Rosalie Kunoth-Monks
Encyclopedia
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, also known as Ngarla Kunoth (born 1937), is an Australian Aboriginal activist.
(Arapunya) in the Northern Territory
of Australia
to parents of the Amatjere people. Her father's father was German, hence her German surname.
In 1951, Kunoth was 14 years old and staying at St Mary's Hostel in Alice Springs when the film directors Elsa and Charles Chauvel saw her and recruited her to play the title role in their 1955 film Jedda
. Her nickname was Rosie, but the Chauvels changed her name for the screen to Ngarla Kunoth. She was scared she wouldn't fit in!
In 1970 she married Bill Monks, settled in Alice Springs and had a daughter — Ngarla.
Kunoth became involved in social work and politics, becoming involved in several indigenous projects to improve education, health and housing.
The then Northern Territory Chief Minister, Paul Everingham appointed her an adviser on Aboriginal affairs. Kunoth stood for election to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1979. She campaigned to oppose the proposed construction of a dam that threatened to destroy land sacred to her people. She lost that election but went on to continuing activism working to improve the lives of indigenous people. Presently she is Chancellor
of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
.
By 2011 she had returned to the Utopia homelands, 260k north east of Alice Springs. It has about 1200 people in 16 different communities. There she is president of Barkly Shire. In August of that year she went to Canberra for Amnesty International and denounced Federal government intervention in the Northern Territory as a "huge violation of human rights," displacing "more indigenous people from their traditional lands, depriving them of opportunities to speak their native language and severing links with [their] culture. … Our beings are very fragile. We disagree with being herded by the army into the big centres."
Two months later: "It's not that they're coming here with bulldozers or getting the army to move us. It's that they're trying to starve us out of our home. … They won't support us becoming sustainable in our own right. If you're made to feel a second-class humanity, if it's not ethnic cleansing, please let me know what is." Utopia, which is world-famous for its dot paintings, was trying to start its own cattle business and wanted to a cultural centre, she said.
Early life and education
Rosalie Kunoth was born in 1937 at Utopia Cattle StationUtopia, Northern Territory
Utopia is an Aboriginal homeland formed in November 1978 by the amalgamation of the former Utopia pastoral lease with a tract of unalienated land to its north. It covers an area of 3500 square kilometres, transected by the Sandover River, and lies on a traditional boundary of the Alyawarra and...
(Arapunya) in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to parents of the Amatjere people. Her father's father was German, hence her German surname.
In 1951, Kunoth was 14 years old and staying at St Mary's Hostel in Alice Springs when the film directors Elsa and Charles Chauvel saw her and recruited her to play the title role in their 1955 film Jedda
Jedda
Jedda was the last movie made by the Australian filmmaker Charles Chauvel. The film is most notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors in the leading roles, and also to be the first Australian film shot in colour...
. Her nickname was Rosie, but the Chauvels changed her name for the screen to Ngarla Kunoth. She was scared she wouldn't fit in!
In 1970 she married Bill Monks, settled in Alice Springs and had a daughter — Ngarla.
Career as an activist
She spent ten years from 1960 as a nun in the Melbourne Anglican Community of the Holy Name. She left the order to set up the first Aboriginal hostel in Victoria.Kunoth became involved in social work and politics, becoming involved in several indigenous projects to improve education, health and housing.
The then Northern Territory Chief Minister, Paul Everingham appointed her an adviser on Aboriginal affairs. Kunoth stood for election to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1979. She campaigned to oppose the proposed construction of a dam that threatened to destroy land sacred to her people. She lost that election but went on to continuing activism working to improve the lives of indigenous people. Presently she is Chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education provides training and further education , and higher education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is based in Batchelor, Northern Territory in Australia...
.
By 2011 she had returned to the Utopia homelands, 260k north east of Alice Springs. It has about 1200 people in 16 different communities. There she is president of Barkly Shire. In August of that year she went to Canberra for Amnesty International and denounced Federal government intervention in the Northern Territory as a "huge violation of human rights," displacing "more indigenous people from their traditional lands, depriving them of opportunities to speak their native language and severing links with [their] culture. … Our beings are very fragile. We disagree with being herded by the army into the big centres."
Two months later: "It's not that they're coming here with bulldozers or getting the army to move us. It's that they're trying to starve us out of our home. … They won't support us becoming sustainable in our own right. If you're made to feel a second-class humanity, if it's not ethnic cleansing, please let me know what is." Utopia, which is world-famous for its dot paintings, was trying to start its own cattle business and wanted to a cultural centre, she said.
Publication
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, talk to Desert Knowledge Symposium, Alice Springs 2006, "Land and Culture — Necessary but not Enough for the Future" reprinted Alice Springs News, 9 November 2006.Honors
- March 8, 2007 (International Women's DayInternational Women's DayInternational Women's Day , originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and...
) - Kunoth-Monks was presented with a "Northern Territory Tribute to Women Award" at the opening of the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame in Alice Springs.
External links
- "Chauvels' Jedda Led the Way", The Age
- Message Stick, ABC Network