Marlee Silva - My Tidda, My Sister: Stories of Strength and Resilience from Australias First Women

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For two of my nannas, Pearl and Alice.
Your battles and triumphs have taught me what it truly means to be an Aboriginal woman. Im so proud to be yours, I hope I am making you proud too.

The majority of the work in this book was produced on the unceded lands of the Dharrawal and Gadigal peoples, where I work, live and have spent most of my life. As a Gamilaroi and Dunghutti girl, my people come from different nations to these, but this is where I feel at home. I am thankful to be able to thrive and create on these lands, and pay my respects every day to those who have come before me, our Elders present and those who will follow me in the future.

I acknowledge the unbroken connection between this continent and my people, which has lasted for over sixty thousand years. I draw strength from their resilience, woven into the fabric of the waterways and earth under my feet, and remember it always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this book may contain names of people who have died.

CONTENTS

TIDDA TALKS
Lets talk about mental health

TIDDA TALKS
Lets talk about January 26

TIDDA TALKS
Lets talk about caring for country

TIDDA TALKS
Messages from the @tiddas4tiddas community

I am a Tidda, Sista, Sister, Sis, Sissy, Aunty (and a mother and a nan), and I could not help but smile with recognition as I read the stories that fill these pages of Marlee Silvas book My Tidda, My Sister. I could place myself or my mother or my nana into these stories and easily relate.

AS BLACKFELLAS, WE KNOW THESE STORIES, WE WILL SMILE AND NOD OUR HEADS, ACKNOWLEDGE OUR SHARED HISTORIES AND EXPERIENCES: THE GOOD AND THE BAD.

We also know the written stories on these pages will help our own, and will help the broader community of non-Indigenous peoples in an understanding of who we are as black women, from yesteryears, today and for all the tomorrows to come. That alone gives so much hope and strength, knowing our survival holds firm in the mindset of our younger First Nations women, those in this very book.

My name is Leah Purcell, and I am a proud Goa Gunngari Wakka Wakka Murri woman, and it is a pleasure to be asked to write the foreword for Miss Marlee Silvas book My Tidda, My Sister.

When I was learning to use Instagram, and I was scrolling (chucking the terminology around here for effect because I have no idea, LOL) down, I came across Tiddas 4 Tiddas, and I immediately pressed follow. This sort of site is what I have been about for many, many years: empowering Aboriginal women. Giving them a platform to raise their voices, to be heard. I have written and participated in books sharing stories of my own, and with other contemporary black women, and how we survive and navigate in todays world.

My first writing was my own story, covering three generations of Aboriginal women: my mum, Nana and my own lifes stories in my play Box the Pony. Then came Black Chicks Talking it started as a book that would become a bestseller. I was very proud of this because I had failed English! Black Chicks Talking became a play and then a documentary. I was thrilled when other community organisations came up with other uses for BCT and with their own versions of it: there was More Black Chicks Talking and Murri Chicks Talkin Up, to name a few. This is why I write: to empower our Mob.

Being given the innate gift of storytelling, at times, can be a burden. But, I (we, all the other female Indigenous authors out there) understand this, its our chosen path, a blessing from our ancestors to carry on culture as storytellers in modern times, and it cant be ignored. We shoulder the weight of writing about our families and communities past pains, to bring about understanding of our peoples plight for others, giving us hope for a better future. We also have the responsibility to share all our achievements to empower our own talents, and to showcase our Mobs talents to the world. It is our role.

IT IS OUR GIFT TO THOSE WHO FOLLOW. ITS OUR WAY. IT IS OUR CULTURE, AND THATS JUST HOW IT GOES.

I wasnt aware of Marlee when I clicked follow that day, but I thought, this is a young woman of my own heart. Then, when talking to my partner, Bain (whos a big Rugby League fan), about how deadly I thought her Instagram platform is, he pointed out who her dad was, the silky, smooth fullback Rod Silva. Then Marlee approached me to be the subject of one of her podcasts, and I jumped at the opportunity to share my experiences and to encourage the next generation. I am in awe of this next generation: young, enthusiastic, intelligent on so many levels, and who continue to have the passion and drive to encourage, engage with and provide hope and strength to others; thas Blackfella way. Its who we are.

IT TAKES A GREAT DEAL OF COURAGE FOR ANYONE TO SHARE THEIR STORY, SO THANK YOU TO THESE WOMEN, BUT THEY WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS IF THEY DID NOT TRUST MARLEE, AND THAT IS A GIFT IN ITSELF, MARLEE!

These women wouldnt have opened up if Marlee wasnt open and honest in who she is and the journey shes been on, and through the pages of this book, you will witness this. So, thank you for your Dreaming, your honesty, bravery, skill and caring nature that makes for a nurturing platform allowing others to give their Dreaming over to you as the sentinel of these gifts of story.

In this book, you will hear of personal challenges and triumphs, hardships and heartache, but all wrapped in hope and promise. I enjoyed reading this book; I was nodding my head in agreement; my eyes teared up in the shared experiences of their pain. There is lots of smiling at the funny personal situations and anecdotes, and when I finished the final page, I felt great pride!

To all the women in this book, I wish you well, but I know youre all gonna be just fine, because you got ya tiddas watchin ya backs!

I believe this book will reach and speak in abundance to all who pick it up. These stories will never grow old, they will be shared by many of all races for many years to come.

TO BE CALLED SIS, SISSY, SISTER AND TIDDA IS HEART-WARMING, SOUL-ENRICHING; IT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF SECURITY AND A SENSE OF PRIDE THAT YOU BELONG, WHETHER YOU BE BLOOD OR NOT. SO, TO ALL THE TIDDAS, SISTERS READING THIS BOOK, NO MATTER WHERE YOU COME FROM, NO MATTER WHAT YOUR BACKGROUND OR HERITAGE IS, POWER TO YA!

Enjoy these Dreamings.

Peace

Leah Purcell

Actor/Writer/Director

Oombarra Productions

Picture this. Youre in a foreign space, a new school, a bigger than expected university hall, the cafeteria at work on your first day at a new job, or a party you got dragged to and left behind at.

The room is filled to the brim with faces. There are familiar features, but an alien air to them. That ones got dance moves like another you know, but theyre not quite to your beat. Yes, the movements look familiar, but you dont know their owners; they dont see you.

Empty air circles and weighs heavy all around, you grow impatient. Teetering on your tiptoes, you swallow and try to wet your dry throat, scan the clumps of trios and duos. You beg for a break in sound, a second to raise your voice and let them know your name.