Ngambri, Wallabalooa and Wiradyuri elder, Aunty Dr Matilda House-Williams, has been announced as the National NAIDOC Female Elder of the year at the 2023 National NAIDOC Week Awards.
Aunty Dr Matilda was recognised for being a "powerhouse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocacy".
Her work started in the mid-60s, where she educated Australians about the "yes" vote in the lead up to the 1967 referendum.
From the early 70s onwards, she also began working as a Aboriginal Liaison Officer in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.
Perhaps most recognisably, Aunty Dr Matilda was also one of the original protesters who created the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns outside Old Parliament House in 1972.
Alongside these roles, she played a part in establishing the Aboriginal Legal Services in the 80s and founded the Ngambri Land Council in Queanbeyan in 1984 alongside her brothers.
In 1989, she founded the Tjabal Indigenous High Education Centre at the Australian National University, for which she was recognised with the conferral of Degree of Doctor in 2017.
It's not the first time Aunty Dr Matilda has received awards for her lifetime of work, after she was named Canberra Citizen of the Year in 2006.
Wearing a traditional possum skin cloak as she accepted her award, she received a standing ovation from the 400-strong crowd.
Throughout her life she has been a part of several council groups, including on the first ACT Heritage Council, the Queanbeyan Regional Council of the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Consultative Council.
Aunty Dr Matilda also illustrates children's books, and spends time sharing Ngambri, Ngunnawal and Wiradyuri cultures in schools and education settings.
The NAIDOC website acknowledges Aunty Dr Matilda's continued and tireless work within her community.
"Those who know her personally vouch that she does not rest and continues to work for First Nations Peoples without any days off. Aunty Dr Matilda opens her heart, her home and Country to all communities who need her," it said.
"Despite the adversity and challenges that she endured for being born into a generation that didn't accept her, Dr Matilda House-Williams faced these head on, blazing new trails in the process.
"Aunty Matilda is a proud, strong, kind, yet fierce Blak Matriarch, who has created a legacy by forging new pathways for First Nations Women and our Mobs more broadly."
NAIDOC week started on July 2.
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