Our Members: Brittni Wann & Lakeisha Hile

31 August, 2014

Young Kamilaroi women Brittni Wann and Lakeisha Hile work at the Tamworth Local Aboriginal Land Council.

They both recently joined up as members of their local Land Council.

Brittni: I’ve been working at the Land Council for almost five years now I started just cleaning and filing and now I do administration and accounts. I’ve learned on the job I’ve done some courses the Land Council has supported me through all that.

As young people we need to step up and get involved so a generation doesn’t get missed, it’s really important.

There were a few young people there at the first meeting I went to. It was good for me to see and Harry (Cutmore, the Chair) and a few elders congratulated all us young people for being there.

If you just go along and get involved it opens up new pathways. I really didn’t know much about what a LALC did before I got here but it really opens your eyes. Here they do so much for community and people.

When I saw how many young people were there at the meeting I thought I might actually enjoy going to more meetings. It’s a good way of connecting with community.

The Board knows more of us need to get involved and they’re in the early stages of developing a youth group.

Lakeisha: I only joined as a member recently and I’ve been working at the Land Council for the past three months.

Those of us in the office who weren’t members, we all went in to the meeting together, it was a kind of bonding experience. We were all bit nervous we all had to stand up and introduce ourselves.

I had always participated in NAIDOC events through school and when I did this I thought it would be a good way to further my cultural identity.

I did notice there were people I knew from school at the meeting, so that helped ease my nervousness, It was good to see people around my age that I knew.

I know I’m get more involved in the community, I get to see and know more people and more about what’s going on. The more young people get involved it’s a flow on effect.

Acknowledgement

We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands where we work as well as across the lands we travel through. We also acknowledge our Elders past, present and emerging.

Artwork Credit: Craig Cromelin, from a painting he did titled, "4 favourite fishing holes". It is a snippet of his growing years on the Lachlan River, featuring yabby, turtle, fish and family.

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