Kenneth Desmond ColbungAMMBE (2 September 1931 – 12 January 2010), also known by his indigenous name Nundjan Djiridjarkan, was an
Aboriginal Australian leader from the
Noongar people who became prominent in the 1960s. He was appointed an
MBE and an
AM for his service to the Aboriginal community.[1][2][3]
He died after a short illness on 12 January 2010. He was 78.[9][10]
Activism
Colbung campaigned for the recognition of cultural and human rights for Aboriginal Australians, and was involved in the Australian Black Power Movement of the 1960s.[6] He was instrumental in the development of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 for the protection and preservation of material of cultural significance.[6]
In 1979, Colbung presented state governor
Wallace Kyle with a "
notice to quit" during the opening of the
WAY 79 celebrations of Western Australia's
sesquicentenary. The notice "called on the Governor to quit and deliver up possession of Western Australia to the Aboriginal people".[11]
Colbung became particularly known for his leading role in ensuring that the severed head of his ancestor, the Noongar warrior
Yagan, was repatriated from Britain to Australia in 1997.[12]
Colbung, Ken (1996). "About the Author". Yagan: The Swan River "Settlement". Australia Council for the Arts.
Woenne, Susan Tod (1979). "Ken Colbung, The Catalyst". In Hunt, Lyall (ed.). Westralian Portraits. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
ISBN0-85564-157-6.
Abercrombie, Thomas J. (1982). Grosvenor, Melville Bell (ed.). "Fair Winds and Full Sails: Perth". National Geographic. Washington D.C., United States of America.