As a child, Caroline Hughes was warned not to speak in her native Ngunnawal language.
She grew up fearing that if she did, she would be taken from her home, as her mother was during the stolen generations.
"We learned not to share our language," she said.
"Our language is something that has been denied to us."
On Thursday morning, Aunty Hughes will be seated in the public gallery of the ACT Legislative Assembly, as politicians for all sides unite to create a new platform to recognise - and share - the language of the territory's traditional custodians.
Labor, Liberal and Greens parliamentarians will co-sponsor a motion calling for the speaker's acknowledgement of country at the start of each sitting day to be delivered in the Ngunnawal language.
If adopted, it would make the Legislative Assembly the first Australian parliament in which an indigenous language was spoken at the start of a sitting day.
Our language is key ... it is the salient ingredient to our lore and law, and everything around us.
Caroline Hughes
The exact words would be chosen in consultation with members of the United Ngunnawal Elders Council and other elders, according to the motion, which also called for MLAs to be offered cultural awareness training.
Aunty Hughes, who is the director CIT's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Educational Centre of Excellence, said the gesture "made her heart warm".
She remembered weeping when former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke in Ngunnawal during a speech in federal parliament in 2016.
"What a beautiful feeling," Aunty Hughes said of the proposal to come before the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
"Our language is key ... it is the salient ingredient to our lore and law, and everything around us.
"I was never allowed to share my language. Now we have come full circle, not only can I speak it, but it is being shared with others. It makes me really proud."
Aunty Hughes was hopeful that the use of the indigenous language in the Legislative Assembly would spark wider interest in Ngunnawal culture, particularly among younger generations.
Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, whose party is leading the push, said the motion was designed to advance the cause of reconciliation in the nation's capital.
"The nation has a long way to go before we achieve reconciliation, and it's incumbent on all of us to do what we can to contribute to this important reckoning," Mr Rattenbury said.
