Alitya Rigney

Alitya (Alice Dorothy) Wallara Rigney AO, PSM (27 November 1942 – 13 May 2017) was an Australian Aboriginal scholar. She was a Kaurna elder and part of the team that revived the Kaurna language.[1]

Alitya Wallara Rigney AO, PSM
Born	(1942-11-27)27 November 1942 Point Pearce, South Australia
Died	13 May 2017(2017-05-13) (aged 74) Adelaide, South Australia
Nationality	Narungga and Kaurna
Other names	Alice Rigney
Citizenship	Australian
Alma mater	University of South Australia
Occupation	School teacher and principal
Known for	reviving Kaurna language
Spouse(s)	Lester Rigney
Children	3

Life

Rigney was born on the Aboriginal Mission at Point Pearce. When she completed primary school, her teacher negotiated for her to attend Unley Girls Technical High School in Adelaide as the local high schools would not accept Aboriginal children.[2] She returned to Point Pearce following her school and training as a nurse, married and raised her family there. She worked at the local kindergarten, then as a School Support Officer at Maitland Area School. She was eventually registered as a teacher, but for Point Pearce only. She then went to Adelaide and was the only Aboriginal student of 400 at the de Lissa Institute teachers college, now part of the University of South Australia.[3] Once she graduated, she was a teacher at a primary school in the western suburbs of Adelaide. She became the first Aboriginal bureaucrat in the South Australian Department of Education. In the 1980s, she agitated for the creation of what became the Kura Yerlo Aboriginal Centre in Largs Bay and the Kaurna Plains School in Elizabeth. She became the first female Aboriginal principal of a primary school in Australia when she took up the post of principal at Kaurna Plains.[4]

Rigney was awarded a Public Service Medal in 1991.[5]

She was awarded an honorary Ph.D. by the University of South Australia in 1998[4][6] in recognition of her pioneering contribution to Aboriginal education.[3]

Rigney died in Adelaide on 13 May 2017, a day after her husband, Lester, was buried on their birth country at Point Pearce.[7] Their three children all have roles in education: Lester-Irabinna Rigney is a Professor of Education at UniSA, Eileen Wanganeen is a teacher and education leader and Tracey Ritchie is a principal Aboriginal consultant at the Department of Education and Child Development.[3] She was posthumously made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours.[8]

References

1. "Kaurna Warra Pintyanthi". The University of Adelaide. 10 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
2. "Dr Alice (Alitya) Rigney" (PDF). Leading from the Edge: aboriginal educational leaders tell their story. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
3. "Pioneering Aboriginal educator Alice Rigney remembered for her courage and wisdom". 17 May 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
4. "A Tribute to a Remarkable Woman: Dr Alice (Alitya) Rigney PSM". Network SA. 2 June 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
5. "Public Service Medal (PSM) entry for RIGNEY, Alice Dorothy". It's an Honour, Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 January 1991. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
6. "SA Leader Dr Alitja Rigney". More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
7. "Pioneering Aboriginal elder remembered as cultural warrior, educator". ABC News. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
8. "Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) entry for RIGNEY, Alice Dorothy (Alitya)". It's an Honour, Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018. For distinguished service to education, particularly through providing opportunities for youth, and to the promotion and protection of Indigenous language, culture and heritage.