Last but not least is my mother, Tammy Hunter. She brought me in to this world, cherished me and raised me never knowing anything but love, kindness and culture. She is my biggest role model and the person who means the most to me in this world.
Mum is the daughter of respected Wurundjeri Elder Norm Hunter and Annette Hunter, and is the second youngest of 6 children. She grew up in Broadmeadows and has lived all around Melbourne before finally settling in Brisbane with her husband Chicka Turner at the beginning of this year.
Mum has worked for many different organisations – always with the Aboriginal community in some capacity. Previously she worked with Park Victoria as a ranger, the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre facilitating Cert II’s and IV’s in leadership, she was employed with Aboriginal Affairs Victoria managing education, employment and women's and men's programs, and also with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency as the State-wide Coordinator for Aboriginal Cradle to Kinder. She also worked at Victorian Aboriginal Health Service as the Healthy Lifestyle team leader and is incredibly passionate about health, fitness and wellbeing within the Indigenous community and she currently works at the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health as the Workforce Training and Development Project Officer in Brisbane.
Some of her proudest achievements include facilitating the Indigenous leadership courses and being a recipient of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship in which she was able to travel to Indigenous communities in New Zealand, Canada and America. I was able to go on this trip with her and as an 8 year old it was truly amazing and such a great learning experience. Meeting all the different people and learning about their cultures was eye opening and made me appreciate what I had but also made me long for what could have ben as a lot of the people we spoke to were able to speak their language, something neither my mum nor I can do.
My mum is a strong Wurundjeri woman and is one of the most important people in my life. She has raised me to be a strong, intelligent woman who is proud of her culture and I hope that I make her proud every day. Every day she inspires me and continues to show me why she is one of my biggest role models.
It is because of her I am connected to country, it is because of her that my community and culture is the most important thing in my life, it is because of her I am able to feel proud to be Aboriginal, it is because of her I am able to educate others, it is because of her I am passionate, it is because of her I am kind, it is because of her I am strong. It is because of her, I can.