Patricia Ethel NagasPrint Page

The plaque commemorates Patricia (Patsy) Ethel Nagas for her lifetime dedication to the cause of Reconciliation in the Kyogle Community. Patsy was the first aboriginal person to be elected to the Kyogle Shire Council and the first aboriginal person to serve as Deputy Mayor. Patsy died in 2014 at the age of 66. 

A huge crowd farewelled former Kyogle Council Deputy Mayor and respected Bundjalung elder Aunty Patsy Nagas at a funeral service at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, Kyogle, on Thursday, 30 January. Aunty Patsy died on 19 January after a long, courageous battle with kidney disease. She was just 66 years old. The daughter of Uncle Mick and Aunty Ruth Walker, Aunty Patsy worked tirelessly throughout her life to improve the wellbeing of the Bundjalung people and was committed to promoting reconciliation. She was intensely proud of her heritage and was remembered by friends and colleagues as a woman who never stopped trying to effect change and right injustice. Aunty Patsy was elected to Kyogle Council in 2004, taking on the role of Deputy Mayor in the same year. Her election to Council re-wrote the history books – she was the first Aboriginal person to be elected to Kyogle Council and the first Aboriginal person to serve as Deputy Mayor of the Council.

“Some people think that things will never change; Patsy wasn’t like that. She believed that if you put in the effort and worked at it, things could be different. She didn’t ever stop trying,” is how a Council colleague remembered her. Aunty Patsy played a pivotal role in Kyogle’s NAIDOC and Reconciliation celebrations, campaigned to protect significant and sacred Aboriginal sites and was a passionate advocate for Aboriginal health. She was a member of the Bundjalung Elders Council and a long-time member and past Chairman of the Gugin Gudduba Local Aboriginal Land Council. Aunty Patsy and husband Gary Nagas had five children Jolene (deceased), Arminell, Gabriel, Courtney and Matthew.
Kyogle Council Community Newletter, Feb/ March 2014. 

The Kyogle community fondly remembers Aboriginal elder Patsy Nagas and her work to create reconciliation in the Kyogle community. The focus for the Kyogle Reconciliation Group over the past six months has been to raise money to build a memorial to Patsy, which will be placed near the lagoon at Anzac Park. A recent successful raffle of an original artwork by Patsy raised $1000 towards the memorial.

Patsy's Bundjalung name was Bundjulahm, which translates as "butterfly" and it is envisaged that the memorial will include a plaque in the shape of the winged creature, mounted on a basalt rock.

It will be sited next to an existing memorial commemorating the work of Patsy's father, Michael Walker, who also was a great advocate of working together towards reconciliation.
The Daily Telegraph (Lismore, NSW) 19 November 2014. 

A memorial was unveiled in honour of the late Aunty Patsy Nagas on 24 January, coordinated by the Kyogle Reconciliation Committee. It was very moving, with stories being told about Aunty Patsy and the inclusion of the most amazing song called the Bundjalung Bingle. Many thanks to everyone who attended and contributed to making it a wonderful day.
Kyogle Council Community Newsletter, Feb/Mar 2015.

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