Isabel Coe

Isabel Edie Coe (1951–2012) was a Wiradjuri woman born at Erambie Mission near Cowra, and one of the most prominent Australian Aboriginal leaders.

[1] Coe was one of the activists who monitored police brutality and harassment against Aboriginal people, which led to the establishment of the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) in 1970.

[2] She had a lead role in the running of the original Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, and was the lead litigant in Isabel Coe v the Commonwealth (1993), where she unsuccessfully tried to force the Australian government to recognise the sovereignty of the Wiradjuri nation.

[3] She was the sister of prominent activists Paul Coe and Jenny Munro,[4] and was married to Billy Craigie, one of the co-founders of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, who died in 1998.

[5]