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Lowitja: The Authorised Biography of Lowitja O'Donoghue
'I am sometimes identified as one of the "success stories" of the policies of removal of Aboriginal children. But for much of my childhood I was deeply unhappy. I feel I had been deprived of love and the ability to love in return. Like Lily, my mother, I felt totally powerless. And I think this is where the seeds of my commitment to human rights and social justice were sown.' Lowitja O'Donoghue
Lowitja O'Donoghue is a truly great Australian. She is a former Australian of the Year and was the inaugural chair ATSIC. She has represented Australia's Indigenous people at UN forums in Geneva and New York and had Australia become voted to become a republic she would have been a contender to become Australia's first president. This long-awaited authorized biography of arguably the most recognized Indigenous woman in Australia is compellingly written by journalist Stuart Rintoul with Lowitja's full cooperation.
In 2001 a bitter controversy arose over whether Lowitja had been 'stolen' as a child. There has never been any doubt that she had been handed over to missionaries at the United Aborigines Mission in Oodnadatta and was thereafter completely cut off from her mother and her culture, but the circumstances of her arrival at the mission were not precisely known. Stuart Rintoul, who was then a journalist at The Australian, accompanied Lowitja back to Central Australia to search for answers. This biography completes the journey into Lowitja's life and the challenging history of her times.
Lowitja O'Donoghue is a truly great Australian. She is a former Australian of the Year and was the inaugural chair ATSIC. She has represented Australia's Indigenous people at UN forums in Geneva and New York and had Australia become voted to become a republic she would have been a contender to become Australia's first president. This long-awaited authorized biography of arguably the most recognized Indigenous woman in Australia is compellingly written by journalist Stuart Rintoul with Lowitja's full cooperation.
In 2001 a bitter controversy arose over whether Lowitja had been 'stolen' as a child. There has never been any doubt that she had been handed over to missionaries at the United Aborigines Mission in Oodnadatta and was thereafter completely cut off from her mother and her culture, but the circumstances of her arrival at the mission were not precisely known. Stuart Rintoul, who was then a journalist at The Australian, accompanied Lowitja back to Central Australia to search for answers. This biography completes the journey into Lowitja's life and the challenging history of her times.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 7, 2022
NOVEMBER
by Stuart Rintoul (no photo)
Finish date: 07 November 2022
Genre: biography
Rating: A
Review: Lowitja (ISBN: 9781761065583)
Good news: This book is a complete "blind date" for me. I know nothing about Ms Lowitja O'Donoghue (1932)..let's see where this leads. Lowitja is an Aboriginal woman of the 'stolen generation' who has risen from a domestic servant to become he greatest Aboriginal leader of the modern era.
Bad news: The book is arranged in the order of time: a chronological list of events. There will probably be sections with Australian politics blended into Lowitja's narrative. Sometimes a few names resonate with me b/c of having read other Australian books ...but don't give up on this book. Lowitja's story needs to be read...it is inspirational and we need to learn about her ground-breaking work.
Good news: A few names pop up and I say: I know him! Alfred Deakin (The Enigmatic Mr. Deakin) Bill Stanner (Telling Tennant's Story). But I discovered Don Dunstan....PM of South Australia in the 1970s who tirelessly fought for reforms with respect to Indigenous Australians. Is there a biography about him?
Personal Lowitja is arguably Australia's most recognised Indigenous woman. 10 years ago I knew nothing about the Aboriginals. I've read a few books but this one lingers...the pain, suffering experienced by the "stolen generation" (Lowitja was taken from her mother when she was just 2 yrs old.) is horrific to read. Lowitja's life is memorable b/c of her activism for Indigenous rights...but she has lived years with a feeling of great loss.
by Stuart Rintoul (no photo)Finish date: 07 November 2022
Genre: biography
Rating: A
Review: Lowitja (ISBN: 9781761065583)
Good news: This book is a complete "blind date" for me. I know nothing about Ms Lowitja O'Donoghue (1932)..let's see where this leads. Lowitja is an Aboriginal woman of the 'stolen generation' who has risen from a domestic servant to become he greatest Aboriginal leader of the modern era.
Bad news: The book is arranged in the order of time: a chronological list of events. There will probably be sections with Australian politics blended into Lowitja's narrative. Sometimes a few names resonate with me b/c of having read other Australian books ...but don't give up on this book. Lowitja's story needs to be read...it is inspirational and we need to learn about her ground-breaking work.
