Hyllus Noel Maris

Hyllus Noel Maris (25 December 1933 – 4 August 1986) was an Aboriginal Australian activist, poet and educator. Maris was a Yorta Yorta woman. She was a key figure in the Aboriginal rights movement of the 1970s and 1980s, a poet, an educator and a scriptwriter.

Early life Hyllus Noel Maris was born on 25 December 1933 in Echuca, Victoria, and identified as a Yorta Yorta woman. Her mother, Geraldine Briggs, née Clements, was a Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri woman. Her father, Selwyn Briggs, was a Wurundjeri and Yorta Yorta man. Both of her parents were prominent community activists; Maris was the third of their nine children. The family lived on the Cummeragunja Reserve until 1939, when Maris' parents participated in the Cummeragunja walk-off, a protest against the management of the reserve. They then settled at "The Flat" in the Mooroopna-Shepparton region of Victoria. Selwyn Briggs was the first Aboriginal man to be employed by Shepparton council. Maris studied dietetics and worked as a hospital dietician before moving to Melbourne in 1970. She helped to establish similar services in Queensland, and chaired the Victorian Council for Aboriginal Culture. and a novel (1985).

She also wrote and published short stories, including "Concrete Box", "Joey Comes to the City" and "The Way Forgotten", and poetry, including "Spiritual Song of the Aborigine".

Recognition and awards In 1980, Maris received the FAW Patricia Weickhardt Award to an Aboriginal Writer.

Death and legacy Maris died of cancer on 4 August 1986 at Kew in Melbourne and was buried at Cummeragunja cemetery.

She was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001.