ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a personal perspective of Robyn Sandri's experiences growing up as a fair-skinned Aboriginal child in Australia and contextualizes it within her doctoral research journey. Indigenous research is an engaged research in that it seeks to hear the authentic voice of the native. Aboriginal people who could pass as olive skinned, white Mediterranean or Indian heritage did so in order to avoid the harsh prejudices and hold some human rights not accessible to the Aboriginal population. The traumatic impact of colonization processes continue to shape the experiences of daily life for Aboriginals families in this settler society. Sandri's reason for returning to Australia was to undertake doctoral studies. She was working for the state education provider, Education Queensland, establishing Indigenous playgroups north of Brisbane. Aboriginal children were not transitioning into school successfully, and the playgroup initiative was to create some informal pathways to encourage families into schools as well as offer some academic socialization to the children.
