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Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska,
Bulimba, Brisbane -
At thirteen, she completed her formal education at Dunwich State School
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Ruska enlisted in the Australian Women’s Army Service
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At the Methodist Church, West End, she had married Bruce Walker, a childhood friend
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She transferred to the district accounts office before being discharged after 7 months
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She had a second son, Vivian; his father was Raphael Cilento junior
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Elected Queensland State secretary of the Federal Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advancement
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We Are Going became the first poetry publication by an Aboriginal Australian
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The Jessie Litchfield award for literature, a Fellowship of Australian Writers award, and the Dame Mary Gilmore medal
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She met with cabinet ministers, and wrote and delivered speeches to empower the Federal government to legislate on Aboriginal affairs
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Walker stood for the Australian Labor Party in the Liberal stronghold of Greenslopes in the State election, but lost
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Aged fifty, suffering ill health and facing challenges for power from younger Aboriginal leaders, Walker returned to Minjerribah
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She appeared in a film biography, Shadow Sister; her performance won the Black Film Makers’ award in San Francisco
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She stood as a candidate for the Australian Democrats in the State election, without success
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She died of cancer at the Repatriation General Hospital, Greenslopes, Brisbane
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Queensland University of Technology renamed its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Support Unit the Oodgeroo Unit