Good news: A few names pop up and I say: I know him! Alfred Deakin (The Enigmatic Mr. Deakin) Bill Stanner (Telling Tennant's Story). But I discovered Don Dunstan....PM of South Australia in the 1970s who tirelessly fought for reforms with respect to Indigenous Australians. Is there a biography about him?
Personal Lowitja is arguably Australia's most recognised Indigenous woman. 10 years ago I knew nothing about the Aboriginals. I've read a few books but this one lingers...the pain, suffering experienced by the "stolen generation" (Lowitja was taken from her mother when she was just 2 yrs old.) is horrific to read. Lowitja's life is memorable b/c of her activism for Indigenous rights...but she has lived years with a feeling of great loss.
November 14, 2020
‘I’ll show you.’
In September 1934, two-year-old Lowitja O’Donoghue was taken by her white father Tom O’Donoghue from her ‘full-blood’ Pitjantjatjara mother, Lily, and deposited in the Colebrook ‘half-caste’ mission. In 1945, Lily travelled hundreds of kilometres from Oodnadatta to Port Augusta where she thought that she might find her five removed children. They were not there.
The Colebrook home moved, over time, from central Australia to the outskirts of Adelaide. Each move took the children further away from their communities. Family ties were destroyed as the mission set out to turn ‘savages’ into Christians. Lowitja (then called Lois) was told, as she left the mission to take up a position as a domestic servant on a sheep station, that she soon be pregnant and amount to nothing. Well, she certainly proved that statement be wrong!
In this thoughtful biography, Mr Rintoul takes us through Ms O’Donoghue’s life. Despite initial opposition, Ms O’Donoghue trained as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and in 1959 she became South Australia’s first Aboriginal nursing sister. She then spent some time in India but returned to Australia and became involved in Aboriginal politics leading up to the 1967 referendum. She joined the public service and rose through the ranks. In 1989, she was chosen to the Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. And in that role, she was one of the key players in the negotiations that shaped the Keating government’s native title legislation after the High Court’s Mabo decision in 1992.
What comes across in this moving account of a life well lived, is Ms Donoghue’s commitment to Aboriginal people. An articulate, compassionate woman who faced opposition from those who wanted more radical change more quickly as well as those who resisted any change at all. A woman who knew the history of her people, who had directly experienced dispossession. A woman who, when she met her mother Lily, had no shared language.
And then, in 2001, there was a controversy about whether Ms O’Donoghue was a ‘stolen child’. I mention this distressing controversy only because it was a truly despicable example of a journalistic ‘beat-up’.
In this biography, Mr Rintoul traces the story of a remarkable woman, a great Australian and an inspirational role model.
But, as Ms O’Donoghue says:
'I am sometimes identified as one of the "success stories" of the policies of removal of Aboriginal children. But for much of my childhood I was deeply unhappy. I feel I had been deprived of love and the ability to love in return. Like Lily, my mother, I felt totally powerless. And I think this is where the seeds of my commitment to human rights and social justice were sown.'
Strongly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In September 1934, two-year-old Lowitja O’Donoghue was taken by her white father Tom O’Donoghue from her ‘full-blood’ Pitjantjatjara mother, Lily, and deposited in the Colebrook ‘half-caste’ mission. In 1945, Lily travelled hundreds of kilometres from Oodnadatta to Port Augusta where she thought that she might find her five removed children. They were not there.
The Colebrook home moved, over time, from central Australia to the outskirts of Adelaide. Each move took the children further away from their communities. Family ties were destroyed as the mission set out to turn ‘savages’ into Christians. Lowitja (then called Lois) was told, as she left the mission to take up a position as a domestic servant on a sheep station, that she soon be pregnant and amount to nothing. Well, she certainly proved that statement be wrong!
In this thoughtful biography, Mr Rintoul takes us through Ms O’Donoghue’s life. Despite initial opposition, Ms O’Donoghue trained as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and in 1959 she became South Australia’s first Aboriginal nursing sister. She then spent some time in India but returned to Australia and became involved in Aboriginal politics leading up to the 1967 referendum. She joined the public service and rose through the ranks. In 1989, she was chosen to the Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. And in that role, she was one of the key players in the negotiations that shaped the Keating government’s native title legislation after the High Court’s Mabo decision in 1992.
What comes across in this moving account of a life well lived, is Ms Donoghue’s commitment to Aboriginal people. An articulate, compassionate woman who faced opposition from those who wanted more radical change more quickly as well as those who resisted any change at all. A woman who knew the history of her people, who had directly experienced dispossession. A woman who, when she met her mother Lily, had no shared language.
