Aunty Matilda House
Image: (left) Aunty Anne Martin, Director of the Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre, and (right) Aunty Matilda House, local Ngambri-Ngunnawal Traditional Owner. Image Stuart Hay, ANU.
Aunty Matilda has been a campaigner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights for decades now. She was there at the forefront of the campaign during the 1967 Referendum; there at the establishment of the Tent Embassy in 1972 with her brothers Arnold and Harold; there to lead the fight for the establishment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service in Canberra and Queanbeyan; there when the Tjabal Centre opened in 1989; and is here now as a member of the Stolen Generations Advisory Committee, patent for the ANU Indigenous Alumni, and Elder-in-Residence of the Tjabal Centre.
When asked what she believes will make a difference in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lives, Aunty Matilda has one word: education. As a young woman, she wasn’t afforded the opportunity to finish her schooling career and so sees the value it has in life. This however hasn’t stopped her from contributing and achieving all she has and she attributes this to her mother, grandmother and Aunties.
Aunty Matilda says without them, she wouldn’t have the knowledge she has now. She says her mother has made it possible for her to survive and thrive. Aunty Matilda hopes she is passing this onto the next generation.
Our success is testament to this. Any time we are in her presence, we are gifted with just a little of her knowledge, her wisdom and her wit.
Thank you for all that you do Aunty Matilda. Because of you, we can!
When asked what she believes will make a difference in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lives, Aunty Matilda has one word: education. As a young woman, she wasn’t afforded the opportunity to finish her schooling career and so sees the value it has in life. This however hasn’t stopped her from contributing and achieving all she has and she attributes this to her mother, grandmother and Aunties.
Aunty Matilda says without them, she wouldn’t have the knowledge she has now. She says her mother has made it possible for her to survive and thrive. Aunty Matilda hopes she is passing this onto the next generation.
Our success is testament to this. Any time we are in her presence, we are gifted with just a little of her knowledge, her wisdom and her wit.
Thank you for all that you do Aunty Matilda. Because of you, we can!