Pearl Duncan
Australian teacher and anthropologist (1933–2022)
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Pearl Maud Duncan Booth (27 April 1933 – 19 July 2022) was an Australian teacher, anthropologist and academic. A Gamilaraay woman,[4] she was the first known tertiary-qualified Indigenous teacher in Australia.[5][6] She was named a Queensland Great in 2008.
Early and personal life
Duncan, a Gamilaraay woman, was born on 27 April 1933 in Emmaville, New South Wales, where she spent her childhood as a member of the only Aboriginal family in the town. After graduating secondary school, she left for Sydney to study further.[3]
She was married for approximately 30 years.[3]
Career
In Sydney, Duncan gained tertiary teaching qualifications—the first known Aboriginal Australian to do so—before moving to Yarrabah in North Queensland where she taught for two years.[3] During her time in Yarrabah, she starred in the 1953 documentary Children of the Wasteland, a film about Indigenous life in the area that was a source of controversy amongst censors.[7] She continued her teaching career elsewhere, including in the Torres Strait and New Zealand,[8] and in 1977 was appointed to the National Aboriginal Education Committee.[9] She also worked as Head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit at the Queensland University of Technology, and in senior roles in the public service.[10]
She held a Bachelor of Letters in anthropology from the Australian National University and a master's degree in education from the University of Canberra. She completed her thesis on Aboriginal humour and was awarded a PhD from the University of Queensland in 2014.[11]
Honours
She received a Centenary Medal "[i]n recognition of community service through Indigenous education" on New Year's Day 2001,[1] before being Queensland's nominee for Senior Australian of the Year in 2004.[12]
Later, in 2008, she was named a Queensland Great,[13] an honour which "recognises the efforts and achievements of remarkable individuals... for their invaluable contribution to the history and development of [the] state".[14]
Death and legacy
Duncan died on 19 July 2022 at the age of 89. In a tribute following her death, Queensland Minister of Education Grace Grace labelled her a "trailblazer in education" and a "true Queensland great".[15]
Each year, the Queensland Department of Education awards multiple Pearl Duncan Teaching Scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people seeking to study education, named in honour of Duncan "dedicat[ing] her life to improving not only the outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders but to ensuring a firm foundation for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievers of tomorrow".[4]