Friday, June 13, 2025
HomeNewsFirst PeoplesVideo stories pay tribute to aunties

Video stories pay tribute to aunties

REDFERN: On the evening of July 10, the Wednesday of NAIDOC Week, it was standing room only in the main hall at Redfern Community Centre. The occasion was the launch of two videos telling the life stories of Biripai woman Aunty Alice (Ali) Golding and Kamilaroi woman Aunty Beryl Van Oploo, both of whom lived and worked for a significant part of their early adult lives in Redfern.

The Women’s Reconciliation Network (WRN) produced the videos and hosted the evening, which was emceed by Koori Radio’s Blackchat presenter Lola Forester. Aunty Millie Ingram, who maintains an involvement as treasurer on the board of Wyanga Aboriginal Aged Care since her retirement as its CEO in 2013, gave an acknowledgement of country.

Elaine Telford, a founding member of WRN more than 20 years ago, invited Senator Linda Burney to speak about Aunty Beryl and Aunty Ali. Despite nearing their eighties both women are still actively nurturing the next generations in Redfern.

Following her long career teaching hospitality courses within TAFE and as a noted chef running her own businesses, Aunty Beryl continues to mentor hospitality students in the Job Ready course at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence.

Aunty Ali worked at a number of local schools in various roles and then studied theology at Nungalinya College in Darwin. In 2011 she was appointed as the first Elder in Residence at UNSW and is now teaching Aboriginal culture at Redfern Jarjum College.

This year’s NAIDOC theme was “Voice. Treaty. Truth.” Dr Deborah Wall, who coordinated the project for WRN and interviewed the aunties, spoke of how fitting it was to “hear their life stories, backgrounded by the laws and policies that governed and proscribed limits to their aspirations” in the context of truth-telling.

Others who volunteered their services in the making of the videos were production assistant Sheilagh Kelly and videographer Dr Francisco Javier Proenza.

__________________

Links for the two videos can be found on Dr Proenza’s YouTube channel: An Aboriginal child’s life in Purfleet Mission: Aunty Ali Golding’s story and Aunty Beryl Van Oploo.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

spot_img
- Advertisment -spot_img
- Advertisment -spot_img

Aunty Millie Ingram recognised in King’s Birthday Honours List

Respected Wiradjuri Elder and long-time Redfern community leader Aunty Millie Ingram has been appointed as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours ...

Volunteers’ News – June 2025

Volunteers’ News – June 2025.

Sydney Writers’ Festival 2025 – guest curator Nardi Simpson on storytelling, the body and First Nations voices

At this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival, guest curator Nardi Simpson didn’t just help design the program, she created a space where relationships, connection, the body and the written word intersect.

Weaving a way to knowledge and healing 

I was born Karleen Green in Brisbane, even though my family lived at Fingal on the Tweed River in Bundjalung country, northern NSW.

Resilience, truth and faith – Jeffrey Samuels and the power of art

On Sunday May 25, ahead of National Sorry Day, a powerful moment of reflection and recognition unfolded at the Uniting Church in Ashfield.

590 beanies for 590 lives – Hats for Homeless marks Sorry Day with powerful tribute

Hats for Humanity, a special project of the Sydney-based grassroots initiative Hats for Homeless, marked this year’s Sorry Day with a striking gesture of remembrance and solidarity ...