Ngayi, I am Shantelle Thompson, a proud Barkindji-Ngyampaa-European woman of descent.

I am a mother of three (including twins), survivor of severe postnatal depression that almost made me hurt my daughter and take my own life, sexual abuse survivor, second eldest of 17 siblings, raised by my white father as a single parent and separated from my mother and most of my culture.

I grew up in a town where you were either black or white – not both. I never fitted into either world, so I decided I didn’t want to belong. I would create my own path and destiny. I refused to be defined by circumstances, and was determined that the cycle would break with me. My children would be the beginning of a new cycle.

From this beginning and always being told I wasn’t good enough, or that my future was defined by the circumstances I was born into and given in life, I said: “watch me”.

I knew there had to be more and I had the courage to listen to the whisper in my heart that said I was born to do something in this life.

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I became the Barkindji Warrior, a warrior who leads from the heart. I am now 35 years old, I am the first in my family to finish high school, to graduate university with three degrees – bachelor of arts, bachelor of teaching, postgraduate certificate in Indigenous trauma and recovery. I am a three-time world champion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the 2019 national Naidoc spokesperson of the year.

I am the founder of two social enterprise Kiilalaana – we run workshops and programs for women/girls, youth at risk, youth in leadership, sporting groups and schools. We run self-empowerment, self-leadership and life skills development programs.

I do not share any of my achievements to impress you, but rather to express what’s possible. No one could fight this battle for me, no one but me could break this cycle. So I chose to fight and then I acted, and this is my story so far. I believe in order to inspire people, you first need to show what is possible. I share my story to show what is possible. To empower people we need to help them find their dreams and then help them to build the ability and capacity to pursue the dream and take action.

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None of this means anything if I don’t use it to empower our people and other people I am connected to, to become warriors and creators of their own lives. We hear a lot about the trauma, incarceration rates, suicide rates, the deficits, the gap, the colonisation of our country and our people. Under the trauma and the scars we carry is the bloodline of warriors, of a people who are the oldest living culture in the world. This is what I remind myself of every day.

Our ancestors fought so we could be here today and we have an inherited responsibility to take that opportunity and make the most of this life and help others do the same. I fight to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma, victim mentality, lack of gratitude and sense of entitlement some of our young people have. Many young people I work with expect the world to fix things for them, or they blame their circumstances for their inability to rise up and help themselves. Our ancestors had to fight to survive and now it is our turn to fight to thrive and create a new narrative for our people and about our people.

We live in a country where many people are so heartbroken the burden becomes too much for their spirit to carry, and babies as young as 12 are committing suicide. Children as young as 10 are being locked up in prisons designed for hardened criminals. Children are hurting because of their circumstances and through no fault of their own. We live in a country that does not respect or value who we are as a people or a culture. Where people are free to use freedom of speech to create hate speech. Where our national day of pride is celebrated on the date that the First Nations people lost everything. So how do we fight this?

By creating a new narrative that begins with one person at a time, and each decision they make to became a warrior for themselves, their families and our future. This creates a ripple effect that impacts many, and we write our own story, not one defined by our circumstances or history. Our story, our way. By truth-telling and decolonising ourselves and walking with the power that is within all of us, we just need to dig beneath the scar tissue to find it. And for those of us who have the ability and capacity to fight, to have our voices heard. We reach behind us and help others.

If you want to hear more about my story or join my journey please follow my socials and connect on Twitter (@barkindjiwarior), Facebook, or Instagram. You can also find out more about my story here on NITV and SBS.