Di Ryder is a Noongar woman, now a quintessential grandmother and a much loved elder, who says she wasted her education in the convent school she attended in Toodyay in the 1960s, but she got a second chance in the most unlikely place: the Australian Army.
Sitting in her home, the dense greenery of her garden spilling into the house where shelves and corners are full of well tended indoor plants, you wouldn’t know that Ryder had served in the Army for almost 21 years. But she’s enthusiastic and animated while talking about her time as a driver in the army, telling tales of adventure that are unexpected from the small woman who sits in front of me.
Ryder remembers her very first day in the army vividly, “I was standing there at the bus stop, arms crossed, and I hear and I see this Sergeant and everyone’s looking at us and she said, ‘unfold those arms!’ and I’m looking around and think ‘oh it’s me, okay’ and I put my hands on my hips and she says, ‘you’re not pregnant are you? Only pregnant women put their hands on their hips!’ and I thought ‘oh my god what have I gotten myself into now?’.”
But as Ryder warmly recalls how the army influenced the course of her life, there is a definite shift in the room as we begin to address the adversity she faced as an Indigenous single mother serving in the military.
“There was racism in the army and when people said ‘everyone’s green in the army’ it’s not the truth. People don’t hide their racism, even if they’re in uniform, and I did come up against a few with a bit of racism. It did raise its ugly head,” she said.
She described how her experience in the army depended largely on the people in charge. If they were accepting, she was treated just like the others, rewarded even for her hard work, but if they were racist, she missed out on opportunities for growth.
The sense of injustice Ryder felt because of the racism shone through most when she explained how, based on merit and qualifications, she should have been the first Aboriginal woman in the Australian Army to be promoted to Warrant Officer Class 2. However, a change in leadership at a critical time meant that her boss was less than favourable towards her and the title of ‘first’ went to Lorraine Hatton a time after. She pauses after telling this story. We sit in silence for a moment, both processing.
But Ryder stuck to her guns and served her country in spite of the challenges, “I got through it, I got through over 20 years,” she said.
Speaking at her dining table, clear of mess for the moment but covered in a plastic tablecloth no doubt used for its ‘wipe clean’ convenience when looking after her two grandsons. Ryder starts most days now with a walk around her local Stratton neighbourhood before her grandchildren arrive to be taken to school. As we sit, surrounded by family photographs overlapping in frames, the importance of family is clear.
Ryder grew up in the small town of Toodyay, east of Perth, with two hardworking parents and her 10 siblings. She describes camping at the gravel pits and going out to look for mandarins ripe on the tree with a visible fondness.
“I don’t know anyone who could stretch a dollar as far as my mum with 11 children. She’d have the chicken, and she’d cut its neck and Dad was like ‘nah, I can’t do it,’” she laughed. “Mum and Dad were beautiful people, and they sacrificed a lot.”
But her childhood recollections aren’t all quite as picturesque. When talking about her convent school, she said, “I don’t know how they could be so hypocritical because it was about God and religion, but they were so nasty to our family and Aboriginal people.”
Ryder lived through a time of great adversity for Indigenous Australians, with the Indigenous Referendum in 1967 marking the end of Aboriginal people being classified as part of “flora and fauna” in the constitution. While the passing of the referendum marked a change in social attitudes, her lived experiences highlight just how far we have had to come.
Of course, Ryder’s hardworking attitude didn’t cease to exist when she retired from the army. She currently works with numerous charitable organisations, particularly to do with the recognition of Indigenous Veterans in Perth and with the education of Aboriginal Youth. While most of us aren’t thinking about Christmas in September, Ryder’s work with Ngala Community Services for the Swan Aboriginal Community Christmas Celebration mean that she is already well on her way to organising for over 750 presents to be delivered in December. A community effort she describes as “reconciliation in action.”
As we finish talking Ryder shows me around her home and we arrive at a small table near the front door covered in framed certificates and photos which crowd the surface so much some of them have had to go on smaller pedestals on either side of it. Her accolades are countless with her Order of Australia and her National NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award, which she received in 2023 and 2017 respectively, standing pride of place. Her most recent achievement, her induction into the WA Women’s Hall of fame in March of this year sits proudly and dust free in the front row of frames.
