WOMAN OF HER WORDS
Marlee Silva always knew the power of storytelling; she just didn’t know it would lead to a career amplifying vital voices that are empowering an engaged and ever-growing following. By Alice Birrell.
trip to the dentist, Marlee Silva was left stumped by the form in front of her. “I had to fill out what my occupation was, and I had to leave it blank. I don’t know how to say: ‘I run an Instagram page,’” she says with a laugh. “That would be ridiculous.” It would also be reductive. The 24-year-old is the co-founder, along with her sister Keely Silva, of Tiddas 4 Tiddas, which is an Instagram account, yes, but also a platform, network and community that celebrates Indigenous female excellence and has grown to have more than 67K followers in just over 18 months.
The most recent addition is Silva’s new podcast, Always Was, Always Will Be Our Stories. Its title plays on ‘Always was, always will be Aboriginal land’, the catchcry recognising First Nations occupation of this country for more than 60,000 years. Since its launch in June, Silva has highlighted personal stories via a medium that has resonated in a world rendered largely on hold – 1.6 million Australians download podcasts every week, and it is one of the fastest-growing mediums in the country.
It is also an independent endeavour. Her previous podcast that went by the same name as the Instagram account, Tiddas 4 Tiddas, was housed on a commercial media platform and despite its success, Silva appreciates the new-found freedom in having total ownership.
“I’m very passionate about Aboriginal-owned and -run business, and particularly when it comes to media, just because we have been spoken for, for a very long time,” says Silva, a Gamilaroi and Dunghutti woman. Her interviewees are formidable, but also approachable and open in a way that belies their achievements. This is not necessarily intentional, says
Silva, who studied creative writing, but is a result of sharing with fellow First Nations people.
ON A RECENT
“There is a certain level of distrust that comes when it’s not coming from our own community,” says Silva, who begins each episode by asking guests: ‘Who is your mob, and where are you from?’ “That’s because of history and trauma. It just eliminates that bit of pressure there.” Silva’s empathy and engagement are organic and fuel conversations ranging from a lack of culturally appropriate materials on autism to Indigenous debutante balls as a form of resistance to dominant power structures. “I treat it like I would if I was meeting them over a cup of tea for the first time,” she says.
For this podcast, Silva has also sought male voices including Isaiah Dawe, founder of a mentoring program helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in foster care called ID Know Yourself, and Corey Tutt, founder of Deadly Science. Many aren’t household names to everyone, which is the point. “I’m really grateful that what I’m able to do is raise the voices of people who don’t have a big profile,” she says, though also acknowledging the recent appearances of actors Nakkiah Lui and Miranda Tapsell (they approached her, for the record).
A reader from a young age, and an avid writer since high school, Silva remembers her dad recalling family histories. “Every element that I know of my culture, and all the ways that I’ve come to understand my identity and what it means to be an Aboriginal woman have been through storytelling,” she says, noting that the passing on of oral history has been crucial in the survival of Indigenous culture. “A big part of our resilience is our ability to connect in those ways and, without it ever being explicitly said to me or anyone trying to influence me, I ended up in a position extending on one of the oldest traditions of our culture and I can’t imagine ever doing anything else.”
“My whole career has been in roles that I didn’t actually think existed,” she says, noting many teenagers feel the pressure to pick tangible careers. “The next generation being able to see people like me and a lot of women in the space, who have built something for themselves, [it says] you can actually build your own career, your business without financial backing.”
Next up is Silva’s first book, My Tidda, My Sister (Hardie Grant), out in September, featuring First Nations women’s stories. It’s the next iteration of the platform along with new forms of social media. “So we had to go and start a TikTok channel, didn’t we?,” she says. Silva could add ‘TikTok-er’ onto that form if it could fit, but then again, it might be about widening the box.
MARLEE SILVA’S THREE STORIES TO KNOW NOW
• Isaiah Dawe on Always Was, Always Will Be Our Stories. Instagram @idknowyourself
• Tanika Davis on Always Was, Always Will Be Our Stories. Instagram @_theiammovement
• Bonnie Crowe’s personal account of her grandmother Heather Vicenti and her book Too Many Tears: An Autobiographical Account Of The Stolen Generation