Aboriginal protocol usually links the right to tell a story with a declaration of involvement or connection to the story.1
I am Aboriginal . . . I am a woman, daughter, sister, aunty and wife. I am also a mother to three beautiful children aged 6, 4 and 2 years. To my children at this point in their lives, I am their provider, nurturer, teacher, cook, taxi driver, mediator, stylist, Elder, slave, and expert on all there is to know in the world. Being the centre of the universe to three impressionable young minds is a role that I cherish deeply, and I take the responsibilities of it very seriously. I love the job of parenting. As any parent would agree, it is the most challenging and difficult job of all, but the opportunity to bring a life into the world and shape and mould a little person into a big person brings rewards that no career can.
The story I share here is of a professional journey I travelled within my own community in coordinating an Indigenous early years intervention. I simply cannot tell this story without acknowledging and declaring my connections as a mother first. It is through my identities as a mother and an Aboriginal person that this journey was experienced, and therefore it is through these eyes that this story is told.
