Lorna "Nanna Nungala" Fejo (14 June 1930 – 25 February 2022) was a Warumungu woman named by the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, in his historic Apology to the Stolen Generations, on 13 February 2008.[1][2]

At four years of age, she was forcibly removed from her family and community at Tennant Creek along with her sister, brother, and older cousin, by an Aboriginal stockman and two white men. She never again saw her mother, who died before Fejo was able to leave institutional care.[3] Fejo was initially sent to The Bungalow (in Alice Springs), and was later sent to Methodist missions on Goulburn Island and then Croker Island along with her sister.[3]Her brother and cousin were sent to work at a cattle station and a Catholic mission respectively.

Fejo was allowed to leave the mission at age sixteen, to take a domestic job in Darwin after World War II.[3] She married Larrakia man James Fejo and had seven children Rosemary, Christine, Rodney, Aleeta, Eric, Mirella and Richard Fejo.[4]

Since 1973 Fejo has been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[5]

In 1998 Fejo was given the Australian Medical Association's Best Individual Contribution to Healthcare in Australia Award, for her contribution as the coordinator of the Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture program in the Northern Territory.[6][7][8]

In 2000 Fejo was awarded the Centenary Medal, for services to the Aboriginal community.[9]

There is a brief biography of Fejo[10] on the Northern Territory Library's Territory Women website.[11]

Fejo died on 25 February 2022, at the age of 91.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Australian Labor Party : Sorry to the Stolen Generations". Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
  2. ↑ "Kevin Rudd: National Apology to the Stolen Generations". YouTube.
  3. 1 2 3 Maher, Katherine Jane (2016). After the Apology: Responsive Narratives and the 2008 Apology to Australia's Stolen Generations. p. 76.
  4. ↑ Day, Bill (18 August 2014). "Register Report for King Charles" (PDF). Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Mormon Grandmother Helps Australian Prime Minister Say "Sorry"". mormonnewsroom.org. 8 April 2008.
  6. ↑ www.sjog.org.au http://www.sjog.org.au/portal/page?_pageid=415,408267&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ "CBOnline -". Archived from the original on 4 September 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
  9. ↑ "Ms Lorna Fejo". It's An Honour. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Lorna, Fejo (30 November 1927). "Lorna "Nanna Nungala" Fejo". hdl:10070/218080. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ "Territory Stories: Territory Women". Territorystories.nt.gov.au. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "Nanna Nangala Fejo, named in the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, dies aged 91". ABC News. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.


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