Yuin Elder and lifelong educator Aunty Ruth Simms has added another chapter to her remarkable career with the release of her debut children's book Muttonfish Magic.
The story is built from memories that stretch back more than 70 years.
As a young girl, Aunty Ruth would trek with her mother to the rocky shores of Sydney and the NSW South Coast, collecting mutton-fish — now known as abalone — to feed the family.
Speaking at a yarning circle with students at North Nowra Public School, Simms painted a picture of a childhood shaped by hard times, but held together by knowledge, resourcefulness and culture.
"Eating the mutton-fish with the golden onion gravy, a shilling worth of potatoes and a shilling worth of pumpkin, what more could you want?" she told the ABC.
Simms said her mother's lesson sits at the heart of the book.
"My mother always said, you Kooris should never starve, not while you can go to the bush, not while you can go to the rocks, not while you can fish from the sea," she said.
Muttonfish Magic traces those journeys and the places that shaped her - splitting time between La Perouse in Sydney and Orient Point, once known as the Roseby Park Aboriginal Reserve.
Simms told the ABC that life was tough, and she spoke of the pain carried by her family, including her father being forcibly placed in Bomaderry's Children Home as a child.
Yet she also reminisces about the joy of being on Country and gathering food, which serves as a reminder that culture can be endured even through every day suppression.
Now, she wants the next generation to carry those memories forward.
"When I go, people can pick up this book and talk about Aboriginal culture from the very early days, before we had the rock salt chips, to enhance the knowledge of one little aspect of the culture of our people," she said.
The book arrives as Simms nears a major milestone - almost 50 years as an Aboriginal Education Officer with the NSW Department of Education, a journey she credits to her parents' influence.
"We had the best of both worlds," she said.
"My mother made sure we grew up culturally and my father could see the importance of a good education, but not at the expense of the cultural and social interaction of our people."
North Nowra Public School principal Peter Wright-Smith told the ABC Simms' presence has been transformative, describing her as the school's "inaugural elder in residence".
He said her book is helping create space for truth-telling and deeper understanding, adding: "Aunty is closing gaps for us."
