Aggie Pigram taking big strides for culture and faith in the Aboriginal community

28 Jun 2017

By The Record

Aggie with ACM staff Donna Ryder, Reg Carnamah and Brendan Philips. ACM strives to promote the spiritual, cultural and social development of people of Aboriginal descent. Photo: Natashya Fernandez.

By Natashya Fernandez

Agnes Pigram or ‘Aggie’ as she’s fondly known, is an advocate for women, youth and anyone in need of support and guidance in their faith. A proud Yawuru Bardi woman from the Broome & Djarindjin community in the Kimberly, Aggie is currently working at Aboriginal Catholic Ministry (ACM) as the Youth Office for just over a month. Aggie’s life has taken her from her hometown in Broome helping women in her community to having a voice at World Youth Day 2005 and being nominated North West Ambassador for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC).

She sat down with The Record Magazine to talk about her life, her fondness for her grandmother and her deep faith that has led her to Perth to pursue what she feels is her destiny – helping women and youth in their faith.

Growing up in a big household with more boys than girls around, Aggie found solace in escaping to her grandmother’s house. It was here that she learned about the Church and her Catholic faith.

“Going to my grandmother’s house was always my safe haven. During that time, she would take me to Church that was our routine. Cleaning the Church and just being there, knowing I was part of a family and community. The closeness we shared was special,” Aggie said.

Having been given her grandmother’s name out of some 60 grandchildren, at that time Aggie says was more bothered about the fact she had been given an old person’s name, but today it makes her feel proud and privileged.

“As a young person, I was like, oh I’ve got an old person’s name, but as I got older just embracing that and feeling honoured, made me feel lucky. She was the matriarch of the family and held the whole family together. A strong, resilient woman who single-handedly brought up 12 children. Her commitment to her faith was very much a part of that,” she added.

Losing her grandmother was a big setback and hard time for Aggie as she lost touch with her faith and questioned her life many times.

But no matter how many times Aggie stepped away, she was drawn back to her faith through working at the various Catholic institutions in Broome.

“Looking back even during those times, I was working at the University of Notre Dame and the Sisters of St John of God Heritage Centre, so anything to do with the Catholic community, it just kept drawing me back.”

With big shoes to fill and knowing that her grandmother was guiding her in every aspect of her life, Aggie packed up and headed to Perth with her three children to make a difference not just for herself, but to be that support for anyone in need.

Aggie Pigram: Inspired by the words of JP II “And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others.” Photo: Natashya Fernandez.

While at Clontarf Aboriginal College, Aggie worked in the girl’s academy but was soon drawn to what she was passionate about at ACM, which was working with Aboriginal Youth and setting up the youth arm for the Aboriginal Community.

“It was a good opportunity for me having worked with youth to get on board and start the youth committee. In this role, I want to inspire our young people to embrace their Aboriginal history, culture and spirituality as well as the Catholic faith.

“It will be a platform for them to share ideas and better understand the connection between both faith and culture. And, empower them all to be proud of who they are and where they come from, and with the right support and guidance to build strong leaders for the future.

With plans to start small, the youth committee’s primary aim would be to evangelise, Aggie said.

“In its initial phase with plans just for Perth, it will include forming connections, encouraging youth to attend Mass every month organised by Clontarf College, and open up avenues to gather every month for fellowship, discuss issues and participate in upcoming events, like the Veritas event happening in June and later this year, the Catholic Youth Festival,” she explained.

With a formation day planned for the second week of June for committee members to come together, there will be heaps of opportunities for them to explore various avenues.

And, if being heavily involved with ACM and the youth program wasn’t enough to keep her rooted in her culture and faith, Aggie runs her own business, Yimijalan Liyan, which she started in Broome in 2004.

Meaning ‘Awaken the Spirit’, with a focus on spiritual empowerment and wellbeing, Yimijalan Liyan offers one-on-one coaching and mentoring sessions and group workshops.

The business came about from lived experiences and something that she herself had gone through, she said.

“Having gone through those struggles, I wanted to be a voice for the young women in my community, especially the ones who have been through family violence, drug and alcohol abuse. “To talk about the role that society plays in our belief systems and thought patterns as women. To stand up to empower and come together instead of bringing each other down, to support each other. And, more importantly to create a space for people to talk about it and heal within themselves,” she said.

With big plans for her role at ACM as well as personally, Aggie is sure that it is her grandmother who has blessed her for the opportunities she’s had in her life.

“For me it’s about being directed to what is calling me out there, by my elders, by God, by my faith and the path that they want me to take.”

 

From pages 16 to 17  from Issue 8: ‘Aboriginal’ of The Record Magazine