Today, we are all familiar with aspects of Aboriginal culture through the media and our own experiences at varying levels. Such a story may seem recognizable to you - unremarkable, perhaps.

But consider this: when we first began in 1987, we were living in a different Australia. Aboriginal people were much more marginalized than they are today. And, most importantly, there wasn't anything that presented this ancient culture to an audience. Anything at all, anywhere in Australia.

In fact, when we began our Aboriginal theatre, we weren't even sure if the audience would be there.

The true challenge for innovators is in pioneering new horizons and succeeding in having their creation accepted.

So we knew we had to proceed deftly; we had to win over a local community (both black and white), we had to win over a tourism industry unsure where to place a product like ours, and we had to win the hearts and minds of an audience who had never before been exposed to anything like what we were doing.

Where we encountered prejudice, we answered it with humour and talent. When we found barriers, we charmed them out of existence with our passion and vision of what we wanted so much to achieve.

Not only has Tjapukai succeeded to become Australia's premier indigenous cultural attraction, it has paved the way for indigenous tourism to develop in this country.

Doing it first also meant we needed to do it so well we became the benchmark that those who followed us emulated. Most important was the content and style of our show; it illuminated Aboriginality for the first time. One of our earliest reviews said:

"Tjapukai engenders a feeling of warm sympatico for this rich and ancient culture." Who would have thought this was possible in 1987?

We took what everyone believed was a novel idea and transformed it into a new industry. We have sustained the self-determination and economic independence of the Tjapukai community and created a multi-million dollar attraction that benefits an entire region.