Cheyenne Carter is hooked on a book about gangs, switchblades, & class-driven brawls. S.E Hinton’s 1967 classic novel The Outsiders is on the year 9 curriculum at Iona Presentation College and it also happens to be Cheyenne’s favourite. “It’s teaching me you can’t judge a book by its cover, there’s always a lot more to the story in terms of people,” she says.

There’s definitely more to the story with Cheyenne—although it’s only her first year studying in Perth, she’s no ordinary Broome boarder. Cheyenne has a passion for the performing arts and a keen desire to improve and excel.

Last year, she starred in a short film Maap Mordak. She plays an Aboriginal girl who’s teased at school for not being black enough, for being fair-skinned. Every night, she goes home crying to her nanna and her deceased grandfather. The film offers an unexpected and cutting twist at the end.

“It’s not a comedy, it’s quite powerful and sad,” she says. “From doing this project, I think I want to go into film, I want to try and focus on that area. I really liked it and thought it was really fun.”

She’s further sharpening up her acting skills by studying drama at school. Last term, the focus was mime, and she picked Charlie Chaplin’s ‘The Adventurer’ to analyse in detail. Chaplin plays an escaped convict—he saves a drowning woman and dodges the woman’s husband, who’s eager to see him seized by police. It was described in the New York Times in 1920 as, ‘ . . . some of Chaplin’s most irresistible pantomime.’ Cheyenne used this piece to learn from and inform her own mime.

Performance aside, Cheyenne has found that the shift from Broome to Iona has meant a whole heap of new experiences: sporting, social and academic. She’s had the chance to hang out with girls from all different years at high school, got to play water polo and tennis, and has been taking on extra tutoring support so she can keep on top of all her subjects.

KRED Enterprises was proud to offer Cheyenne a Nipper Tabagee Scholarship to assist with this transition.

“Having a scholarship has really helped me because the costs are huge. There’s the airfares, school fees, uniforms . . .” she says.

We offer one-off scholarships of up to $2000 to assist our people to pursue their artistic, sporting or educational endeavours. The scholarships are named after Nipper Tabagee, a senior and respected man who worked tirelessly during his life to encourage Aboriginal people to work together to achieve justice on land issues. He was an inspiration to many young people.

For anyone hoping to apply for a scholarship, Cheyenne has the following advice, “Make sure you’re organised and go for it! I’ve already had so many opportunities since the move.”

So what next then, for Cheyenne? After she gets through this first chilly winter in Perth, and then the next four years of classes, she has her sights set on Paris.

“I would love to see the Eiffel Tower and the galleries, it’s been my dream since I was a little kid!”

If you have a dream but need one-off financial assistance to help you realise it, follow the links to the ‘Scholarships’ page on this website where you can apply online. Our next round of scholarships closes on the 31ST of May. Due to an overwhelming number of applications, we give preference to people from the native title groups that are members of the Ambooriny Burru Foundation (which owns KRED Enterprises). These groups are: Ngurrara, Bardi Jawi, Nyikina Mangala, Jaru, Yi-martuwarra Ngurrara, Koongie Elvire, Tjurabalan and Karajarri. We hope to hear from you!

Ambooriny Burru Foundation Charitable Trust