Ysola Best, a Yugambeh woman, spent much of her life researching and documenting her Indigenous heritage. Best's ancestors were the Koombumerri families of the Yugambeh speakers, and were the traditional custodians of the Gold Coast.
The granddaughter of Jenny Graham (q.v.), and daughter of Edith Graham and Stanley Yuke, Best spent much of her childhood on the Nerang River on Brighton Parade in Southport and was the youngest of six children. Best married Robin Best in 1962. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Adelaide in 1990 and then a Graduate Diploma in Museum Management from James Cook University. Best was a member of the Aboriginal advisory committee of the State Library of Queensland and worked for the Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages
In 1997, Best wrote Kombumerri: Saltwater People published by Heinemann Library educational publishers. The book documents Best's personal view and family history as well as the history of the Yugambeh peoples and looks at what it means to be Indigenous in Australia today. She co-authored Yugambeh Talgah with her sister Patricia O'Connor and Candace Kruger. Best was involved with Yugambeh Museum language Heritage and Research Centre and provided assistance to her family in demanding that the University of Queensland return skeletal remains of ancestors for burial.
