Drawing upon her deep ancestral ties to Moorgumpin/Mulgumpin and Quandamooka Country (Moreton Island) as well as Jinibara Country through her family heritage, Christie Mancktelow, a proud Ngugi woman and student at CQUniversity, embodies the wisdom passed down by her Elders through her research endeavors.
As a Master of Research student, Ms Mancktelow has chosen to focus her studies on delving into the language, identity, and overall well-being of her Quandamooka community—a subject matter that resonates strongly with her.
"My interest and inspiration on this topic comes from my old people, and the sacrifices and risks they made to ensure we still had access to our culture and language," she said.
"I intend to continue my studies into a PhD in the hopes I can collectively, alongside my community, make contributions to research that impacts our communities in a positive way, and in turn contribute to the ongoing healing we need to do."
Ms Mancktelow, the eldest grandchild and the eldest among seven siblings, cherishes the influence her Elders had on her growth. They taught her resilience and strength, shaping their shared futures with their collective experiences.
"From my birth, my grandmother Stella Rose Mancktelow, a Ngugi woman and our family matriarch, was involved in my life – and she was a strong, resilient and patient woman who never allowed the negative experiences of her life to harden her heart," she said.
"I was often in awe of her ability to overcome the trauma and racism that she experienced and I listened as she would share happy memories of her childhood with her family; my grandmother chose to focus on what was good in her life and did not allow negativity in."
Ms Mancktelow recognises the important roles of her aunties, Joan and Marg, in their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. They have actively worked to repair and restore language, as well as reconnect families affected by the stolen generations.
"Once again I saw strong, resilient and patient women and I wondered at how these aunties could be this way despite all the wrong they had experienced in their life.
"I choose to be like them, strong, resilient and patient as I work towards contributing to the healing of our communities.
"Their legacy does not reflect the wrongs they experienced in this life, but rather the beauty, strength and resilience that they each carried with in them, no doubt passed down to them through many generations."
Her Aunty Marg was pivotal in impacting her research topic and together have worked to understand why there were only certain parts of their language left, and it was her Uncle Kell who had a significant role in encouraging her to attend university.
"I never felt it (university) was right for me, however, he never stopped encouraging me, so one day I finally decided to at least try and that is when I enrolled in the Tertiary Entry Program (TEP) at CQUniversity," she said.
Ms Mancktelow excelled at TEP, graduating in 2015 with a GPA of seven. She then obtained a Bachelor of Medical Science in 2020 on Gooreng Gooreng and Tarebelang (Bundaberg) Country.
Quickly, she enrolled in a Master of Research program in November 2021, with plans to finish this year and is grateful to Uncle Kell for his guidance.
"Our Elders are our knowledge holders and have been vital in our ongoing survival. I am glad to see this year's NAIDOC theme honours our old people and I pay my respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders across this country," she said.
"They are invaluable contributors to our communities, they work hard to preserve and protect our cultural knowledge and to share this with our future generations, we are blessed to have them."
