INDIGENOUS ADVOCATE
F
ewer than 600 people live
on Mer, or Murray Island,
a fleck in the Torres Strait
between Cape York Peninsula
and Papua New Guinea, but that’s the
ancestral home of three-time Olympic
basketballer Patrick ‘Patty’ Mills, this
year’s NAIDOC Person of the Year.
Taking time away from his current
home in Texas, Mills visited the island
in August as an oicial ambassador
for the 2018 Commonwealth Games,
saying: “I have been instilled with the
culture from such a young age, I know
who I am, and I know once sport is
out of the picture, I will have this to
come back to; to continue the customs
and traditions I've been taught.”
Mills, a Muralag Torres Strait
Islander and Ynunga Aboriginal man,
is one of Australia’s most successful
Indigenous sportspeople. The NAIDOC
award recognised his work as a
high-profile NBA star advocating for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
rights. He has made it his mission to
speak about Indigenous culture on
a global stage and, in July, published
the first book in the Game Day! series,
aimed at six- to nine-year-olds to boost
literacy standards and help children
follow their dreams. When the San
Antonio Spurs re-signed the point
guard in August for a reported US$50
million ($65 million), he became the
highest-paid Australian in the NBA.PATTY
MILLS