Name Withheld
Age 377 Oct 2024
Darwin, Northern Territory (Australia)
Stabbed
The victim was stabbed in the backyard of her home, allegedly by her uncle. She was a Tiwi Sistergirl, and for cultural reasons her identity and photo are not being shared.
Darwin's queer and Tiwi community is mourning the death of a sistergirl after she was stabbed in the backyard of her home.
Sistergirl is a term used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to describe gender-diverse people that have a female spirit and take on female roles in the community. Crystal Love, the matriarch of Tiwi sistergirls, said she had lost part of herself when her daughter was killed on Monday.
The victim's name is not being used for cultural reasons.
"We are living in a world that is all messed up...she was good person, a kind person," Aunty Crystal said. "She had a good life, she had family and friends who love her, our communities that love her, but it was just tragic, because...sometimes some people have bigger dreams, she had those."
Members of the Tiwi sistergirl community refer to Aunty Crystal as mother, as she has advocated to bring both culture and western worlds together for Indigenous transgender communities.
Northern Territory Police said they were called to a unit complex in Darwin's northern suburb of Malak about 9:35pm where officers found the victim unconscious in the backyard, with a stab wound in her chest. Officers performed CPR but the 37-year-old was declared dead after paramedics arrived.
Police say a 34-year-old man, believed to be related to the victim, was arrested at the scene and is expected to be charged later on Tuesday.
Editor's Note: The following information was given by the person who submitted the report and explains the background in some detail:
In First Nations Australian culture, trans individuals are referred to in English as sistergirls or brotherboys, these generally map over to trans feminine and trans masculine people respectively, but not in all cases (sometimes a butch woman may identify as a brotherboy for example)
Australia is home to over 200 unique Indigenous nations, each with its own protocol regarding death. Generally speaking, names and depictions of the dead are not to be said or reproduced during a mourning period, which can last years depending on the person.
This includes inadvertent usage of the persons name, for example, within a community, e.g. if someone was named Sun, that word would be replaced with adjectives (day star, etc) or a temporary replacement word during that mourning period.
This is because in many Indigenous cultures, there is a belief that using their names or images regardless of context can prevent the person from moving on.
For the purposes of reporting Australian First Nations deaths, it would be appropriate to not use their name or photos, but descriptions of the person are fine and are actually used as a substitute for explaining the person being talked about "The woman who painted" for example.
Some more info is available here: https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/indigenous-cultural-protocols-what-the-media-needs-to-do-when-depicting-deceased-persons/97xq2otnt
https://lucyfromnaarm.com/p/37-year-old-darwin-sistergirl-dead
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=8784374748278207