And then, in 2001, there was a controversy about whether Ms O’Donoghue was a ‘stolen child’. I mention this distressing controversy only because it was a truly despicable example of a journalistic ‘beat-up’.
In this biography, Mr Rintoul traces the story of a remarkable woman, a great Australian and an inspirational role model.
But, as Ms O’Donoghue says:
'I am sometimes identified as one of the "success stories" of the policies of removal of Aboriginal children. But for much of my childhood I was deeply unhappy. I feel I had been deprived of love and the ability to love in return. Like Lily, my mother, I felt totally powerless. And I think this is where the seeds of my commitment to human rights and social justice were sown.'
Strongly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
April 7, 2021
Lowitja Donoghue was a remarkable and inspiring Indigenous leader and I was really looking forward to reading about her life and perspectives when I opened this book. Unfortunately this biography did not deliver much more information about her than what could be gleaned by reading a few short journal articles. While the book started well, and it did cover some of the key elements and early influences in her life, it suffered from trying to cram into the timeline a summary of modern indigenous issues and politics. As the book progressed, it began to rely more on extracts from speeches and summaries of significant public and political events and gave very little information or insight into the woman or her extensive career. While much of the content was interesting, and the treatise on indigenous issues was well done, it felt like Lowitja was more of a footnote instead of the subject of the book.
December 25, 2020
Reading journalist Stuart Rintoul's detailed biography of Lowitja (Lois) O'Donoghue was a journey through the life of this highly respected Aboriginal leader as much as it was a meticulously recounted history of Aboriginal affairs in modern Australia: from the years of the "Stolen Generation" through to the negotiations for recognition, compensation, and reconciliation between government and Aboriginal organisations. It presented a stark portrait of the division between Australia's populations, black and white, and of the tireless efforts of those who worked to bridge the gaps as well as those who vigorously opposed any recognition of Australia's racist past as an attempted genocide.
Despite, or perhaps because of her "removal" from her Aboriginal mother and abandonment by her white father as a two-year old, O'Donoghue eventually dedicated her life to a "commitment to human rights and social justice", pledging from her initial efforts to be accepted for training as a practitioner nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital to be the "best" she could and to break through the discrimination that had followed her from her days at the Colebrook Home for Half-Caste Children. She admitted that her childhood had left her "unloved" and ignorant of how to love others, a sadness that permeated her entire life, despite the tributes and recognition that she received.
Rintoul's book is such an important addition to our understanding of the workings of the Aboriginal agencies, of the disagreements between the leaders themselves, and of the dedication of black and white politicians to push the agendas that would contribute to better lives for all Australians. Perhaps the most startling revelations were the words and actions of former Prime Minister John Howard as he opposed any acknowledgement of Australia's past injustices and, moreso, what he saw as a skewed attempt to "overcompensate" Aboriginal claims for compensation in areas of health, education, and land rights. Although I was aware of his overall opposition to any apology by the government, Rintoul's detailed presentation of the mounting fury of his refusal to acknowledge our past was more repugnant when chronologically detailed as it was.
I learned so much from reading this biography. One cannot overestimate the contribution O'Donoghue made to her people and to Australia, as a whole, in each of her appointments within the public service and governmental landscape, even taking the struggle for recognition of Indigenous Australians to highly respected international forums.
Despite, or perhaps because of her "removal" from her Aboriginal mother and abandonment by her white father as a two-year old, O'Donoghue eventually dedicated her life to a "commitment to human rights and social justice", pledging from her initial efforts to be accepted for training as a practitioner nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital to be the "best" she could and to break through the discrimination that had followed her from her days at the Colebrook Home for Half-Caste Children. She admitted that her childhood had left her "unloved" and ignorant of how to love others, a sadness that permeated her entire life, despite the tributes and recognition that she received.
Rintoul's book is such an important addition to our understanding of the workings of the Aboriginal agencies, of the disagreements between the leaders themselves, and of the dedication of black and white politicians to push the agendas that would contribute to better lives for all Australians. Perhaps the most startling revelations were the words and actions of former Prime Minister John Howard as he opposed any acknowledgement of Australia's past injustices and, moreso, what he saw as a skewed attempt to "overcompensate" Aboriginal claims for compensation in areas of health, education, and land rights. Although I was aware of his overall opposition to any apology by the government, Rintoul's detailed presentation of the mounting fury of his refusal to acknowledge our past was more repugnant when chronologically detailed as it was.
