I was there in 1996, helping organise a Cross Cultural Awareness Festival in Kyogle. At that time I had been playing in bands for several years, but during this festival I had the biggest thrill of my life, to that stage.
This was being invited to support Uncle Jimmy Little on stage for a few songs. Uncle Jimmy was famous. I was not.
But beyond that, it was the aura around Uncle Jimmy. Despite the ignorance and discrimination he had lived through, he had an aura of calm, of peace. Not a trace of bitterness.
I was not exactly the stereotypical angry-young-man. But I was close, there was a chip on my shoulder. Being around this remarkable human being, Uncle Jimmy Little, changed my life. It put me on a path to acceptance of the past, to reconciliation.