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Jackomos, Merle Robertha (1929 - )

Born
1929
Cummeragunja, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Author, Community worker and Aboriginal activist
Alternative Names
  • Morgan, Merle (maiden name)

Summary

Merle Jackomos, of Yorta Yorta descent, grew up at Cummeragunja, New South Wales. During the famous walk-off of the Cummeragunja people who crossed into Victoria in 1939, Merle and her family were amongst those who stayed to make sure that the station was not closed and sold off by the government. She married Alick Jackomos in 1951, and became involved with the Aborigines Advancement League of Victoria. She helped found the National Aboriginal and Islander Women's Council of which she became Victorian vice-president, and the Northcote Aboriginal women's refuge. In 1972 she was elected to the Aboriginal Affairs Advisory Council. She was later appointed director of Aboriginal Hostels Ltd, and in 1981 was elected to the National Aboriginal Conference, of which she remained a member until its abolition in 1985.

Sources used to compile this entry: Horton, David (ed.). The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia, Vol. 1, Aboriginal Studies Press for AIATSIS, Canberra, 1994, pp. 508-509.

Archival resources

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

  • Aborigines Advancement League of Victoria - Group portraits from the Conscience Calling Ball 1961, 1961, BARWICK.D1.BW; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Details
  • Alick and Merle Jackomos - wedding day at St Augustins, JACKOMOS.A5.BW; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Details
  • The Alick Jackomos Collection: historical images from Victoria, 1880 - 1984, 1880 - 1984, JACKOMOS.A4.BW; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Details
  • Life on an Aboriginal reserve - Cummeragunja, PMS 4638; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Details

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • Jackomos, Merle, 'The History of Lake Tyers', Identity, vol. 1, no. 2, 1971, pp. 5-8. Details
  • Jackomos, Merle, 'Museum of Victoria. Daughters of a Dreaming', 1990, pp. 7-8. Details
  • Jackomos, Merle R, 'The History of Lake Tyers', Aboriginal Adult Education Project Newsletter, no. 3, 1976, p. 4. Details
  • Jackomos, Merle R, 'History of Cummeragunga and Maloga', Aboriginal Adult Education Project Newsletter, no. 5, 1977. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • Jackomos, M, 'Australian Aboriginals in the News', The Age, 2 October 1981, p. 9. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Horton, David (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture, Aboriginal Studies Press for AIATSIS, Canberra, 1994, 2 v. (xxxiii, 1340 p.) pp. Details
  • Jackomos, A. and Fowell, D., Living Aboriginal History of Victoria: Stories in the Oral Tradition, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1991, 203 pp. Details

Leonarda Kovacic

Created: 28 May 2004, Last modified: 4 January 2011

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

National Foundation for Australian Women The University of Melbourne, eScholarship Research Centre

http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0980b.htm

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