Sharing Aboriginal culture through storytelling – walking and talking

I’m Donna Maria Ingram, a proud Wiradjuri woman. I was born in Crown Street Women’s Hospital, Surry Hills in Sydney, the eldest of five children to Kathleen Maude Hamilton and Lachlan Ingram Junior. We lived in the Redfern Waterloo area for most of our lives. I now live on Bidjigal Country, near La Perouse, but I still spend most of my time in Redfern because of my family connections, social life and work.

I have strong ties with many organisations in the local area. I’ve worked as the customer service coordinator at Eora College (TAFE NSW) in Chippendale, assisting the students. I’ve also worked at Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Women’s Place, Wyanga Aboriginal Aged Care, Tribal Warrior Association and Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council. Since 2021, I’ve been working at Murawin, an Indigenous-led consultancy.

My family on both sides lived in the inner-city area, including Redfern, Waterloo, Erskineville and Newtown. My great-grandmother Maude May Murray bought a house in Walker Street, Redfern in the 1940s. My maternal grandmother Muriel Ruth Burton lived in Redfern and married my grandfather Stephen Hamilton. My paternal grandparents are Louisa Simpson and Lachlan Ingram Senior, Wiradjuri from Cowra, NSW. They both fought for Aboriginal citizens’ rights in Sydney in 1938. I have four children and seven grandchildren who still live in the area, and I love them dearly.

In the mid-2000s, I ventured into the tourism business and established my Aboriginal walking tours called Redfern Then and Now. The walking tours were set up to showcase the local Redfern Aboriginal community, which includes historical, social and political activism, and to introduce our Aboriginal world through storytelling. Our local organisations, such as medical, legal, aged care, preschool and employment services, were established due to our people being excluded from mainstream services or served by people who did not understand our culture. These Aboriginal-run services have been going for over 50 years.

After several years of running my tours, I realised how they highlighted the lack of knowledge of my people and culture in mainstream society. I’ve seen the gaps and the importance of sharing our knowledge to help build a more cohesive society. I would like to continue my tours and provide the history and knowledge of my culture and my people through storytelling, which is a major part of Aboriginal culture. I want to see my children and grandchildren live in a society that values them and their Aboriginal culture.

Donna Ingram will be taking walking tours of Redfern during the 2026 Biennale of Sydney.

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This article is part of a series by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living and working on Gadigal land. The series, a joint project of the SSH and the City of Sydney, is curated by Aunty Norma Ingram.