Amelia Kunoth

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Amelia Kunoth (born Amelia Pavey, roughly the 1880s – 1984) was an Aboriginal Australian woman who helped run several famous cattle stations in Central Australia, including Utopia, Bond Springs, Hamilton Downs and Tempe Downs.

She was the granddaughter of Unchalka/Erruphana (also called King Charlie), who controlled the land around Alice Springs before Europeans arrived. There is a famous local story that Unchalka met the first white visitors at Honeymoon Gap, offered water, and showed them a waterhole near what would become the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. Kunoth later spoke of this tale as an example that colour should not create barriers, though not all historians note the story.

Her father was Edgar Pavey, a butcher and one of the first European residents of Alice Springs (then called Stuart). Her mother was an Arrernte woman, but her name isn’t recorded. There is no official birth record for Kunoth, and her age at death is given as both 93 and more than 103 in different accounts. She was not raised by her father; after her mother died when she was very young, she lived at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station and was brought up by the Bradshaw family, whose station master was Thomas Bradshaw. Kunoth worked with them as a companion and nurse for their seven children and was deeply loved in the family.

Different sources give different details about her living arrangements during this time. Some say she was part of the Bradshaw family; others say she was a day girl who lived at a camp across the river and returned home each day.

Kunoth later began a long relationship with Harry Kunoth. They had several children together; the police, led by Sub-Protector of Aborigines Robert Stott, urged them to separate after it became clear there were multiple children. After a period away at Hermannsburg, Harry Kunoth was allowed to employ her again, and the couple eventually married. They moved together to Bond Springs Station in 1916, where they spent their lives running cattle stations and where Amelia cooked for the workers and ran the home.

In 1939, a Northern Standard notice stated that Kunoth “shall not be deemed to be a half-caste” under Aboriginal laws of the time, a change that affected restrictions around movement, alcohol, and child guardianship. Their children and grandchildren were affected by the policies of the era, with some of Kunoth’s grandchildren entering institutions associated with the Stolen Generations.

Amelia Kunoth and Harry Kunoth had eight surviving children, and by the time of her death she had more than 50 great-grandchildren and several great-great-grandchildren. She encouraged pride in Aboriginal heritage while also valuing a European education for her children. Her granddaughter Rosalie Kunoth-Monks rose to national fame for her role in the film Jedda and became a well-known community and political advocate.

Kunoth’s life left a lasting impression in Alice Springs and Central Australia. The local press called her a “true lady of the bush,” and many people knew her as “nana.” Her oral history is preserved in Library & Archives NT for those who want to hear her story in her own words.