Gija guide Rebecca Sampi wins Tourism Council WA award for individual excellence

For Gija woman Rebecca Sampi, her work guiding tourists through the awesome wonder of Purnululu National Park is more than just a job — it is an act of reconciliation.

“Being a tour guide is being someone at the forefront,” she said,

“You’re the bridge, basically, between the non-Indigenous world and your world.

“You’re the reconciliation. You’re the link.”

Her work sharing her people’s cultural and historical connection to Purnululu National Park with hundreds of visitors each year has been recognised by Tourism Council WA with the individual excellence in Aboriginal tourism award.

Ms Sampi said she was thrilled to receive the award, especially after being a finalist in the Tourism Council WA awards last year but missing out on the top accolade.

“I never expected it. It means a lot, especially for me and my family,” she said.

“This is a thing that no one has won in the East Kimberley.”

As head guide for Kingfisher Tours, Ms Sampi takes about 140 tours through the Purnululu National Park each dry season, sharing her stories and songs about the land and how the ancestors created the local topography, flora and fauna.

She has also trained 30 young Aboriginal people to be tour guides, many of whom have gone on to work in tourism operations around the East Kimberley.

“We don’t have one group of traditional owners for this area,” Ms Sampi said.

“We have three groups of people in and around Purnululu alone, which is Gija, Jaru, and the Malgnin people. they have roamed this country and shared the land among themselves, and now they’re finding they have to share it with non-Indigenous people,”

Ms Sampi said she loved sharing the culture and history of her lands with visitors as many tourists had limited knowledge about Aboriginal people.

“I tell them no matter how silly that question sounds, its fine with me, if I can, I’ll answer it or I’ll try to seek guidance from our old people to try and answer the question for them,” she said.

As she continues to train more Aboriginal tourist guides, Ms Sampi hopes not only to provide more visitors to Purnululu National Park with a culturally immersive experience but to help establish a source of continual employment for local people.

“We are hoping that we will have more guides on the ground to be able to hop on the buses and just give the cultural immersive tour to all guests in the park, and hopefully we make an impact on their lives as much as our upcoming generation,” she said.