Lois Peeler has a long list of achievements to her name, and now she has another one: NAIDOC 2022 Female Elder of the Year.
"I feel very honoured and a little overwhelmed actually, but very proud and humbled," Dr Peeler said.
A Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri elder, Dr Peeler was born in Shepparton. Her family hails from the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve and took part in the historic Cummeragunja Walk Off in 1939.
Dr Peeler said her parents instilled values in her that have guided her throughout her life.
"I grew up in a very strong family, both in a political sense and just achievement wise," Dr Peeler said.
Making history
Lois Peeler's achievements started early.
At just 17 she became Australia's first Aboriginal model.
She was employed on the Breakfast show with Hal Todd at GTV Channel 9, and went on tour around the country with the Australian Wool Board, showing off the 1961 gold-medal wool garments.
Dr Peeler then joined the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander singing group, the Sapphires.
She toured Vietnam with some of the group in 1968, during the height of the war, and she said there were many sobering moments.
"It was also a time when I felt pleased that we could bring some joy into the lives of the military personnel who turned up in droves to see us perform," Dr Peeler said.
"Many of those of course wouldn't have come back, but [bringing] just a little bit of happiness in their lives at that time is something I hold onto."
In 1983, Dr Peeler worked closely with her sister Hyllus Maris, who was establishing Australia's only Aboriginal girls' boarding school, Worawa Aboriginal College.
"It was based on her lived experience having come from Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve and my family living on the flats at Mooroopna, Shepparton in very harsh conditions, and not actually being very welcomed into the local school," Dr Peeler said.
That experience made her sister determined from a young age to have a school that was especially for Aboriginal children.
As well as working as the manager of the Aboriginal Employment Unit of the Victorian Public Service Board and heading Aboriginal Tourism Australia for more than 10 years, Dr Peeler has continued to make education a priority.
In 2014 she was made a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia. The award was made for her "significant service to the Indigenous community as an educator, advocate and role model".
In 2017, Dr Peeler received an honorary doctorate from RMIT University for services to Indigenous education and was awarded Victorian Senior Australian of the Year Award.
More recently, she has created a resource for Victoria's school curriculum, called Aboriginal Change Makers.
Rolling out in schools now, its aim is to ensure students learn about the struggles and triumphs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over time.
Dr Peeler said she still has a very strong connection with the country around Shepparton.
"That's our resting place. It's our ancestral homelands. My clan's up that way, so I go home a lot," she said.
And it is family that i front of mind after such a momentous accolade.
"I'm going off to see my great grandchildren and spend some time with them."
