Joyce Clague

Joyce Caroline Clague MBE (née Mercy; 22 July 1938 – 25 September 2024) was an Aboriginal Australian political activist and Yaegl elder. Her activism centred on social change for Indigenous Australians. She was influential in instigating the 1967 Constitutional Referendum and in the 1996 native title claim, known as Yaegl #1, which was settled in 2015.

Early years Joyce Caroline Mercy was born on 22 July 1938 in the New South Wales town of Maclean, one of 15 children. In 1960, she attended the third Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement conference at Newport, Sydney.

She was influential in instigating the 1967 Constitutional Referendum. Following the 1967 referendum, she worked with musician Jimmy Little on a campaign to get Indigenous Australians on the electoral roll.

In 1968, she stood for the Legislative Council of the Northern Territory,

In 1986, Clague was the first Aboriginal person to become a trustee on the Australian Museum Trust.

Native title claim In November 1996, she and Della Walker lodged a native title claim, known as Yaegl #1, that encompasses a large stretch of the Clarence River and its tributaries, on behalf of the Yaegl people. This was successfully settled at a Federal Court of Australia consent determination hearing in 2015, ending what had been the oldest legal matter before the court.

Recognition and honours In 1977, Clague was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Personal life Clague married Colin, an Anglo-Australian whose ancestors came from the Isle of Man, about two years after they met at a Christian youth conference in the Philippines in 1964. The 2007 documentary When Colin Met Joyce, written and produced by Pauline Clague, the third of her four daughters, concerns their relationship.

Clague died on 25 September 2024 at the age of 85.

Works

Clague, Joyce, 'Staying to the end', in Scutt, Jocelynne A. (ed.), Glorious age : growing older gloriously, Artemis, Melbourne, 1993.