Centre stage: Dr Lois Peeler at the National NAIDOC Awards on July 2. Photo: National NAIDOC Committee
Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri woman Dr Lois Peeler has been named Female Elder of the Year at the 2022 National NAIDOC Awards.
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Born and raised in Shepparton, Dr Peeler was a member of the Sapphires, along with Beverly Briggs, Naomi Mayers and Laurel Robinson, whose story touring war-torn Vietnam was dramatised for the big screen.
But there’s been plenty more to Dr Peeler’s story, as a strong advocate and role model for her community, and she said she was “humbled, a little overwhelmed and deeply honoured” to be recognised.
“The event last Saturday night was very fulfilling for me — it was recognition of my work from my own Aboriginal community on a national level,” she said.
Dr Peeler’s family lived on the riverbanks, known as The Flats, in Mooroopna, and later on orchards in Shepparton East.
After their house was burnt down, her parents decided to move to Melbourne and she went to a convent boarding school.
In 2008, Dr Peeler wrote an oral history book about the experiences of the people who lived on the riverbanks, in “terribly harsh conditions”.
“There’s many people who have achieved despite those harsh beginnings,” she said.
“My mother and father instilled particular values in us and a belief that we could do whatever we chose to do and to have the resilience and strength to do that — I think that stayed with me.
“I come from a very large family clan and Shepparton has been home but our resting place is what was Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve, now Cummeragunja Village, on the banks of the Murray.
“That’s our homeland and I go back as often as I can — it’s a sense of strong belonging, a sense of home.”
Recognition: Dr Peeler is the 2022 Female Elder of the Year. Photo: National NAIDOC Committee
Before joining the Sapphires, Dr Peeler was Australia’s first Aboriginal model.
In 1983, Dr Peeler and her sister Hyllus Maris established Aboriginal girls’ boarding school, Worawa Aboriginal College — where she is executive director.
Dr Peeler has made significant contributions to education and tourism, and chairs the Regional Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee.
NAIDOC Week runs from July 3 to 10, with the theme Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!.
Dr Peeler said it was important to acknowledge the long journey from the beginning of NAIDOC — when Aboriginal leaders came together to call for recognition through a day of mourning in Sydney in 1938.
“Our people hadn’t been recognised and weren’t given the same treatment as others, in fact they were fighting for their human and civil rights,” she said.
“I think we need to acknowledge that journey and all the people that had the strength and courage to take a stand.
“We’re hoping the broader community will join with us in the celebrations of our achievements but it’s also a recognition of the oldest living culture on the planet.
“It’s something we should be holding onto and celebrating.”
The National NAIDOC Awards were held on Saturday, July 2, at the Melbourne Convention Centre.
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