Over the past 20 years, I’ve been fortunate to meet some extraordinary people through BushTV. Some are loud, charismatic leaders. Others rarely seek attention at all. Uncle Viv was one of the latter.

He wasn’t Aboriginal, but after more than 40 years in Kowanyama, he had become part of the fabric of the community. He never tried to speak for people. Instead, he spent decades listening, learning, recording, supporting and walking alongside Elders as they documented language, stories, cultural practice and knowledge that might otherwise have been lost. His passion was infectious.

If there was a cultural project happening in Kowanyama, chances are Uncle Viv had quietly helped make it happen. From working with Rangers and Elders to documenting language and producing hundreds of newsletters, he had an extraordinary ability to see value in knowledge that many others overlooked. One project I’ll never forget was Algngga.

For more than 80 years, the traditional Olkola raised messmate bark shelter hadn’t been built around Kowanyama. Uncle Viv believed it should be. Not as a display for visitors, but because culture stays strong when it’s practised.

Watching the men rebuild that shelter, listening to the stories, filming the process and later seeing it recreated as an installation at YUMI Arts, I realised the documentary was never really about a shelter. It was about knowledge moving from one generation to the next.

That was Uncle Viv’s gift. He understood that preserving culture wasn’t about collecting objects. It was about creating opportunities for people to teach, learn and reconnect. His dream was a cultural centre in Kowanyama. Not simply a building to house artefacts, but a living place where language, stories and cultural practice could continue to thrive. That vision hasn’t faded. I’m working with Elders to help carry this vision forward.

I still think about Uncle Viv often. Whenever I return to Kowanyama, I see reminders of his life’s work in the people, the projects and the relationships he helped nurture over four decades. Legacy isn’t measured by the number of things we leave behind. It’s measured by the people who quietly pick up where we left off. Algngga – Short Documentary