Aunty Dot Peters

Aunty Dot is a respected Aboriginal Elder and a descendant of the Yorta Yorta and Yarra Yarra people of Victoria. She has worked tirelessly for many years in the eastern region, raising awareness of Aboriginal issues and strengthening the community.

In 2006 Aunty Dot, whose father was a prisoner of war and died on the Thai Burma Railway in 1943, approached her local Returned Services League to recognise the service given by Aboriginal people to Australia. That same year, the Honouring Victorian Indigenous Returned Service Men and Women Shrine of Remembrance was established, and the Aboriginal flag was raised at the Shrine of Remembrance for the first time. In 2007, every Australian state held an event to honour Aboriginal service men and women, based on the Victorian model.

Aunty Dot learnt the art of basket and eel trap weaving from her grandmother and is passionate about passing on her traditional skills to future generations. For over 20 years she has been teaching Aboriginal culture through her basket weaving workshops at TAFE colleges, Museum Victoria, festivals and community organisations.

In 2002, Aunty Dot won the Australia Council for the Arts Red Ochre Award, which is awarded annually to Indigenous Australian Artists who have made an outstanding contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island arts and culture. She was also awarded the Victorian Aboriginal Women's Award in 2002 and the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Elders Award in 2010.