June Barker, Aboriginal Storyteller, Cultural Educator and Tribal Elder

June Barker, indigenous storyteller, cultural educator and Elder, in Lightning Ridge, a town in Northwestern New South Wales, worked in many far-flung areas of outback NSW. She traveled around schools and community groups, educating children and others about the history and culture of indigenous Australia. June was a cultural advisor to the people in her area and her interest was in preserving and passing on the stories, containing the life lessons and values, which are embedded in them, before they are lost.

June was a popular storyteller, much in demand for Festivals and for educational institutions around Australia. Many of the stories she told, relate closely to the area in which she lived.

Her concern was: the storyteller is missing in our mass media today, and the messages we are receiving via the media are not grounded in simple truths. As a result, society is seeking solutions from sources, which cannot provide the answers people need. She believed the answers to many of the questions being asked, lie in the truths passed on in the indigenous stories, she tells.

Sadly, June Barker passed away in June 2012.