My Uncle, David Miller by Ally Ellard

My Uncle, David Miller

Ally Ellard | Year 12

David Miller or, as I like to call him, Uncle David, is a director of Kurbingui. He is currently retired and is an active Aboriginal community member involved with several committees, including the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC), Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Committee for the Brisbane Archdiocese, and the Catholic Murri Ministry (Centre Care Brisbane), where he has been a member for 24 years. Enjoying a long lunch with Uncle David it’s easy to think he’s a lot like Gulliver when he starts to talk about his travels. Uncle started exploring the world with a trip to New Zealand as a young man and has since taken every opportunity to continue to travel to amazing places around the world. He has been to 30 counties and 47 cities. His story of being invited to attend the canonisation of Mary McKillip at the Vatican is particularly colourful. ‘There were 25 Aboriginal people who work with the Church who went to the canonisation. I really think Mary Mackillop was all for down and out people and the canonisation epitomises people working in that role and gives people hope,’ David said. He speaks of the emotions he felt when visiting the unmarked monk’s grave of a young Aboriginal boy who was taken from his home in 1849 by the Benedictine Monk to be educated in Europe. ‘Many years ago, three Aboriginal children, with the blessings of their parents, were taken by the Spanish to Europe. Sadly, they all passed away. One of the young lads was buried at St Paul’s in the Vatican in Rome, and one of our church leaders did a blessing of the burial site. ‘It was certainly very moving to see the grave as their remains should be back on country,’ David said. Learning about this story and the truth about Australia’s treatment of First Nations people has inspired David to uncover more about this chapter in Australian history. ‘Because I hadn’t been brought up traditionally, I’m still finding out about our history. I just read the other day where the bottles were thrown around Alice Springs with arsenic in them. That’s getting these stories out there, not looking for sympathy, but just recognising what Aboriginal people went through. ‘A lot of people don’t want to know, they say get over it, but we’re just trying to do this with storytelling, bringing it out there what happened.’ On another journey he went to Nepal and visited the monastery at the Tigers Nest. Not all of Uncle’s great stories involve leaving Brisbane. He was asked to give the Acknowledgment of Country when the Dalai Lama visited Brisbane in 2015 and presented his holiness with the hitting sticks he had used. When not travelling, Uncle David worked for David Jones for 37 years, where he was highly respected, but recounts with a smile that he was refused a chance to become a black Santa for Christmas.

Kurbingui originally started as a boxing club in 2001, and now Uncle David works with a staff of around 60 people who coordinate programs for the First Nations community around Zillmere. ‘I’ve been with Kurbingui for about 20 years. We’re a not-for-profit organisation, helping with youth, domestic violence, family support and employment support. ‘Sadly, domestic violence has increased during COVID and the housing situation also causes a lot of stress for First Nations people. ‘I’d like to see Kurbingui keep on going to give young people a chance to get jobs. My main belief is education. I’m a battler for education.’