Eileen Morgan is an Elder of the Yuin people. She is the sister of Guboo Ted Thomas. She has lived most of her life in the Wallaga Lake area of southern New South Wales. Morgan's father taught her the bush medicine from her country. Her people's totem is the black duck from the Wallaga Lake area.
While Morgan was a young child, her family lived in Tilba Tilba, New South Wales. Her mother decided that Morgan and her siblings would receive some education, so the family moved to Wallaga Lake. Morgan stayed in school until she was fifteen, when she started work as a domestic helper in people's homes.
Morgan's father met Rex Morgan at Cummeragunja. He offered his daughter's hand in marriage to Rex. Morgan and Rex were married on the 20th January, 1940. Morgan's husband did not allow her to work after he found her scrubbing the floors; he told her he would work and she would never have to do anything like that again. They were still married when Rex passed away thirty-four years later.
A few months after Morgan's husband death, she began writing the stories of her life and her family. She wanted to record her culture and the stories before they were forgotten so that it could be handed down to her future generations. These stories eventually were published as The Calling of the Spirits by Australian Studies Press.
[Source: Morgan, E. The Calling of the Spirits, Australian Studies Press, 1994]
