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 ...

of the

Yugambeh people The Yugambeh ( ''(see alternative spellings)''), also known as the Minyangbal ( ), or Nganduwal ( ), are an Aboriginal Australian people of South East Queensland and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, their territory lies between the L ...

. 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 Rive ...

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.

Early and personal life

O'Connor was born Patricia Yuke in

Beaudesert, Queensland Beaudesert ( Yugambeh: ''Yilbagan'') is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region of Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Beaudesert had a population of 6,752 people. Beaudesert is the administrative centre for the Scenic R ...

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 areas of Queensland, local government area (LGA) in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia, and is located approximately 80 kilometres due south of Brisban ...

. 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 Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

and the

Northern Rivers Northern Rivers is the most northeasterly Regions of New South Wales, 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 Ri ...

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 Ysola Mary Best (15 November 1940 – 19 May 2007) was an Australian author and elder of the Yugambeh people. Best is known for her works and role in preserving the language, history and culture of the Yugambeh. She wrote about aboriginal cult ...

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, wh ...

, Burleigh Heads, 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 is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, which were being held on the Gold Coast that year, as a

traditional custodian The concept of First Nations Australian traditional custodianship derives from Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' strong traditional connection with the lands and seas they reside on, known collectively as "Cou ...

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

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 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. ...

on stage at the launch of the

Queen's Baton Relay The King'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 Buckingham P ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, 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 r ...

, 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 an event intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular A ...

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 state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

named her 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".

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