AustLit

Reginald Birch is a musician and an artist as well as having been a 'sportsman, rigger, diver, stock worker, tourist guide, fisherman, community worker and political activist'.

Birch was born at the Forrest River Mission and spent time living around the Wyndham and Kimberley areas. He has represented the Indigenous community at local, state, national and international levels. While living in Canberra, he worked at the Council for Aboriginal Development and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).

In 1977 Birch was selected to represent the Kimberley at the National Aboriginal Conference, a role he held until 1981. This position gave him the opportunity to be the South Pacific representative to the World Council of Indigenous People. From 1982 to 1985, he chaired the State Advisory Committee for the Aboriginal Lands Trust. He had the opportunity to be the ATSIC Commissioner of Northern Western Australia twice. Birch helped formed the Kimberly Land Council (KLC), and chaired the council from 1988 to 1990.

One of Birch's personal highlights in his life was when he co-supervised the process of returning Aboriginal remains from universities and other institutions.