When we arrived on the beach we all sat in a circle. We started out our talk with Liam who is the Indigenous group leader for Rustic, and an Aboriginal himself talking to us about his journey through life and his struggles and hardships. Liam grew up in a small town called Halls Creek in the Kimberley’s notorious for being a tough environment for indigenous youth. The town is known for burglary, theft, vandalism, and is known to have problems with alcohol, drugs, and suicide. As a child Liam was placed in the care of the DCP or Department of Child Protection till the age of seven when his grandmother returned from travelling and started taking care of him. Once Liam was placed under the care of his grandmother things started improve for him he went back to school and continued his education, and was even casted in a movie called “Australia” to play the part of a mission boy.
Liam has been able to accomplish a ton for not only himself but for his community serving as a role model for the youth, when he was going through schooling he became the first indigenous boy to go through years seven through twelve at a private school and was one of the first in his family to graduate high school.
Despite Liam experiencing tough and challenging obstacles in his life he has been able to persevere through it all make a life for himself doing what he loves to do “travelling.” Apart from him talking about the struggles of being an Aboriginal in today’s western society he also spoke about the rich history and traditions that surround his people. This included him talking about his spiritual experiences with the good and the bad spirits in Australia, which if good will help guide and protect you on your journey through life or if bad taunt and deceive you and try lean you down the darker paths of life.
Liam’s talk was an eye opener and effected all of us in some sort of way profound or not. He was able to relate to some in ways that others couldn’t understand and spoke from the heart about himself and his people. Personally, for me on this trip Liam has not only been there to share his culture and experiences with me but also good times and a lot of good laughs he is a good person and a friend for life and I hope to stay in contact with him even after our trip ends.
Written by Steven Guppy