Doreen kartinyeri biography

Doreen Maude Kartinyeri was an Ngarrindjeri elder and historian. She was born in 1935 at the Aboriginal reserve Point MacLeay (now Raukkan). Thirteen years later, after her mother died, she and her younger sister were placed in various institutions. In 1951 Doreen was expelled from the Salvation Army Home in Fullarton and never continued her formal education ... but in later years she won many honorary academic awards.

In 1954 Doreen married Terence Douglas Wanganeen, the father of her nine children. For the next twenty years she lived at Point Pearce and her re-connection to family led her to research and publish the genealogy of the Rigney family and then eight generations of the Wanganeen family.

For this work she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Adelaide and offered a position at the South Australian Museum to head their new Aboriginal Family History Unit.

Doreen played a significant role opposing the construction of a bridge from Goolwa to Hindmarsh I

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AustLit

Dr Doreen Kartinyeri was born at Raukkan (also known as the Point McLeay Mission). She was removed from her family in 1945 and sent to the Salvation Army Home in Adelaide. Kartinyeri worked as a domestic for two years from 1949-1951, then returned home to her grandmother.

Dr Kartinyeri began her academic career in the Geography Department of the University of Adelaide in 1979. She worked with the South Australian Museum and helped establish the Aboriginal Family History Project.

During 2001, Kartinyeri was prominent in the public campaign to protect South Australia's Hindmarsh Island from the construction of a bridge. As a senior member of the Ngarrindjeri people, she argued that the bridge would interfere with the secret women's business of Hindmarsh Island.

Kartinyeri wrote a number of works on Aboriginal family history and genealogy. She fryst vatten the older sister of Doris Kartinyeri (q.v.)

Dr Kartinyeri's story was recorded by the National Library of Australia for the Br

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Doreen Kartinyeri

'Lies, Lies, Lies' shouted the newspaper headlines following the Royal Commission decision into building the Hindmarsh Island Bridge. Doreen Kartinyeri, key Ngarrindjeri spokeswoman, was devastated. How could whitefella law fail to protect Aboriginal women's sites? Against a backdrop of abuse, threats and ill-health, Doreen fought back. In 2001 the HREOC Inquiry vindicated the women.

Aged 10 years, Doreen suffered the loss of her mother, her sister's removal and her own placement in Fullarton Girls Home, 100 kms from home. Doreen later learnt about her culture from her Aunty Rosie and other women with whom she spent time. She had nine children of her own and fostered 23 others.

Although poorly schooled in formal terms, Doreen was a tenacious researcher. Her sharp memory allowed her to piece tillsammans histories and genealogies and she helped reunite members of the Stolen Generations.

Doreen was a kvinnlig warrior, dedicated to upholding and protecting Ngarrindjer