Daisy Ruddick

Daisy Florence Ruddick (15 August 1915 – 23 April 2002) was a Gurindji woman and member of the Stolen Generations from the Northern Territory of Australia. Her skin name is Kumachi. Life in the Northern Territory

Ruddick was born on Limbunya Station and was the daughter of a Demae, a Gurindji woman, and Jack Cusack, an Irishman who was employed at the station. At the age of six she was taken from her mother and taken to the Kahlin Compound, in Darwin, while her mother was away in hospital.

Ruddick later stated that her father tried to have her returned to him but died before he was able to do so. Ruddick's brother Peter Limbunya was allowed to stay at the station because he had an Aboriginal father.

This was despite corporal punishment of girls being banned in South Australia but allowed in the Northern Territory. Ruddick also recalled being forced to stand in the hot sun, the shaving of hair, the deprivation of food, the whitewashing of faces and the tying of children to the bed all being used as punishments. She said the older girls often bullied the younger ones.

During World War II Ruddick was evacuated and spent time in Mildura and Melbourne where she began a lasting friendship with Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop. In 1952 she separated from her husband. recorded in 2001, which is held by AIATSIS (B H388.63/U1).

Legacy

Ruddick Circuit in Stuart Park, Darwin is named for her.