1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: Now, we learned over the weekend that Nana Nangla Fijo 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: passed away aged ninety one, perhaps best known for being 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: the member of the Stolen Generations mentioned in Kevin Rudd's 4 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: apology speech in two thousand and eight. She was much 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: loved here in the Northern Territory and around the nation, 6 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: and her son and Darwin identity Richard Fijo, shared the 7 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: news on social media late last night or late on 8 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: Saturday night. It was which said rest in peace, Mum. 9 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: I'll always carry you with me. Now, nanaan Angla Fijo's daughter, 10 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: Christine Fijo King, joins me on the line right now. 11 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Christine. 12 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 3: Good morning. 13 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,239 Speaker 1: Firstly, I want to say I am so sorry for 14 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: your loss, and I know that all of the territory 15 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: is thinking of you and your family at this point. 16 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 2: Thank you, Christine. Can you tell us a little bit 17 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 2: about your mum. 18 00:00:54,440 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 3: Yes, Actually, I'm actually working on her eulogy at the moment, 19 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,919 Speaker 3: and so I've had cause to reflect on mum's life 20 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 3: and it's things like apart from being part of the 21 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 3: Stolen Generation, I've been focusing more on what it was 22 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 3: like growing up as her daughter and the things that 23 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 3: she worked on that led to the awards that she won. 24 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 3: So I guess Kevin Mudd has told the story of 25 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 3: her being taken from her family very well. But one 26 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 3: of the things that not many people know is that 27 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 3: mom never, never ever learned to drive a car, and 28 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 3: so my dad is the one that used to drive 29 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 3: us around and then my sister would take her out 30 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 3: to the community as my oldest sister. And part of 31 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 3: our lives growing up was music. My father and all 32 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 3: of his brothers played musical instruments, and my mother played 33 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 3: the organ and she could make it sing. And we 34 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 3: grew up with this, every weekend with this music, and 35 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 3: it was a lovely, lovely way to grow up. My 36 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 3: parents were heavily involved in the foot bo, the rules 37 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 3: and rugby, and we would wake up with boys everywhere 38 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 3: asleep on the lounge, and they would come. Some would 39 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 3: just go the next day, some would stay over a 40 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 3: couple of days, and my mother and father would feed 41 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 3: them and house them and talk to them if need be, 42 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 3: and then send them home to their parents and they 43 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 3: My mother just loved children, She loved spending time with families, 44 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 3: and these were not just Aboriginal kids them. There were 45 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 3: Aboriginal kids, there were Italian kids, there were a couple 46 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 3: of French kids. They were from all over the world, 47 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,640 Speaker 3: and so Mum would and Dad would welcome them into 48 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 3: our home. And I was just reflecting on my mother's 49 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 3: work life, because she worked all of her life and 50 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 3: from when we were little, my sister, my older sister 51 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 3: and I remember being pushed from Stuart Park into town 52 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 3: because Mum cleans the old primary school and the old 53 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 3: high school that used to be there where the old 54 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 3: where the current post office is, and so she would 55 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 3: clean the school. And then when Nightcliffe Primary School opened, 56 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 3: she was a cleaner at Nightcliffe High School. And then 57 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 3: she moved to work at the old Darwin Hospital in town, 58 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 3: and then she moved to Casuarina Hospital where she worked 59 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 3: and then Professor Matthews from Mensie's School of Health Research 60 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 3: was trying to get someone to work with him on 61 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 3: educational materials for our communities, and so he asked Mum 62 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 3: to work as an Aboriginal health worker with him, and 63 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 3: she worked on some of the projects that she worked 64 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 3: on were around chlamydia HIV and then into the Strong 65 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 3: and Strong Baby Strong Culture program and she used to 66 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 3: always practice everything on us kids than our children later, 67 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 3: and so we grew up being very aware of all 68 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 3: these health things. 69 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: She was an incredible woman, and you know, I think 70 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: that very often we as members of the public, when we, 71 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: you know, when we hear of the passing of somebody 72 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: so incredible and so prominent, we very often looked to those, 73 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: you know, to those different awards. I know that she 74 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: was one of the first recipients of the Chief Minister's 75 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: Women's Achievement Award in nineteen ninety eight, and she also 76 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: obviously gave that very important message to the then PM 77 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: Kevin Rudd. But you know, from what you've just told 78 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: us this morning, the most important thing that she was 79 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:51,799 Speaker 1: was your mum. 80 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 3: That's right, An it was, yeah. 81 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 2: And it sounds like she was an incredible one. 82 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 3: Yes, she was. We we we had so much fun growing up. 83 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 3: Like I said, we had music every weekend. Of course, 84 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 3: she was always working, but she always made us important 85 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:19,239 Speaker 3: in her life, and not just us, but her brothers 86 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 3: and sisters. Like we used to drive from Darwin to 87 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 3: Alice Springs every year and Dad would do all the driving, 88 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 3: and that was to visit my mum's sisters in Alice 89 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 3: Springs and her really good friends from the mission, the 90 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 3: Brave Family, and you know, all of all of these 91 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 3: things were part of our lives, getting in the car 92 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 3: and traveling. And then she found out that her youngest 93 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 3: brother was in Elliott with his family. And I remember 94 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 3: when he came up and Mum and us kidders went 95 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 3: to the beach with him, and he'd never seen the 96 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 3: sea and we and Mum was telling him about the sea, 97 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 3: and she couldn't explain, so we took him down to 98 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 3: the beach and it was the first time he'd seen 99 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 3: the sea. And he went to take a drink because 100 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 3: from the desert, you know, you drink the water. And 101 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 3: then he saw a wave coming in and it scared 102 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 3: him and he ran up the beach, going, what's happening? Happening? So, 103 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,359 Speaker 3: you know, and from that time we never lost contact. 104 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 3: We and my mother loved her family, and so we 105 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:28,160 Speaker 3: learned to and came to love her brothers and sisters 106 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 3: and her friends, her family from the mission. They all 107 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 3: got together the Croke Island Mission, and they were like 108 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 3: brothers and sisters to her as well. So you know, 109 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 3: we had this massive extended network of family and other 110 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 3: kin that were there for us. 111 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 2: Christine, it's beautiful to hear some of those memories. And 112 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 2: I know that. 113 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: As I said, I know your mum means so much 114 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: to the Northern Territory community, and obviously she means so 115 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: much to you guys and to your whole family. 116 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 2: What do you think your mum's greatest legacy will be. 117 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 3: I think her greatest legacy is her children and her grandchildren, 118 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 3: because she taught us to have the same ethics as 119 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 3: she did, to have the same beliefs in being kind 120 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 3: and generous and helping those around us, and the expectation. 121 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 3: My mother was always very proud of being a war 122 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 3: Amongo woman, so proud of it, and she would always 123 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 3: say to us, you do all this work for the 124 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 3: Larachie people, for your father's people, but don't forget my people. 125 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 3: I am a proud war Amongo woman. And so that's 126 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 3: the legacy that she's given us is pride in our heritage, 127 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 3: pride in our family, but the knowledge that that pride 128 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 3: comes with the responsibilities of care and love and capacity 129 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 3: to help wherever we can. And that's a wonderful legacy. 130 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 2: Christine. I really appreciate your time this morning. 131 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: It's been beautiful to hear those words about your mum. 132 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 2: Thank you so very much for speaking with us today. 133 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 3: You're very welcome. 134 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 2: Thank you,