I learned so much from reading this biography. One cannot overestimate the contribution O'Donoghue made to her people and to Australia, as a whole, in each of her appointments within the public service and governmental landscape, even taking the struggle for recognition of Indigenous Australians to highly respected international forums.
July 4, 2022
"Lowitja: The Authorised Biography of Lowitja O'Donoghue"
by Stuart Rintoul
I loved learning about the incredible woman that is Lowitja (Lois) O'Donoghue. I have only recently heard about the Lost Generation and through this book, I was able to have an up close and personal lesson about what it was like for "half-caste" children during that time. Lowitja O'Donaghue was the product of an Aboriginal mother and an Irish father who gave Lowitja and her sister to an institution when Lowitja was only two years old. He went off to marry a white woman when she was the age of ten. When her father passed away, his records stated that he had no children, even though he fathered several.
Despite the low expectations of her, she proved others who said she would not amount to anything wrong. She was determined to become and nurse, in which she succeeded, and traveled to India to provide her services. In India, she learned that there were others who were dispossessed. As an adult, she decided to represent and stand up for Aboriginal people, even though it was a culture she had to learn about in her older years. She was voted as Australian of the Year, and very much deserved it.
I found the book a very long and well-researched book; it was the woman behind the book that is the most intriguing.
by Stuart Rintoul
I loved learning about the incredible woman that is Lowitja (Lois) O'Donoghue. I have only recently heard about the Lost Generation and through this book, I was able to have an up close and personal lesson about what it was like for "half-caste" children during that time. Lowitja O'Donaghue was the product of an Aboriginal mother and an Irish father who gave Lowitja and her sister to an institution when Lowitja was only two years old. He went off to marry a white woman when she was the age of ten. When her father passed away, his records stated that he had no children, even though he fathered several.
Despite the low expectations of her, she proved others who said she would not amount to anything wrong. She was determined to become and nurse, in which she succeeded, and traveled to India to provide her services. In India, she learned that there were others who were dispossessed. As an adult, she decided to represent and stand up for Aboriginal people, even though it was a culture she had to learn about in her older years. She was voted as Australian of the Year, and very much deserved it.
I found the book a very long and well-researched book; it was the woman behind the book that is the most intriguing.
June 9, 2021
5 star person
3.5 star book
3.5 star book
March 15, 2022
The greatest story every Australian has to read. I didn't know how much I needed to read this until I reached the end.
September 17, 2024
A story filled with the amazing facts of Lowitja’s life - from her beginnings being taken from her mother and placed in a home until her times heading ATSIC and talking to Prime Ministers and the United Nations. But I thought we didn’t really get to know her- it was just a bit flat.
September 22, 2020
It was Bismarck who said that 'politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best'. Well, the two women I most admire in Australian politics are exponents of that art: Penny Wong, who, as I read in Margaret Simons' recent biography Penny Wong, Passion and Principle, says that you can't achieve change unless you're 'in the room', even if that means that sometimes you have to settle for less; and Lowitja O'Donoghue, whose steely determination to represent Indigenous people changed Australia for the better, even though there is still much more to be done.
Stuart Rintoul's biography traces the story of this remarkable woman's life, tracked alongside significant events in Australia's Black History, rendering the biography also a refresher course for those who lived through these events and an education for younger readers who did not. The book begins in 1979 with the desert burial of Lowitja's mother Lily, who was Anangu, a Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara woman. Lowitja barely knew her, because in 1934 at the age of two, she and her sisters and brother were taken to a mission at Oodnadatta by her white father Tom O'Donoghue, who subsequently left the area and married a white woman. Rintoul spends 29 pages on this man, but fails to shed light on what kind of father could do such a thing. Ultimately, he seems wholly irrelevant. Lowitja has no memory of him at all.
So Lowitja grew up separated from her family, her culture and her language, and when she was finally reunited with her mother thirty years later, they could not communicate.
By the time they met, in an awkward reunion where the gulf was wide, Lowitja had become a fully qualified and respected nurse and an activist. At sixteen, she had left the loveless Colebrook Home, not allowed to continue her education but dispatched instead to domestic service as a nanny to the Swincer family. However, it was when she was attending church that there was a life-changing moment:
It wasn't that simple of course, and there were hurdles to overcome. When she went to withdraw her wages held in trust at the United Aborigines Mission office, where she had £40 to buy new black shoes and stockings, she was told she couldn't have it. She had to wait until she was 21, they said, and in the meantime a preacher would escort her to the shops to buy what she needed. At sixteen she stood on her dignity and refused to submit to that.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/09/22/l...
