ARIA and Queensland Music Award winner Emily Wurramara is a role model for young Aboriginal women and hopes to inspire others to embrace music, language and culture.
‘It’s so important, because that’s who I am, that’s what I am a part of and that’s part of my message to inspire young Indigenous women because we don’t get that many opportunities,’ Emily said. ‘I just want to be here to kind of be a little torch, be like, “Hey, I’m doing this, it’s okay. Let’s do it together”.
She spent her younger years on Groote Eylandt off the coast of the Northern Territory – one of the most remote areas of the country.
‘Growing up on Groote was just a life full of fishing, camping, a lot of family gatherings and very sacred ceremonies and cultural reflections, which was really cool,’ Emily said.
Her family moved to Brisbane when she was six in search of more opportunities and Emily discovered her love for music, starting with the violin she mastered six instruments and found her voice.
The songwriter sings in both English and Anindilyakwa. ‘Language is so important for me because it takes me back home and it’s a part of my identity and I think that it’s definitely something that I want to archive and preserve for our future generations.
‘I’m very proud of who I am and what I represent. I’m not only doing this for my culture, I’m doing this for the young women and young men who are the next generation to come and show them that there is no shame in wanting to show your culture and to preserve it. Because at the end of the day that’s what I’m trying to do – I want to archive my language for our future generations so they always have it there, and what better way to do it other than music.’
Hear more about Emily in our video as we celebrate the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
