Karryn Keed has been honoured for her dedication to her family, culture and community with a listing on the Hidden Treasures Honour Roll of 2019.
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Karryn is a proud Wiradjuri woman whose parents grew up on the Bulgandramine Mission, and she has devoted many hours to the annual Back to Bulgandramine gathering where people can celebrate and learn about Indigenous history and culture.
She worked with TAFE's Aboriginal Education and Training unit for several years, and her Honour Roll citation explains she remains an active volunteer through the Peak Hill working party, "ensuring the mission is maintained, attends numerous meetings and writes countless submissions.
"During the lead-up to the event, no-one sees the 35-hour weeks and tears that go into ensuring the evening is professional and honours the lives of the Elders past and present," the citation reads.
"The mission was a place where her grandmother would have to walk into town over three days to attend the police station to get permission to go to the doctors."
The event is important, the citation explains, because it honours the hard work and culture of the Peak Hill families that lived on the mission.
Karryn is also devoted to her family. She has six children and also raised her niece from infancy, she now has 14 grandchildren.
She lives in the house she grew up in, in Peak Hill, where her father Harold operated a successful boomerang factory. Tourists would visit and enjoy her mum's scones, baked on the old wood fire.
Karryn's mum Rita is now an elderly patient at Peak Hill Hospital and Karryn and her sister Gail spend most nights there with her.
She still tells them stories of her beloved Bulgandramine.
"Karryn is also on hand for her daughter ... and makes the journey to Bourke several times a year to look after her grandchildren," the citation reads. "This is a person whose inner strength and love is exerted on everyone around her."
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