Stuart Rintoul's biography traces the story of this remarkable woman's life, tracked alongside significant events in Australia's Black History, rendering the biography also a refresher course for those who lived through these events and an education for younger readers who did not. The book begins in 1979 with the desert burial of Lowitja's mother Lily, who was Anangu, a Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara woman. Lowitja barely knew her, because in 1934 at the age of two, she and her sisters and brother were taken to a mission at Oodnadatta by her white father Tom O'Donoghue, who subsequently left the area and married a white woman. Rintoul spends 29 pages on this man, but fails to shed light on what kind of father could do such a thing. Ultimately, he seems wholly irrelevant. Lowitja has no memory of him at all.
So Lowitja grew up separated from her family, her culture and her language, and when she was finally reunited with her mother thirty years later, they could not communicate.
They stood mute in front of each other, not able to speak the same language, Lowitja's mind full of questions that would never be asked because she could see the pain sweep across her mother's face, and decided there and then to cause her no more suffering. (p.4)
By the time they met, in an awkward reunion where the gulf was wide, Lowitja had become a fully qualified and respected nurse and an activist. At sixteen, she had left the loveless Colebrook Home, not allowed to continue her education but dispatched instead to domestic service as a nanny to the Swincer family. However, it was when she was attending church that there was a life-changing moment:
Lowitja's potential became a topic of conversation between Joyce Swincer, a nurse before she married, and Alice Tuck, who says to Lowitja one day after church, 'You want to be a nurse, I hear.'
'Yes, I do,' Lowitja replies.
'You can start now,' Tuck says, and changes the course of her life.' (p.85)
It wasn't that simple of course, and there were hurdles to overcome. When she went to withdraw her wages held in trust at the United Aborigines Mission office, where she had £40 to buy new black shoes and stockings, she was told she couldn't have it. She had to wait until she was 21, they said, and in the meantime a preacher would escort her to the shops to buy what she needed. At sixteen she stood on her dignity and refused to submit to that.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/09/22/l...
December 29, 2020
I highly recommend this biography for anyone wanting to be inspired by the life of an exceptional woman - against all odds Lowitja O’Donoghue has spent her life working for justice for Indigenous Australians. She has done so with grace and optimism and is respected by those on all side of the political spectrum. I learnt a lot about our history while reading this book and hope that as a nation we can start moving towards acknowledging the horrors of colonialism and do something about the ongoing injustices suffered by Aboriginal Australians.
November 9, 2021
Before reading Stuart Rintoul's excellent authorised biography of Lowitja O'Donoghue, I knew that she was a leading figure in the Australian Aboriginal Community but did not understand that her life's work would see her recognised as a staunch supporter of and passionate advocate for the Aboriginal Reconciliation movement.
The biography illuminates Lowitja's life from her earliest bleak days in care in The Colebrook Children's Home in Quorn South Australia following her abandonment by her Irish Father. Lowitja's life continued on its expected path of carer for other abandoned or stolen Aboriginal children and servant before overcoming low expectations and discrimination to train as a nurse.
With her heritage and training to guide her, Lowitja worked as a nurse and welfare officer for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and over the years rose to the upper echelons of the Public Service
concerned with Aboriginal affairs. With her appointment to organisations such as the National Aboriginal Conference and later still as the leader and spokesperson for Aboriginal people she worked with a range of groups and individuals to demand land rights, self determination, and reconciliation for her people. In 1990 Lowitja received a 'poisoned chalice' when she was appointed as the Chairwoman of ATSIC (the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) and in 1992 became the first Aboriginal person to stand at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly.
When you read the biography you will learn more about Lowitja's life and will not fail to be impressed, as I was, with her dedication to the cause of equality and advancement of First Nations peoples and her magnificent achievements in this sometimes contentious sphere.
Recommended
The biography illuminates Lowitja's life from her earliest bleak days in care in The Colebrook Children's Home in Quorn South Australia following her abandonment by her Irish Father. Lowitja's life continued on its expected path of carer for other abandoned or stolen Aboriginal children and servant before overcoming low expectations and discrimination to train as a nurse.
With her heritage and training to guide her, Lowitja worked as a nurse and welfare officer for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and over the years rose to the upper echelons of the Public Service
concerned with Aboriginal affairs. With her appointment to organisations such as the National Aboriginal Conference and later still as the leader and spokesperson for Aboriginal people she worked with a range of groups and individuals to demand land rights, self determination, and reconciliation for her people. In 1990 Lowitja received a 'poisoned chalice' when she was appointed as the Chairwoman of ATSIC (the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) and in 1992 became the first Aboriginal person to stand at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly.
