Bonita mabo cause of death

Eddie mabo children
Ernestine Bonita Mabo AO, was an Australian educator and activist for Aboriginal Australians, Torres Strait Islanders, and Australian South Sea Islanders.
Bonita Mabo AO (c.

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Bonita Mabo

Bonita Mabo AO (c. 1943–2018), South Sea Islander activist, was the widow of Torres Strait Islander land claimant Eddie Mabo. Born near Ingham, she was a descendant of Ni-Vanuatu workers (formerly known as 'Kanaks') who were taken to Queensland to work in substandard conditions on sugar plantations between about 1860 and 1904. She married Eddie Mabo in Ingham in 1959; they were to become parents of ten. In 1972, disenchanted with the education her children were receiving, she set up Australia's first Aboriginal community school. She supported Eddie through his historic land claim, but said 'I was his wife, but that's as far as it went … I've got nothing to do with the land'. An advocate for reconciliation for all Australians, especially between Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander peoples, she spoke frequently of the need to 'work together as one to fight for our rights'.

Lorrie Graham began her photographic career as the first female photography cadet at the Sydney Morning Herald. She has since become one of Australia's most celebrated photojo

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Bonita Mabo

Australian activist (1943–2018)

Ernestine Bonita MaboAO (néeNeehow; c. 1943 – 26 November 2018), was an Australian educator and activist for Aboriginal Australians, Torres Strait Islanders, and Australian South Sea Islanders. She was the wife of Eddie Mabo until his death in 1992.

Early life

Ernestine Bonita Neehow^[1] was born in Halifax, Queensland, one of 10 children. She was an Australian South Sea Islander of Ni-Vanuatu descent whose ancestors were "blackbirded" to work in the sugar cane industry in Queensland.^[2] Her grandfather was blackbirded from Tanna Island in what is now Vanuatu.^[3]

Career

In 1973, Eddie and Bonita Mabo established the Black Community School in Townsville, where children could learn their own culture rather than white culture.^[4] Bonita worked in the school as a teacher's aide and oversaw day-to-day operations.^[5]

Mabo was an Indigenous rights activist for Aboriginal Australians, Torres Strait Islanders, and Australian South Sea Islanders.^[6]^[

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Bonita Mabo

Bonita Mabo AO (c. 1943–2018), South Sea Islander reconciliation activist, was the widow of Torres Strait Islander land claimant Eddie Mabo. Born near Ingham, she was a descendant of Ni-Vanuatu workers (formerly known as 'Kanaks') who were taken to Queensland, some 2000 km west of their home, to work in substandard conditions on sugar plantations between about 1860 and 1904. She married Eddie Mabo in Ingham in 1959; they were to become parents of ten. In 1972, disenchanted with the education her children were receiving, she set up Australia's first Aboriginal community school. Eddie Mabo was also involved, but came to focus on his own campaign; she supported him through his historic land claim, but said 'I was his wife, but that's as far as it went … I've got nothing to do with the land'. Following his death, she increasingly sought recognition for her own ancestors. She was an advocate for reconciliation for all Australians, especially between Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander peoples, speaking frequently of the need to 'work together as one t