Matilda Williams House was born in 1945 on the Erambie Aboriginal Reserve at

Cowra Cowra is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 9,863. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

(NSW), and raised in her grandfather’s house at Hollywood

Aboriginal Reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...

in Yass, NSW. When she was 12, House spent a year in Parramatta Girls' Home. House was one of ten children. House identifies as belonging to the

Ngambri The Ngambri are an Aboriginal people of the Walgalu nation who claim traditional ownership of the Australian Capital Territory area. Their traditional language is Walgulu (Guumaal). They are represented by the Ngambri Local Aboriginal Lan ...

Ngunnawal The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal and Gundungurra are Australian Aboriginal languages from the Pama-Nyungan ...

family group (also referred to as Ngambri-''Ngunnuwal'' family group), which has been formally recognised by the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

(ACT)

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

as having historical connections to the Canberra region and surrounds, particularly the region around Namadgi National Park.Matilda House, ‘Kymin and Kangaroo: a Ngambri love story’, Book 4, Tales from Ngambri History, ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services: Tuggeranong, ACT, 2003 Black Harry Williams, also known as Ngoobra, House’s great-grandfather, and Harry Williams her grandfather, both identified as Ngambri. There remains a dispute over who 'rights to country' belong to in the ACT, with the ACT Government issuing formal protocols regarding recognition of the traditional owners of the land on which Canberra is located, in response to a request from the United Ngunnawal Elders Council. House returned to Canberra in 1963 and has been actively involved in Indigenous Affairs in the Canberra region since 1967. House is the Chair of the

Local Aboriginal Land Council in Queanbeyan, NSW, which she established with her brothers in 1984, and the Joint Chair of the Interim Namadgi National Park Committee. She assisted in establishing the Aboriginal Legal Service in the 1980s, and has continued more recently through her membership of the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee. House has performed numerous welcoming ceremonies, including notably the first

Welcome to Country A Welcome to Country is a ritual or formal ceremony performed as a land acknowledgement at many events held in Australia. It is intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular Aborigina ...

to be held at the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...

at the opening of the 42nd Parliament of Australia. House has also served on the first ACT Heritage Council, the United Ngunnawal Elders Council, the Queanbeyan Regional Council of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (

ATSIC The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...

), the Ngambri Local Aboriginal Land Council, the Tent Embassy Advisory Committee and the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Consultative Council. She has also acted as an ACT honorary ambassador. House's involvement in Indigenous Affairs led to her delivering the welcome at Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation's ‘Sea of Hands’ installation, and contributing to the 'Bringing Them Home' report into the Stolen Generations. She was also one of the original protestors who established the

Aboriginal Tent Embassy The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January (Australia Day) 1972, and celebrating i ...

in 1972. House was named Canberra Citizen of the Year by ACT Chief Minister

Jon Stanhope Jonathan Donald Stanhope (born 29 April 1951) is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assemb ...

MLA in 2006.

References

* House, Matilda Williams, Strong Lines New Directions: an exhibition of prints by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists living and working in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Museums and Galleries Section, Museum and Galleries Section, Canberra, 1996, 39 pp

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:House, Matilda 1945 births Living people Australian indigenous rights activists Women human rights activists People from Cowra