendall's resignation due to ill health was elected Co-Chair of the Committee.[7]

In 2000, over 250,000 people marched across the

Stolen Generation and their families. She also arranged interviews with staff from the institutions and foster carers.[2][7]

Later life

Ningali married her second husband, Derick Cullen, in 2003. She reconnected with her daughter Ali Cobby Eckermann, who had been adopted shortly after birth.[10]

Cullen died on 10 May 2012.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Cullen, Ngingali (1942 - 2012)". The Australian Women's Register. National Foundation for Australian Women. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bond, John (26 May 2012). "Champion of healing and Sorry Day". The Age. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Bond, John. "'Our people aren't victims any more'" (PDF). Newsbriefs June 2012. Australia/Pacific Centre for Initiatives of Change. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  4. ^ Levy, Wendy (25 May 1996). "Standing Tall and Feeling Proud". The Canberra Times., quoted in "Cullen, Ngingali (1942 - 2012)". The Australian Women's Register. National Foundation for Australian Women. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  5. ISBN 978-085575-665-9. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 4 June 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  6. ^ Quoted in Brodtmann, Gai. "STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS Cullen, Ms Ningali SPEECH" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "The History of NSDC". National Sorry Day Committee. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Sorry Day and the Stolen Generations". Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  9. ^ Bond, John. "The Struggle for Truth, Healing and Justice: some creative examples by John Bond". Balfour Project. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Mother's Day 2016: Until I met mum, I didn't know who I was". NITV. Retrieved 25 February 2024.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ningali_Cullen&oldid=1210171062"