Proud Lala our NAIDOC winner

Proud Meuram woman from Erub, Lala Gutchen (pictured), has won the prestigious national NAIDOC Caring for Country and Culture Award for her contribution to language preservation and her work as a key cultural witness in an historic Land Court case won against a proprosed Central Queensland coal mine.

Lala was one of three Torres Strait Islander finalists in the national awards, including Torres News correspondent Talei Elu, who was also a finalist in the same category.

The other was Aaron Fa’aoso, who was a finalist in the Creative Talent Award

National NAIDOC Committee co-chairs Dr Lynette Riley and Steven Satour said the winners were chosen from almost 200 nominations.

“This year’s finalists and winners all embody the essence of the 2023 NAIDOC Week theme – For Our Elders,” they said.

“Many of this year’s winners are Elders themselves or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people coming from the strong grounding, teachings, and advocacy of their own Elders.”

The 2023 National NAIDOC Awards winners were:

• Lifetime Achievement Award – Aunty Dr Naomi Mayers OAM

• Person of the Year Award – Professor Kelvin Kong

• Female Elder Award – Aunty Dr Matilda HouseWilliams

• Male Elder Award – William Tilmouth

• Sportsperson Award – Donnell Wallam

• Youth Award – Courtney Burns

• Creative Talent Award – Rachel Perkins

• Caring for Country and Culture Award – Lala Gutchen

• Education Award – Bubup Wilam Aboriginal Child and Family Centre

• Innovation Award – Daniel Motlop See the NAIDOC website (naidoc.org.au) to learn more about this year’s winners and to find out how you can get a copy of the 2023 National NAIDOC Week Poster. More NAIDOC coverage, including Talei Elu’s interview with Lala, on Pages 8, 9, 10 & 11 N