Winnie Dunn, 47, a manager at a bank, and her namesake niece, Winnie Dunn, 28, author and general manager of a literacy movement, are as close as any mother and daughter could be – and just as disputatious. Winnie jnr and snr. “There is no word for ