Constance Doreen Bush (1919 – 1997) was an Australian aboriginal health worker. Bush was born in 1919 at

Borroloola Borroloola () is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located on the McArthur River, about upstream from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Location Borroloola lies on the traditional country of the Yanyuwa people, on the coastal plain ...

. Her mother, Norah, was a Garrwa and her father, Tom Turner, was a mounted police constable. Connie and her mother were separated in 1924, and never saw each other again. Bush was raised at the mission in

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba''; meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "large island" ...

. A street in

Alyangula Alyangula is the largest township on Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory, Australia. History Groote Eylandt Mining Company ( GEMCO) established Alyangula as the residence for the mining company workers in the late 1960s. The township was ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, is named in her honour. Bush was appointed MBE in the 1981 Birthday Honours "for services to Aboriginal women". In 1990, Bush published several short works, including two autobiographical works, in a special issue of ''Australian Short Stories'' on ''Aboriginal Short Stories'', edited by Bruce Pascoe. The volume was dedicated to Bush and to Maureen Watson.

References

1919 births 1997 deaths Indigenous Australian health professionals 20th-century Australian women People from the Northern Territory Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire {{IndigenousAustralia-stub