Patricia O'Connor ( Yuke, born 1928) is an

Australian Aboriginal elder Australian Aboriginal elders are highly respected people within Australia and their respective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. An Elder has been defined as "someone who has gained recognition as a custodian of knowledge and l ...

of the

Yugambeh people The Yugambeh ( ''(see alternative spellings)'', also known as the Minyangbal ( , are an Aboriginal Australian people of south-east Queensland and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, their territory lies between the Logan and Tweed river ...

. She is known for her work in reviving the

Yugambeh language Yugambeh (or ''Mibanah'', from , 'language of men' or 'sound of eagles'), also known as Tweed-Albert Bandjalang, is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Yugambeh living in South-East Queensland between and within the Logan River ...

and opening the Yugambeh Museum. In 2014 she received the NAIDOC Award for Female Elder of the Year, and in 2019 she was named a

Queensland Great Queensland Day is officially celebrated on 6 June as the birthday of the Australian state of Queensland. History Moves towards statehood began with a public meeting in 1851 to consider separation of Queensland from the Colony of New South Wa ...

Early and personal life

O'Connor was born Patricia Yuke in

Beaudesert, Queensland Beaudesert is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Beaudesert had a population of 6,395 people. Beaudesert is the administrative centre for the Scenic Rim Region. Geography Beaudesert is south of ...

in 1928 to mother Edith Graham and father Stanley Yuke, who also had two other children. She grew up near Kooralbyn in the

Scenic Rim Region The Scenic Rim Region is a local government area in West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and b ...

. She is a member of the

, an Australian Aboriginal group whose traditional lands are located in

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. T ...

and the

Northern Rivers Northern Rivers is the most north-easterly region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rivers. ...

area of New South Wales. She later married Terrence Michael O'Connor, and had 7 children, including Rory O'Connor and a daughter, Faith.

Career

O'Connor has spent much of her life working as an advocate for Yugambeh issues. In the 1980s, for example, she was part of a team which negotiated the largest ever repatriation of Aboriginal remains. Then, in 1991, she and her sister Ysola Best led the organisation and installation of the Yugambeh War Memorial in

Jebribillum Bora Park The Jebribillum Bora Park (also known as Jebbribillum) is located on the south eastern corner of the Gold Coast Highway and 6th Avenue in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia. It contains one of the last intact bora rings on the Gold Coast, whi ...

Burleigh Heads Burleigh Heads is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Burleigh Heads had a population of 10,077 people. Geography Burleigh Head is a cape () jutting into the Coral Sea at the northern mouth of Tallebudgera Cre ...

, which was the first war memorial in Australia dedicated to Indigenous soldiers. In 2018 she played a prominent role during the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, which were being held on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

that year, as a

traditional custodian Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the land on which the event was being held. She accompanied

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

on stage at the launch of the

Queen's Baton Relay The Queen's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently King Charles III. The Relay traditionally begins at Buckingha ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, and the baton itself was made partly of macadamia wood because of a story told by O'Connor to its designers. She also gave the

Welcome to Country A Welcome to Country is a ritual or formal ceremony performed as a land acknowledgement at many events held in Australia. It is intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular Aborigina ...

at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. She is, however, probably best known for her work in restoring the

. In the 1980s, the language was considered by academics to be dead before O'Connor and her sister began to record it in an attempt at revival. She opened the Yugambeh Museum to help with this goal and, as a result, the language is now taught in numerous schools and education centres as of 2020.

Honours

In 2014, O'Connor received the Female Elder of the Year award at the

NAIDOC Awards The NAIDOC Awards are annual Australian awards conferred on Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals during the national celebration of the history, culture and achievements of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ...

. Then, in 2019, the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

named her a

, an honour which "recognises the efforts and achievements of remarkable individuals... for their invaluable contribution to the history and development of hestate".

References

External links

Patricia O'Connor's profile
on AustLit {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Patricia Living people 1928 births Queensland Greats Australian Aboriginal elders Australian women activists Australian activists 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women People from Beaudesert, Queensland