Olga Eunice Miller ( Wondunna, later Reeves; 27 March 1920 – August 2003), often known as Aunty (or Auntie) Olga or by her traditional name Wandi, was an Australian historian, artist, author and Aboriginal elder of the

Butchulla people The Butchulla, also written Butchella, Badjala, Badjula, Badjela, Bajellah, Badtjala and Budjilla are an Aboriginal Australian people of K'gari, Queensland, and a small area of the nearby mainland of southern Queensland. Language The Butchulla ...

. She often acted as an advocate for K'gari (Fraser Island) and Butchulla issues, and illustrated ''The Legends of Moonie Jarl'', the first known Australian Aboriginal–written children's book to be published. In 2002 she was named a Queensland Great.

Early and personal life

The youngest of seven siblings, Miller was born Olga Eunice Wondunna on 27 March 1920 in

Maryborough, Queensland Maryborough ( ) is a city and a suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Maryborough had a population of 15,287. Geography Maryborough is located on the Mary River in Queensland, Australia, approximate ...

to mother Ethel Marion Reeves ( Gribble) and father Frederick Wondunna. Her parents' relationship, that of an Indigenous man and a white woman, was deeply controversial in its time and opposed by Ethel's brother Ernest Gribble in particular. Olga changed her surname from Wondunna to Reeves, before marrying Ronald Richard Miller on 1 June 1940 and taking his name. She was a member of the

, of whom her paternal grandfather Willie Wondunna was an important leader and her son Glen is now an elder. Her maternal grandfather, meanwhile, was 19th-century English-born missionary

J. B. Gribble Rev. John Brown Gribble FRGS (1 September 1847 – 3 June 1893) was an Australian minister of religion, noted for his missionary work among Aboriginal people in New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland. His appointment in Western Australi ...

, well known for his work with Indigenous Australians. Her grandniece

Fiona Foley Fiona Foley (born 1964) is a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist from K'gari (Fraser Island), Queensland. Foley is known for her activity as an academic, cultural and community leader and for co-founding the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-o ...

is an artist and founding member of the

Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative The Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative was founded in 1987 in the Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales. Among the legacies of the cooperative are the Deadly Awards for achievement in the Indigenous Australian community, which have occ ...

Career

Miller worked in various media, writing for school textbooks, animated films and newspapers; presenting on radio; and illustrating children's stories. In 1964, she illustrated ''The Legends of Moonie Jarl'', written by her brother Wilf Reeves, which is the first known published children's book authored by an Aboriginal Australian. She illustrated it under her traditional Butchulla name, Wandi, which means "wild duck". Outside of her media work, she was an activist for K'gari (Fraser Island) issues, often consulted by developers when they wished to build there. Describing her advocacy, Miller said she " adea nuisance of erself, but that she was "not interested in money… just ookingafter the land". She was the Caboonya (keeper of records) of the Butchulla people, a role given to her by her grandfather. Well-versed in Aboriginal knowledge and a respected historian, she acted as a consultant on Indigenous issues and history throughout her life. According to the Queensland Government, she "spent her time educating non-Indigenous Australians about pre-European history and Aboriginals on their own cultural background".

Honours

Miller received a

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

for "services to reconciliation and the preservation of Aboriginal history" on New Year's Day 2001, and in 2002 was named a Queensland Great, an honour which "recognises the efforts and achievements of remarkable individuals... for their invaluable contribution to the history and development of hestate". In April 2003, she was awarded an honorary fellowship by the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), on whose Fraser Coast campus she had helped establish Buallum Jarl-Bah, a centre for Indigenous learning.

Death and legacy

Miller died in August 2003 in Maryborough. Her death was acknowledged by member for Maryborough Chris Foley on the floor of Queensland parliament. USQ dedicated a garden on its Fraser Coast campus to her in December 2009, the Olga Miller Memorial Garden. Both the garden and Buallum Jarl-Bah have remained since the campus' transfer to the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Bibliography

* ''The Legends of Moonie Jarl'': 1964 (illustrated; written by Wilf Reeves) * ''Fraser Island Legends'': 1993 * ''Strings and Things from Long Ago'': 1999 * ''The Legend of Mount Bauple'': 2000 * ''Wook-Koo'': 2001 * ''Buallum and Other Stories'': 2002

References

External links

Olga Miller's profile
on AustLit
Olga Miller's profile
on Trove {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Olga Queensland Greats Australian women historians 20th-century Australian historians Indigenous Australian writers Australian Aboriginal artists Australian Aboriginal elders Australian women activists Australian activists 1920 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Australian women