Respect for all people and all things is the philosophy Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Neil Ingram Senior has embraced since he was a child growing up at the Willow Bend Mission at Condobolin.
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Uncle Neil brought that philosophy with him when he moved to Orange about 40 years ago and became heavily involved in the city's Aboriginal community including as one of the early participants of NAIDOC and as a founder of the Orange Aboriginal Medical Centre.
"I was born and raised in Condobolin, I'm a mission boy, I come off the mission," he said and had no shortage of pride for his background and what he learnt growing up.
"The old mission was located out of sight, out of mind, in the bend of the Lachlan River, that's why it's called Willow Bend."
The Lachlan River, known as the Galari bila in Wiradjuri, is one of the three rivers of Wiradjuri Country with the other's including the Wambuul bila, also known as the Macquarie River, and the Marrmabidya bila, also known as the Murrumbidgee River.
"I was born and raised in Condo. I grew up on the mission where you were taught by elders, they instilled in you what your culture and heritage is all about," Uncle Neil said.
"The most important thing, this is what we were taught, 'Yindyamarra', the Wiradjuri philosophy of respect.
"Respect all people and all things, especially our elders."
In an interview with Storylines on the Wiradjuri Orange Community website, Uncle Neil said he lived on the mission until he was 10 when he moved into town but that he remembered that time. He said it was a time of "sharing and caring" and security gave him the foundations of his understanding today.
"It was a good time," he said in the recorded interview.
Then he moved into town with his mother, father, a sister and a brother, although he said he also had many uncles, aunts and cousins in the area.
I was born and raised in Condo. I grew up on the mission where you were taught by elders, they instilled in you what your culture and heritage is all about.
- Uncle Neil Ingram
During that interview, he reflected on his time growing up and learning about bush tucker as well as a little bit of mischief, "we used to steal fruit from the Chinamen and throw the fruit in the river and wait for it to flow down the river to the swimming hole, we had a good time down there".
"I have good memories of mission life in my younger days."
Speaking to the Central Western Daily, Uncle Neil said he moved to Orange for work, which has included 18 years working with the former Department of Children's Services and another 18 years with TAFE NSW.
Last Thursday he and wife Gillian celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary and together they have three sons.
"When I first arrived here about 40 years ago, through my work, back in those days I think they had the resettlement program in place," he said.
"That's where they brought people from Bourke, Brewarrina, Walgett, into Orange where they could have a better chance at education, employment, health services.
"Since then we've come a long way."
Mr Ingram has become a heavily involved in the community and has worked hard to improve the lives and celebrate the cultures of Indigenous peoples in the region.
That work included him being a founding member of the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service.
"I was the founding chair and a board member, along with Jason French," he said.
The most important thing, this is what we were taught, 'Yindyamarra', the Wiradjuri philosophy of respect.
- Uncle Neil Ingram
"That took us 15 years to get the ticket to get the funding, just to get the funding approval.
"The funding body said to me, 'Neil you need to get a board together and find a venue,' so that's when we went to Palmer Street."
Uncle Neil also previously worked as an Aboriginal co-ordinator at TAFE and said ,Kate Baxter, the regional director at the time, asked him what he wanted to see TAFE do a better job at.
"I said I'd like to see an Aboriginal Education Study Centre so the next week after that she rang me and said, 'come, we'll have a yarn'.
That yarn resulted in Winhanganha, the Aboriginal Education Centre, which was was built on an old tennis court in Sale Street.
This multipurpose conference and learning centre was designed as a meeting point for the Indigenous community, next to the TAFE Western Orange Campus.
The building features several meeting rooms and includes a flexible floorplan for small to medium size gatherings, conference rooms in its range of facilities.
He was also one of the first people to be involved in NAIDOC celebrations in Orange more than 20 years ago and has watched it grow into a popular, well-attended eight-day series of events.
NAIDOC Week is running in Orange this week finishing with an awards night on Saturday.
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