Kath’s Poetry started to become popular post war, she has been quoted saying “You could say a poet is born but you’re not born a poet. You have to work on it I felt poetry would be the breakthrough for the Aboriginal people because they were storytellers and song-makers, and I thought poetry would appeal to them more than anything else. It was more of a book of their voices that I was trying to bring out, and I think I succeeded in doing this’.”
In Oodgeroo’s Poems she talks of her aboriginal heritage a lot, also about reconciliation and a hope for unity between whites and blacks. In the poem No more Boomerang Is a simple poem by Oodgeroo comparing aboriginal culture to Australian White man culture, comparing what it was like before the invasion of white man and after. The poem shows Oodgeroo’s sadness in what her country has become, at the time it was a racist place and white people had no rights, weren’t able to vote and weren’t paid the same wage as white Australians. The poem shows Oodgeroo’s sadness in what her country has become, at the time it was a racist place and white people had no rights, weren’t able to vote and weren’t paid the same wage as white Australians. The mood of the poem is Sad, talking of what things used to be, the poet compares things using metaphors like Work like a Nigger for a white mans meal, speaking of how hard times are. Oodgeroo frequently says the words No more in this poem, because things are no longer as they used to be since the Europeans ,”the White Man” has come. It is made up of Simple 4 line Stanzas most words have 2 syllables.
Oodgeroo’s Poetry relates to her upbringing by her angst sometimes towards the white man saying things like “White Fella Witch doctor wear dog collar” in no More boomerang. She speaks of how the changes Europeans have made will have all kinds of complications not for just the Aboriginal people but for the world.
Oodgeroo speaks with a passion about Nature in her poem which shows how her upbringing and aboriginal heritage has affected her.
Oodgeroo Noonuccal was the most influential poet, actress, writer, teacher, artist and Aboriginal Activist of her time. She wrote of her heritage, reconciliation and a hope for unity between whites and blacks. Oodgeroo was the first Aboriginal Australian to have a book published. She made an incredible difference for her people.