When you read the biography you will learn more about Lowitja's life and will not fail to be impressed, as I was, with her dedication to the cause of equality and advancement of First Nations peoples and her magnificent achievements in this sometimes contentious sphere.
Recommended
January 2, 2021
Although I knew much of the story of the stolen generations and attempts to improve the situation of Aboriginal people in Australia, I knew little of Lowitja’s personal story. This book provides a comprehensive overview of attempts to improve Aboriginal people’s lives, especially through political and legislative changes. ATSIC, MABO, Native Title Act, the apology to the Stolen Generations are all covered in great detail, sometimes too much detail.
Lowitja's story is woven through all these events but sometimes her own voice is lost in the legislative and political detail. Her personal story is sad but inspiring and her commitment to Aboriginal people unwavering. She faced opposition from those who wanted more radical change as well as those who resisted any change at all.
Despite reading over 300 pages I still wonder how that sad little girl, removed from her mother aged 2 to be raised by missionaries, became such a figurehead in Australian politics. Perhaps the reason was her willingness to hear other points of view and her dogged persistence in complex negotiations.
Lowitja's story is woven through all these events but sometimes her own voice is lost in the legislative and political detail. Her personal story is sad but inspiring and her commitment to Aboriginal people unwavering. She faced opposition from those who wanted more radical change as well as those who resisted any change at all.
Despite reading over 300 pages I still wonder how that sad little girl, removed from her mother aged 2 to be raised by missionaries, became such a figurehead in Australian politics. Perhaps the reason was her willingness to hear other points of view and her dogged persistence in complex negotiations.
April 16, 2024
Finished this book as part of my biography reading circle. Impeccably researched and covering Lowitja’s life up until the apology given in parliament by Kevin Rudd. Such an amazing woman. Taken from her mother and given by her father to a Christian orphanage she would never stop looking for her mother. Part of the stolen generation her strength and courage permeate every step of her life. Told she could be a nurse, told she would amount to nothing she consistently proved them wrong. Reminded of RBG and yet she persisted ….. our debt to Lowitja is significant. She is characterised as the negotiator, the one who fought from inside. Her achievements in the public service were many and her advice to those in power was properly valued ( except for John Howard). As she says to her excellent biographer StuartRintoul when asked why she lived the life she had her answer that I did it for my people answers all.
January 1, 2021
At the age of two, Lowitja born to a white father and aboriginal mother is taken to a missionary with two of her siblings and placed in care. Despite racial discrimination and prejudice Lowitja trains as a nurse prior to becoming a powerful advocate for aboriginal people and their rights.
This felt like two books to me. First there was Lowitja's voice and narrative which is what I wanted to hear. Her story is compelling, sad and inspiring. But her voice is lost in all the legislative detail and politics occurring at the time. I wanted a human story not a discourse on legislative bodies. Tried skim reading but finally gave up p.200.
This felt like two books to me. First there was Lowitja's voice and narrative which is what I wanted to hear. Her story is compelling, sad and inspiring. But her voice is lost in all the legislative detail and politics occurring at the time. I wanted a human story not a discourse on legislative bodies. Tried skim reading but finally gave up p.200.
January 8, 2024
A profound account of indigenous Australian experience, through the example of a great individual, Lowitja. This book should be read by every Australian and should be a text for Civics class for every school student.
November 15, 2024
This book provides great insight on Lowitja and her fight for equality.
I wish it was slightly more personal at times, but idk I also appreciated getting the full historical context as well.
Also Fuck John Howard 🖕
I wish it was slightly more personal at times, but idk I also appreciated getting the full historical context as well.
Also Fuck John Howard 🖕
January 8, 2021
ebook. The first part is especially engaging and well written before it gets stuck in organisations, events, dates. I like the way the writer includes parallel events across the world.
April 25, 2021
Such an amazing woman. Total respect. The book took me several bites to get through, but that was more of a reflection of my lack of focus at this time rather than the writing or the subject.
November 4, 2024
Factual account of Lowitja O'Donoghue's life and activism.
November 27, 2024
The quality of the writing does not match the quality of the person. An inspiring woman not best served by her biographer.
February 8, 2025
Such an inspiring woman! A very moving story of Lowitja's life, and particularly her strong and capable leadership in the unfinished battle for the rights of her people.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews