Level 13

Keith Peters is a prominent member of the Yalata and West Coast Aboriginal community, and a key storyteller and spokesperson for the Yalata community and the Maralinga Tjarutja Council, including advocating for community housing and local services, and involvement in cultural tourism. He has also been integral to the establishment of programs to develop skills and training for men at Yalata, organising welding, carpentry and stone masonry workshops.

Keith has been a longstanding advocate for cultural rights and the maintenance of the Yalata Indigenous Protected Area. He has represented the Maralinga communities in handover ceremonies returning control of Maralinga Lands to Anangu, and was a traditional owner involved in the Far West Coast Native Title claim successfully determined in 2013. Keith is currently a Director of the Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation, representing Yalata alongside Gavin Peel, and is a member and past Chairperson of the Maralinga Tjarutja Council and Executive Officer and former board member of the Yalata Community Council.

Keith has been involved in health programs focussed on the Yalata and West Coast Aboriginal community, including working with the Tullawon Health Service in Yalata; working to address trachoma in remote communities in partnership with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO); and as a representative for Yalata, alongside Mima Smart, at a coming together of community and government at Ceduna in 2012 to address alcohol related issues and the broader social determinants of ill health, including advocating for improved access to community housing. Keith is also a former Aboriginal Lands Trust board member.

Keith has been an outspoken community representative on nuclear issues, and was a signatory with many other traditional owners rejecting plans for a proposed nuclear waste dump on their land in 2016. He was involved in the ‘Nuclear Futures’ project from 2014, “exposing the legacy of the atomic age through creative arts”, including as lead storyteller and advisor for a sculptural work at Yalata.

Keith is a guitarist, keyboard player, singer and songwriter, and is the lead singer of the Yalata Band. In 2016 he worked on a new version of ‘Maralinga Song’, originally by Johnny Lovatt. The song tells the story of the nuclear bomb tests of the 1950s and ‘60s, and the resultant impact to Anangu communities, and was translated into Pitjantjatjara for the community music project, funded by Country Arts SA.

Among other leadership roles, Keith has been a strong leader of the Yalata Lutheran Church since 1982 when he was installed as an Evangelist (pastor in training). He was ordained as a Lutheran Pastor in 1992 and ministered in Yalata and Oak Valley for 14 years. During that time Keith mentored Russell Bryant who is now the serving Pastor at Yalata as well as being the current Chairperson of Yalata Community. Keith is an Emeritus Pastor and continues to serve the Church in his retirement.

Harry Miller Senior is a prominent and respected member of the Port Lincoln Aboriginal community, most well-known for his work in Aboriginal health and community services, and his lifetime contributions to football. Married to Roxanne Miller with five children and many grandchildren, Harry was born in Port Lincoln and has lived there throughout his life, working to benefit his local community, and representing the region in local and national forums over the years.

Harry is deeply involved in Port Lincoln and Eyre Peninsula Australian Rules Football, working in various roles at the Mallee Park Football Club over the years including as Coach, Chairperson, Vice-President and Club Secretary. He played over 150 games for Lincoln South and Mallee Park over his career, and in 1983 was one of two Aboriginal players in the first SANFL-West End Country Team, alongside Mallee Park legend John Burgoyne, against a Western Australian team in the curtain-raiser to a WA-SA League clash in Perth. Harry was a Mail Medalist with Lincoln South in 1979, and following his move to Mallee Park in 1984 was approached by several prominent clubs, but ultimately chose to stay in Port Lincoln.

Since going back to complete his schooling as a young adult, and undertaking further study in community services, Harry has worked in education and community services for over thirty years. Harry is a former CEO of the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service (PLAHS) and current board member, where he has worked for many years contributing to the growth of the service to include primary health care, maternal and child health, family health, aged care and a learning centre.

Harry has served on various other boards and committees over the years, including as a Regional Councillor on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) for six years, representing the SA West Coast; and as a member of the South Australian Aboriginal Consultative Committee.

In 2015 Harry was named NAIDOC SA Person of the Year for his contributions to the health sector, the community and through football, and for his work since 2014 as a key local facilitator of the Department of Education and Training’s ‘Positive Partnerships’ program – supporting children and young people on the autism spectrum, as well as their parents, carers, and teachers.

Committed to developing strong leaders and families in the Port Lincoln and greater Aboriginal community, Harry has striven to develop community capacity holistically; to “be inclusive of all citizens and encourage positive pathways for young people of our city,” in his own words.

Maureen ‘Mima’ Smart is a Pitjantjatjara Anangu woman and respected member of the Yalata and broader South Australian Aboriginal community. Born at Penong in 1956, Mima’s family came from the Ooldea Mission, but were forced to move South following the British nuclear testing in the region in the 1950s. Yalata Community became the home of the Ooldea people after this time, and Mima was raised there and lives there to this day. She has been an outspoken leader in the community over many years and has acted as a spokesperson and advocate for Yalata interests with many government agencies and NGOs.

Mima is a dedicated volunteer and leader in the Lutheran Church, and is a former Chairperson of the Yalata Anangu School, where she has worked as an Aboriginal Education Worker for the last twenty five years.

Mima is a former Chairperson of the Maralinga Tjarutja and Yalata Community Councils. She has served as a board member for Aboriginal Family Support Services, and the Alinytjara Wilurara Natural Resource Management (AW NRM) Board, responsible for developing and delivering the NRM plan for the region, advising on issues affecting community and culture, and on developing effective partnerships with organisations, agencies, communities, traditional owners, elders and individuals for mutual benefit – ngapartji ngapartji. Mima was also instrumental in the Palya Kalkuni (“a promise to work together”) partnership agreement between Yalata and the AW NRM identifying mutual responsibilities, opportunities and expectations for managing future NRM work with the Yalata Community.

In 2016 she was an outspoken signatory, alongside other traditional owners, in rejecting plans for a proposed nuclear waste dump on their traditional Country, calling on the Citizen’s Jury convened by the State Government at the time to “respect Aboriginal First Nations and to reject the high-level nuclear waste dump plan.”

Mima has been involved in health programs targeting the Yalata and West Coast Aboriginal communities, and is a member of the board of Tullawon Health Service. She was part of roundtable discussions to address alcohol related harm in 2012, with several government department and community organisation representatives, and in initiating a partnership with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) and Yalata Community to eradicate trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness in many remote Aboriginal communities, in 2015.

Mima is also an accomplished visual artist and member of the Ceduna Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Centre. She exhibited in the 2008 ‘Our Mob’ Exhibition at the Adelaide Festival Centre, and was involved in the 2016 ‘Black Mist Burnt Country’ national touring exhibition commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Maralinga bomb tests carried out by the British Government, as both an artist in the exhibition, and as a project guide for a collaborative canvas that tells the story of Pitjantjatjara Anangu at Yalata, by ten other artists.

Mima was awarded NAIDOC SA Person of the Year in 2005, and received a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2012 for services to the Aboriginal community in South Australia.

Mima continues to play an active role in the development and promotion of arts and culture, such as her contributions to the Adelaide meets the Bush exhibition at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute in 2018 – presenting interpretations of the region’s people, country and water, through art, photography and video, in partnership with the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board. Speaking to Landcare Australia, Mima said of the exhibition:

“The Adelaide meets the Bush exhibition is our way of inviting people to our region, to let them see the beauty there, to let them see what we are doing to help our country and our people, and to understand our dreams for the future. We want to build new friendships and partnerships and forge better prospects for us all.”

In 2020, Mima contributed as co-presenter to the ABC documentary Maralinga Tjarutja, directed by prominent lawyer, academic, filmmaker, and Kamillaroi and Eualeyai woman, Larissa Berendt. Mima’s Maralinga art, painted in collaboration with other Yalata minyma tjuta — women artists, was also an integral background to the story in the film.

