Aunty Jeanette proudly belongs to the Koa (Guwa) Nation from Winton, Outback Queensland. Her maternal grandmother was forcibly removed from their traditional Guwa-Koa lands and relocated to Barambah-Cherbourg around 1911. Additionally, Aunty Jeanette has ancestral ties to the Kuku-Yalanji, Kullilli, and Wangan Jangalingou Nations.

 

Dedicated to sharing Indigenous culture and history, she founded her Cultural & Historical Tour Business, Brown Earth Tours. Aunty Jeanette's experience as a Cultural Educator and Tour Guide showcases her strong cultural ties, commitment to knowledge-sharing, and dedication to preserving heritage.

 

She also recounts her personal experiences of “Life Under the Act.” As a published poet and author of book Cherbourg Mission 100 years 1904-2004 Centenary, Aunty Jeanette is working on another book titled "Mission Impassable," inspired by one of her poems and her  upbringing under "The Act."

 

For over 25 years, she has been active in community meetings and events in her local area, with parts of her story featured in Chapter 13 of "Outback Heroines," a collection of true stories by author, travel writer and journalist Sue Williams. 

​https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:ap:c0764df9-39e4-49a9-b197-83c30a872d62

 

In its early days, Aunty Jeanette was a volunteer tour guide, as well as a founding steering committee member of the Ration Shed Museum (Cherbourg Historical Precinct Group Inc.), alongside her sisters Sandra Morgan, Lesley Williams and Ada Simpson, as well as Robert Bond and the late Robert (Rocko) Langton Snr.

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The steering committee initiated a community research project that included a visit to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in Canberra.

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Aunty Jeanette was also involved in the ANZAC 100 Committee Boy's From Barambah Project, Strong Women's Shadow Boxes, Cherbourg Marching Girls, Many Threads Arts & Craft, community/historical film productions, 20 years Ration Shed Anniversary celebrations, and many more projects/events within the historical and cultural precinct.

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Today, Aunty Jeanette is a qualified JP involved with the Barambah Local Justice Group and serves on the Local Decision Making Body (LDMB) in Murgon.