Isabel Edie Coe (1951–2012) was a

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , ...

woman born at

Erambie Mission Erambie Mission is an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal community located on the western banks of the Lachlan River, from the town of Cowra, in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. History Eramb ...

near

Cowra Cowra is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 9,863. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the ...

, and one of the most prominent

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

leaders.

Activism

Coe was one of the activists who monitored police brutality and harassment against

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, which led to the establishment of the

Aboriginal Legal Service The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) (ALS), known also as Aboriginal Legal Service, is a community-run organisation in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, founded in 1970 to provide legal services to Aboriginal Australians a ...

(ALS) in 1970. She had a lead role in the running of the original

Aboriginal Tent Embassy The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January (Australia Day) 1972, and celebrating i ...

in Canberra, and was the lead litigant in ''Isabel Coe v the Commonwealth'' ''(1993)'', where she unsuccessfully tried to force the Australian government to recognise the sovereignty of the Wiradjuri nation.

Family

She was the sister of prominent activists

Paul Coe Paul Coe (born 4 February 1949), a Wiradjuri man born at Erambie Mission in Cowra, is an Australian Aboriginal activist. He is known for his advocacy of Aboriginal rights, with involvement in the publicity drive for the 1967 referendum, and the ...

and

Jenny Munro Jenny Munro (née Coe) is an Australian Wiradjuri elder and a prominent activist for the rights of Indigenous Australians. She has been at the forefront of the fight for Aboriginal housing at The Block in Sydney, and started the Redfern Aborig ...

, and was married to

Billy Craigie Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a youn ...

, one of the co-founders of the

, who died in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coe, Isabel 1951 births Australian indigenous rights activists Wiradjuri people 2012 deaths Australian civil rights activists Women civil rights activists