The Custodianship program

The Custodianship Program Core Facilitator: Mark Yettica-Paulson

An Indigenous leader from the South East Queensland and North East NSW regions, Mark Yettica-Paulson is from the Birrah, Gamilaroi and Bundjalung peoples. He is the founder and Chief of Super Native Unlimited, specialising in creative and cultural leadership development. Mark brings decades of wisdom from his career in leadership development and community education across the corporate and government sectors. 

Mark is currently the Deep Collaboration Lead for Collaboration for Impact, Australasia’s leading capacity building & learning network for responding to complexity through effective collaboration. He has facilitated leadership programs and advised organisations such as NAB, the AFL, Medibank Australia, Australia Post and The Foundation for Young Australians. He was Joint Campaign Director for Recognise, the recent campaign for a National Referendum to amend the Australian Constitution to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and remove discrimination. 

Elder in Residence: Henrietta Marrie AM

Henrietta Marrie AM (Masters in Environmental and Local Government Law; Dip. T; Grad. Dip. of Arts [Indigenous Studies]) is an Elder of the Gimuy Walubara clan of the Yidinji people and Traditional Owner of the land on which the City of Cairns and southern suburbs are now located. 

Henrietta was born in Yarrabah on her mother’s Gunggandji country and spent her early years growing up there until her family moved to Palm Island in the mid 1960s. Henrietta has wide experience in Indigenous cultural and natural resource management and impact assessment, intellectual and cultural property law, heritage legislation and philanthropy. As an academic she has published over 50 papers in books and journals. In the 1980’s and 1990s, Henrietta wrote extensively on issues related to Indigenous arts and the repatriation of cultural property from museums. She served for 6 years with the UN Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, before becoming the Program Officer/Manager for North Australia with The Christensen Fund, a California-based private philanthropic fund, a position in which she served for nine years. 

Ian RT Colless: First Nations Capacity Building Project Officer

Ian is a from the Dharabuladh (Therabluat) clan of the Gundungurra people, and a mixture of Irish and Walsh heritage. He is the Grandson of the late Aunty Dawn Colless who made many milestones, awarded the Australian Centenary Medal (a Federal award to honour people who have made a contribution to Australian society or government), and chosen to be a torchbearer for the 2000, XXVII Olympiad in the Blue Mountains. 

Ian is a graduate of Newtown High School of the Performing Arts (NHSPA). He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Creative Industries. A Bachelor of Arts (1st Class Honours) from Edith Cowan University’s, Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts (WAAPA), and a Masters of Arts from New York University’s (NYU), Steinhardt School of Culture Education and Human Development. At NYU Ian completed an Independent Study and designed a curriculum, through full-time study, coursework and participation with the American Ballet Theatre (America’s National Ballet Company) and observation of The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School (NYC).

Elverina Johnson: Residential one Co-facilitator

Elverina (Bunya Badjil – good woman) is a Kunganji Gurugulu Woman of Yarrabah on her Grandfather’s linage and Idinji Gimuy on her Grandmother’s linage. She is a direct descendant of King Menmuny of the Gunganji Nation of Yarrabah and a direct descendant of King Yinnie of Cairns. Yarrabah Aboriginal community is located 60km SE of Cairns and situated between the rainforest and the ocean with a population of over 4000 people. Elverina has been involved in the arts and creative industry for over 25 years as an artist in visual and performing arts and as a manager. She is also a performing artist in her own right and has performed as a singer for various projects including Yarrabah the Musical by Opera Australia (OA), Yarrabah Brass Band Festival by Qld Music Festival, and many more. She has been instrumental in bringing to life the history of the Yarrabah Brass Bands which became a major exhibition for the Qld Performing Arts Centre.

Linc Walker: Residential one Co-facilitator

Linc is an Eastern Kuku Yalanji descendant from the “Walker family” with traditional land connection from Pretty Beach to Annan River in Far North Queensland (QLD) Australia.

Attended Saint Augustine primary school in Mossman and Saint Augustine’s College Cairns. Linc attended university of Central Queensland in Rockhampton studying teaching and began working for the universities “Uni Rural Link project “, to increase Indigenous youth attendance at university.

Returned to Mossman and worked for Marine Parks and National Parks as a ranger. Then began writing grants to establish a Kuku Yalanji Community Marine Ranger position at the Mossman Gorge to develop the Kuku Yalanji Marine Hunting Management with a plan to protect traditional hunting rights.

Currently owner/operator in partnership of Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tours P/L in Mossman QLD.

Janina Harding: Residential one Co-facilitator

Janina is a proud Meriam (Erub/Mer) woman, the first generation to be born on mainland Australia, from the Eastern Torres Strait Islands. Her mother, Eleanor Harding (nee Adelaide Pitt Nain) arrived in Melbourne 1959, determined to raise her children free and not subject to the Queensland Aboriginal Protection (and Restrictions of the Sale of Opium) Act 1897. Janina has over thirty years of experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, through cultural projects, employment programs, public broadcasting, event management and arts management.

Janina served two terms on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council, as well as two terms on the Torres Strait Islander Advisory Board for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and was Secretary for the Victorian Wongai Torres Strait Islander Corporation for twenty years. From 2001- 2015, Janina worked at the City of Melbourne, managing the Indigenous Arts Program, where she established, curated and produced the Indigenous Film Festival Blak Nite Cinema and the Melbourne Indigenous Arts Festival. 

Carl Fourmile: Residential one Co-facilitator

Minjil means “spark from a fire.”Fire is very important in Aboriginal culture as it brings people and communities together. Artistic Director of Minjil and company owner, Carl Fourmile is a Yidinji man from the land of Gimuy in Far North Queensland (QLD).

A cultural performer, practitioner and local leader in Indigenous arts, Carl has strong roots in dance, lore and education. He is a cultural performer, ceremonial practitioner, cultural practitioner and local leader in Indigenous arts in Cairns, Far North Queensland. His passion for the arts, his people and their history extends to mentoring youth and those who want a greater connection and understanding of Aboriginal culture.

Carl has been a key facilitator in workshops, Welcome to Country ceremonies and local cultural tours for the past 15 years in Cairns (QLD) and Sydney (NSW). He is proud to be an ambassador for his people and to work with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities alike.