Iris Yumadoo Kochallalya Burgoyne (‘White Cockatoo’) was a respected Mirning and Kokatha Elder and prominent figure in the Port Lincoln Aboriginal community. Born at Koonibba Mission on the west coast of South Australia in 1936, Iris grew up learning traditional Law and culture from her family extending to her great-grandparents, and regularly travelled to their traditional country at Wigina (near Fowlers Bay). At Koonibba she would also learn from Elders living separately and independently on the outskirts of the mission, attending Cultural dances that gave her a very good understanding of Aboriginal Culture, and in turn shared her knowledge with the younger generation.

As a teenager Iris and her sisters were sent away to work as domestic servants, including at a station near Woomera where she remained for two and a half years, before returning finally to Koonibba. In the late-1940s Iris’ family moved to Port Lincoln, then to the Mallee Park reserve at the edge of town that would become the Mallee Park mission.

In 1957 Iris met her husband George in Port Lincoln, and they had two children together before the law even permitted their relationship. When they were able to live together they settled in Port Lincoln where the children attended school and Iris could care for her mother.

Iris worked various jobs throughout this period, whilst raising her four children, and increasingly, the children of siblings and other family lost over the years. Iris is remembered for her tireless efforts in raising so many in such difficult circumstances, and was proud of the achievements of her family’s younger generations, to whom she was a mentor and an inspiration.

When the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service (PLAHS) was established in 1993, Iris was appointed its inaugural Chairperson. She was passionate about health and a strong advocate for the traditional bush tucker to which she attributed her good health into her later years, and promoted throughout her life.

In 2000 Iris published a book about her life and family, “The Mirning: We are the Whales.” The book is a vivid and compelling oral history of life on and around Koonibba Mission, and what Iris unsparingly names as European invasion and violence on her community and their traditional way of life; and yet surviving and maintaining a strong sense of culture and belonging.

Iris received the Elders Ambassador Award in 2002, and in 2004 was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). Since her passing in 2014, Iris remains well known for passing on Aboriginal culture to the next generation, including through visiting schools and running programs.

Evelyn Gertrude Johncock (née Miller) was a Kokatha woman born at Koonibba on 24th April, 1938. She was the second eldest child of William (Bill) and Ruby Miller (née Kent). She was baptised at the Koonibba church on 8th May 1938, by Pastor Clem Eckerman.

Evelyn’s first years were spent at Koonibba with her parents and siblings until about age thirteen. Here she attending church every Sunday, and recalled going hunting on a horse and buggy. The family later moved to the Nullarbor for rabbit trapping, and eventually to Port Augusta where Evelyn met Bill Lennon, with whom she had a daughter.

After her parents moved to Port Lincoln, Evelyn decided to relocate there as well, living with extended family until they got their own tin shack on Ravendale Road. Evelyn had fond memories of Ravendale Road, including the Mallee Park reserve where the Miller, Larking, Kelly, Richards, Dudley, Burgoyne, Bilney and Mundy families lived.

Evelyn was married to Graham Johncock (Snowy) at Port Lincoln in 1958, and they had seven children together. After Graham passed away in 1976, Evelyn would raise her children with the help of one of her friends. Later she met Colin Gould, and they shared many happy times, including as members of the Pier Social Club. They were also both significantly involved in the Mallee Park Football Club from its inception in 1981, where Evelyn held various positions including Canteen Head Chef and Chief Cleaner. She would later be acknowledged for her contributions to the Club as their first female life member in 1997, and with a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of valuable contributions to Families and Community involvement in 2000.

In 2001 Evelyn was awarded a Premier’s Certificate of Appreciation of outstanding volunteer service, and in 2004 she received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for “service to the Aboriginal community of Port Lincoln, particularly through women's, youth and sporting groups.” Evelyn was the Port Lincoln and Lower Eyre Peninsula Senior Volunteer of the Month in April 2006, and received a Minister’s State Award in Social Housing. In 2007 she received the NAIDOC “Looking Forward, Looking Blak” Award for contributions over many years for families and community involvement, and in leading initiation of change for a better future.