Truth-Telling Mitchelton Library with Michael Williams
For decades, as a Gooreng Gooreng man and former head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the University of Queensland, Uncle Michael Williams has been a guiding voice in assuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islandercultures are respected, protected, and taught truthfully.
His work has demonstrated a deep commitment to his community and the careful, deliberate sharing of First Nations knowledges. After a long career in senior roles at universities, he is actively engagedwith the School of Languages and Culture at the University of Queensland, providing leadership on Indigenous knowledges.
He is a fully initiated man (a Wati)—referred to as being ‘put into lore’ — with intrinsic connections to Warlmanpa, Yankunytjatjara, Pitjantjatjara, Eastern Aranda and Central Aranda peoples. He has undergone the formal, rigorous rites of passage required to become a custodian of his culture. He teaches that a community’s heritage is not just information to be freely taken, but a living culture that requires disciplined care, respect, and protection.
