Tributes: Vale Priscilla Ann Wightman, Lismore indigenous rights campaigner, Stolen Generations survivor

A tireless indigenous rights campaigner and Stolen Generations survivor who was snatched from home as a gun was held to her mum’s head is being remembered as a “force to be reckoned with” who “turned trauma into healing”.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers: This story contains images of people who have died.

A tireless Lismore indigenous rights campaigner and Stolen Generations survivor who was cruelly snatched from her family as a gun was held to her mother’s head is being remembered as a “force to be reckoned with” who “turned trauma into healing”.

Priscilla Wightman or Aunty Priscilla as she preferred, a Gamilaroi woman who lived on Bundjalung country at Goonellabah, Lismore, died on Friday at the age of 66. Her passing has been described by her “distraught” family as “sudden and tragic”.

Priscilla Wightman. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Wightman’s television appearance went viral last year, 15 years after Kevin Rudd’s National Apology in 2008, telling SBS rather than feeling saddened by the apology, she “felt numb”.

Ms Wightman was in parliament for the speech and said Mr Rudd “eyeballed her” as he gave the apology, which focused on the Stolen Generations and the pain and trauma caused by the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities.

In unimaginable circumstances, Ms Wightman was cruelly snatched from her family at the tender age of two as a gun was held to her mother’s head during a raid on a mission in Moree, northern NSW.

The 1960 daylight raid was conducted by police, welfare officers and hospital staff when all of the men in the families were at work, leaving the helpless women and children without defence.

Ms Wightman and several of her cousins were taken in the raid.

Ms Wightman with family. Picture: Supplied.

She told the Northern Star in 2008 she does not remember her parents, or know what it was like to be raised by parents who love you and always put you first.

“I compare it (the Stolen Generations) to what happened to the Jews and the atrocities of that past,” she said at the time.

“There was that whole idea of taking the lighter-skinned people away to integrate and assimilate them to wipe out the indigenous population.”

Ms Wightman said she lived with the pain of the event “every single day” and that the healing process would “never stop”.

“I can’t get my mummy and daddy back,” she said.

Ms Wightman (right) at home in Goonellabah in 2008, ahead of attending Parliament House in Canberra for Kevin Rudd's National Apology. Picture: The Northern Star.

In the wake of her death, tributes for Ms Wightman have flooded social media.

Her daughter Em Gala wrote: “Sadly on Friday 31st of May 2024 our matriarch staunch, beautiful, resilient mummy Priscilla Ann Wightman gained her wings and the lord called her. It still doesn’t feel like reality for us.

“Mummy was a staunch powerhouse of a woman who fought up against the system until her last breath for our rights and to bring our Jarjums back home to country and with their families where they belong.”

Lismore MP Janelle Saffin wrote: “I extend my deepest sympathy to Priscilla’s family who loved her dearly.

“Priscilla was a great woman and never stopped serving community. I was privileged to know her and work with her on improving services.

“We were last together at the Sorry Day breakfast 16th anniversary and flew the flag for Lismore.”

On a fundraiser set up for Ms Wightman’s family, she was described as a “Christian woman, who loved God and God loved her” who “was passionate about her culture”.

“Priscilla was a Stolen Generations child, who transformed her trauma into healing.

“She was a matriarch, who loved all people black, white and brindle. She loved her mob, and would go above and beyond for anyone who crossed paths with her.

Ms Wightman with family. Picture: Supplied.

“She was a force to be reckoned with. Fighting against the system and healing so many families by bringing their babies back home to be with their families on Country. Strong. “Powerful. Loving. Proud.”

The fundraiser stated that Ms Wightman did not have a funeral fund, and that funds raised would go towards the service and her family.

To date, $2300 has been raised toward a $10,000 goal.

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