Ida West

Ida Amelia West AM (30 September 1919 – 8 September 2003) was an Australian Aboriginal elder who was better known as Aunty Ida. She was the author of Pride Against Prejudice.

Biography

Ida West was born on Aboriginal reserve on Cape Barren Island on 30 September 1919[1] and moved with her family to Flinders Island as a young child.[2] She was attended school in Lughrata.[3]

In 1939 she married Marcus Sydney West. They had a daughter and two sons, but divorced in 1960.[1]

West spent her life lobbying for better health services and land rights for the Aboriginal community in Tasmania.[4] She was president of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre in Hobart.[5]

In 1984 her memoir, Pride Against Prejudice: Reminiscences of a Tasmanian Aborigine, was published by Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.[6]

Awards and recognition

West was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for "services to social welfare, justice and reconciliation"[7] and appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2002 Australia Day Honours for "service as a leader of the Aboriginal community in Tasmania".[8]

She received the Female Elder of the Year award at the 2002 NAIDOC Awards[9] and was given a National Special Achievement Award at the 2003 NAIDOC ceremony.[4] She was inducted onto the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women in 2005, its inaugural year.[4]

Death and legacy

West died of cancer on 8 September 2003.[2]

Speeches were made in Australian Federal Parliament on 10 September and in the Tasmanian Parliament on 23 and 30 September 2003, expressing condolences and recognising West's life and work.[2][10]

The Department of Health in Tasmania established the Ida West Aboriginal Health Scholarship in 2003 in her honour.[11][12]

References
  1. "Ida West". Australia's Blak History Month 2020. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  2. "West, Mrs Ida". Parliament of Australia. 2003-09-10. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  3. "West, Ida". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  4. "Ida Amelia (Aunty Ida) West AM". www.communities.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  5. "West, Ida (1919–?)". Indigenous Australia. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  6. West, Ida (1984). Pride Against Prejudice: Reminiscences of a Tasmanian Aborigine. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. ISBN 0-391-03126-0. OCLC 12483705.
  7. "Mrs Ida Amelia West". It's An Honour. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  8. "Mrs Ida Amelia West". It's An Honour. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  9. "Sad loss of Aboriginal Elder (Aunty) Ida West". Australian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  10. Tasmania. Parliament (2003), Speeches in the House of Assembly on 23 September 2003 and in the Legislative Council on 30 September 2003 to express condolence on the death of Aunty Ida West on 8 September 2003: Tasmanian Aboriginal elder, Parliament of Tasmania, retrieved 10 July 2021
  11. "The Tasmanian State Service Annual Report 2014-15: Chapter 8 – Diversity and good workplaces". Department of Premier and Cabinet. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  12. Tasmania. Department of Health and Human Services (2003), Ida West Aboriginal Health Scholarship, Tasmania Dept of Health and Human Services, retrieved 10 July 2021
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