Going home to Girramay

Added by First Languages Australia

Description Making this video was a journey about finding myself, reconnecting with my mob and reaching out to other Indigenous mob to inspire them to find their connection to family, country and culture.

It's also about educating the broader community of non-Indigenous people, and the world, about what it really is to be an Aboriginal person, and what it means to us.

Physically and mentally I am in place where I feel I can speak about my life and portray the path I have traveled, and what I want to achieve out of making Indigenous films.

This video is very important to me because it shows the challenges I’ve been through in life, and how even though I was a part of such a huge family I was so disconnected. But now that I’ve made the film I feel like I’ve repaired a wound that’s been aching for so long.

The opportunity to make this film came up through my work at the Cairns Institute at James Cook University. A colleague asked me to attend an ABC Open workshop knowing I was interested in making a film and here my journey began, with the fantastic support of Gemma.

It felt really good going back to country to make the video as it was a discovery process, and a deeper affirmation that I belonged to somewhere very special. The place had such beautiful presence, not only with the environment, but with my family that also lived there.

I hope my video gives other people inspiration to find themselves, their family, their country and their culture, even if they feel there is no hope.

Making this film has been an absolute godsend and it has given me so much more confidence in myself, as well as educating others. It has also shown me the importance of recording cultural history. I would also like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, Gemma for all her support, guidance and mentoring as I think this project has opened the door to many possibilities for me, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Written and produced by Seraeah Wyles

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.