Ida Amelia WestAM (30 September 1919 – 8 September 2003) was an Australian Aboriginal elder who was better known asAunty Ida. She was the author ofPride Against Prejudice.
Ida West was born on Aboriginal reserve onCape Barren Island on 30 September 1919[1] and moved with her family toFlinders Island as a young child.[2] She was attended school inLughrata.[3]
In 1939 she married Marcus Sydney West. They had a daughter and two sons, but divorced in 1960.[1]
West spent her life lobbying for better health services and land rights for the Aboriginal community in Tasmania.[4] She was president of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre in Hobart.[5]
In 1984 her memoir,Pride Against Prejudice: Reminiscences of a Tasmanian Aborigine, was published byAustralian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.[6]
West was awarded theCentenary Medal in 2001 for "services to social welfare, justice and reconciliation"[7] and appointed aMember of the Order of Australia in the2002 Australia Day Honours for "service as a leader of the Aboriginal community in Tasmania".[8]
She received the Female Elder of the Year award at the 2002NAIDOC Awards[9] and was given a National Special Achievement Award at the 2003 NAIDOC ceremony.[4] She was inducted onto theTasmanian Honour Roll of Women in 2005, its inaugural year.[4]
West died of cancer on 8 September 2003.[2]
Speeches were made in Australian Federal Parliament on 10 September and in the Tasmanian Parliament on 23 and 30 September 2003, expressing condolences and recognising West's life and work.[2][10]
The Department of Health in Tasmania established the Ida West Aboriginal Health Scholarship in 2003 in her honour.[11][12]
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