Farewell great warrior

Sheila Suttner

The large crowds that gathered at a memorial service at the 
Gooniniup sacred site (old Swan Brewery/New Millionaire 
Apartments) and at Karakatta Cemetry for the burial of a great 
Aboriginal Warrior, were expressions of the sad note on which the 
year 2003 drew to a close in Western Australia.

The sudden, unexpected and premature death of Yaluritja Clarrie 
Isaacs, a tireless activist for the rights of Aboriginal People 
and oppressed people the world over, drew expressions of sorrow 
from all over Australia and all over the world. Clarrie had been 
a great traveller, seeking justice for his own people and sharing 
his experience and knowledge with First Nation people in the 
United States and Canada, at the United Nations, Brazil, Mecca, 
Libya, Baghdad and South Africa.

Nyungah Elder and Custodian of the Busselton and Margaret River 
Area, Western Australia, Clarrie Isaacs died on November 26, 2003 
at the age of 55 in the midst of his Homegrounds where he had 
been preparing a protest against mining in the Ludlow Tuart 
forest.

The news brought shock and grief to the many people who loved and 
admired this man of many talents, endless courage, clever 
political strategies, quiet dignity and humour; a man who was 
kind and gentle, who deeply moved those whose lives he touched — 
a man who enraged his political opponents!

He was absolutely committed to human rights, protection of the 
environment, improvement of the lives of the Aboriginal people 
and exposure of the greed and lies of the rich and powerful who 
he saw as responsible for the desecration of sacred sites and the 
perpetuation of racial disharmony in WA.

Clarrie grew up in a large family of 27. Together with his mother 
and siblings he was involved in the Aboriginal Legal Service and 
worked in soup kitchens.

Educated at Perth Modern High School, he studied Technical 
Drawing (a skill he drew on in creating his numerous, ingenious 
and hard-hitting T-shirts) and Clyde Cameron College, Wodonga 
where he honed his political skills.

In the '80s Clarrie was active in the trade union movement, 
serving on the Branch Executive and as a delegate to the State 
Council of the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union.

As a radio broadcaster with Golden West Network and 6NR, his 
humour and political insight moved his supporters to gales of 
laughter, his opponents to fulminating rage. Nobody could block 
him out of late-night talk-back radio when he believed the 
listeners were really listening.

Clarrie was tireless in a variety of human rights causes: pro-
Aboriginal, anti-racist, anti-war, pro asylum-seekers and 
detainees, conservationist, but he will best be remembered for 
his role in the struggle for the preservation of two sacred 
sites: Gooniniup, (the Dreaming and home of the Wagyl serpent), 
and the Rottnest Island Deaths Group.

The Group was formed for the preservation and documentation of 
the graves of Aboriginal prisoners who had died brutally on the 
concentration camp for Aboriginal people, the then Rottnest 
Island Prison — later a holiday resort affordable to most West 
Australians but (in the '80s) about to be "developed" by Bond 
Corporation into a playground for the rich and famous.

Every Tuesday, for 14 years, (together with a waxing and waning 
body of supporters), Clarrie protested against "development" of 
the brewery, (built in the 1890s over a water source sacred to 
Nyungah women), into luxury apartments and restaurant. The 
Nyungah people's wishes were simple: demolish the old buildings 
and establish a public park to restore the significance of the 
sacred site.

Clarrie also battled inside courtrooms against the development 
deal between the Lawrence Government and the rich and powerful 
Multiplex Construction. The thousands who supported the struggle 
will long remember his colourful tactics at the riverside site: 
the painting of park benches in red, black and yellow, the 
installation of a brewery site mail box (and insistence that 
Australia Post clear and deliver mail), the tying of the 
Aboriginal flag at the very top of an enormously tall Norfolk 
Island pine tree — all designed to keep supporters enthralled 
and dedicated to continue.

Clarrie was a tireless worker and an inspiring leader, often far 
from well, sometimes hungry, but always with an infectious and 
mischievous grin. The memory of this man with a warm smile, a 
stout heart, a brilliant mind and an Aboriginal flag in his hand 
will long be cherished by all who knew and loved him.