Reconciliation Week, a Time for Reflection and Progress: Puzicha

For New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athlete, Tyler Puzicha, Reconciliation Week represents a time to reflect on not only the struggles Australia’s Indigenous peoples have faced – including her great-grandfather – but it’s also an opportunity to embrace the importance of continued progress.

Puzicha, an 18-year-old who won a silver medal as a member of Australia’s Junior World Championships Track Cycling team, boasts bloodlines which link her to Melbourne’s Wurundjeri Tribe. However, she is quick to point out she is still learning about her heritage.

“I was about eight when I realised my family was Indigenous, which was great because I know a lot of people don’t learn about their culture and history,” she said. “It’s important to me that I continue to learn more about my Wurundjeri tribe.”

Reconciliation Week commemorates two significant dates for the nation – the May 26, 1967 referendum which counted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as part of the Australian population, and the June 3, 1992 High Court Mabo decision.

Puzicha, who is studying to become a nurse at the Australian Catholic University because she wants to ‘give back’ for the support she’s enjoyed throughout her junior cycling career, doesn’t need to look too far to comprehend the struggles our First Nation’s people have endured since the First Fleet’s arrival in 1788.

“My mother’s grandpa was a part of the stolen generation,” she said. “And that has a big impact because it cuts off the family tree . . . it’s quite short . . . so it is very hard to learn about our heritage.

“What I do know is our mob was from the Yarra River in Melbourne, which is quite cool because the Wurundjeri tribe is from where the DISC Velodrome is based!

“Learning about my heritage . . . things like our totem animal is the magpie or the crow . . .  is something that I want to do because it is a part of me and my history.

“It is hard to imagine [what it was like in the past] especially when you think of all the opportunities, we have available to us now. You think about what it was like back then and what [Indigenous people] went through and it is an interesting, but scary, thing because they had the hardest time getting through.

“I think athletes copped a lot, but you look at someone like Cathy Freeman who persevered and got through it. When I learn about my history it’s about paying respect to my elders; realising what they went through and how lucky we are now.”

Puzicha, who races in shoes that have been decorated with an Indigenous design, said she hoped to inspire Indigenous children through her achievements on the velodrome.

“I hope Indigenous kids can take from my career the message that ‘you can do it’,” she enthused, while sharing a photo of herself with her childhood hero and Olympic champion Anna Meares.  “That you can do anything you put your mind to. It doesn’t matter what people think – it’s all you. Keep doing what you’re doing and aim for your goals.”

Daniel Lane, NSWIS