Sister Veronica Ryan was raised in Quirindi, just south of Tamworth. She joined the Josephites Order at 18 and spent most of her adult life in the service of Aboriginal education.
Sister Veronica first went to the Kimberly region of Western Australia in 1974 and lived in a number of communities including Warmun, Lockridge, Broome, Kununurra, Beagle Bay and Wyndham. Before her time in Western Australia, Sister Veronica taught in a number of schools in New South Wales.
She was an early exponent of two-way learning (teaching the regular English curriculum along with the local language, culture and history). Sister Veronica moved to Warnum where she was instrumental in the establishment of Ngalangangpum School. She forged a strong bond with the Kija women of Warmun who accepted her as kin and gave her a skin name.
