Aboriginal community mourns Chicka Dixon

Australia's indigenous community is mourning the loss of "one of the most
influential figures in contemporary Aboriginal Australia" after the death of Charles
"Chicka" Dixon.
Mr Dixon, 81, died at a Sydney nursing home on Saturday afternoon from asbestosis,
which the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) says he contracted as a wharf worker.
Born in 1928, he was a national figure and active in the campaign for the 1967
referendum on citizenship for indigenous Australians, and the NSW Government has
offered his family a state funeral.
"While I was aware he had been ill for some time, I was nevertheless deeply upset by
the news that he had passed away," NSW Aboriginal Land Council Chairwoman Bev Manton
said on Monday in a statement.
"Chicka was originally from Wallaga Lake and Wreck Bay reserves on the (NSW) South
Coast and was one of the most influential figures in contemporary Aboriginal
Australia."
In the 1950s, Mr Dixon was involved in the Federal Council for the Advancement of
Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders and setting up services in the Redfern
community in Sydney.
"Mr Dixon spent his life fighting for the rights of indigenous Australians," NSW
Premier Kristina Keneally said.
Mr Dixon was also a founding member of the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service and the
Aboriginal Medical Service, as well as being involved in the establishment of the
Tent Embassy in Canberra in January 1972.
"He dedicated his life to fighting for basic human rights and justice for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people," Ms Manton said.
His political involvement began in 1946 and in 1963 he joined the Waterside Workers
Union.
"In 1972 he led a delegation of Aboriginal Australians invited to visit China to
tell the Chinese about the Aboriginal struggle for justice while at the same time
shaming the federal government," Ms Manton said.
A foundation member of the Aboriginal Arts Board, Mr Dixon was also the first
Aboriginal person to be appointed as a councillor on the Australia Council.
"The Chicka Dixon story is the story of one of Australia's gutsiest fighters for
human rights," Ms Manton said.
The MUA echoed Ms Manton's comments, adding that he was a "man of character,
substance and unwavering courage".
"Chicka was a worker, leader and activist who was determined to turn around racism
and elitism and gain proper recognition for the extraordinary culture and character
of his people and the great injustice done to them," MUA National Secretary Paddy
Crumlin said.
Mr Dixon is survived by his two daughters, Rhonda and Christine, his brothers and
sisters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and extended family.
A date for a state funeral is yet to be fixed.