Isabel Edie Coe (1951–2012) was a

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

woman born at Erambie Mission near

Cowra Cowra () is a town in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 8,254. Cowra is located approximate ...

, and one of the most prominent

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

leaders.

Activism

Coe was one of the activists who monitored police brutality and harassment against

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

, which led to the establishment of the

Aboriginal Legal Service The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) (ALS), known also as Aboriginal Legal Service, is a community-run organisation in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, founded in 1970 to provide legal services to Aboriginal Australians a ...

(ALS) in 1970. She had a lead role in the running of the original

Aboriginal Tent Embassy The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January (Australia Day) 1972, and celebrating ...

in Canberra, and was the lead litigant in ''Isabel Coe v the Commonwealth'' ''(1993)'', where she unsuccessfully tried to force the Australian government to recognise the sovereignty of the Wiradjuri nation.

Family

She was the sister of prominent activists

Paul Coe Paul Coe (born 4 February 1949), a Wiradjuri man born at Erambie Mission in Cowra, is an Australian Aboriginal activist. He is known for his advocacy of Aboriginal rights, with involvement in the publicity drive for the 1967 referendum, and th ...

and Jenny Munro, and was married to Billy Craigie, one of the co-founders of the

, who died in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coe, Isabel 1951 births Australian indigenous rights activists Wiradjuri people 2012 deaths Australian civil rights activists Women civil rights activists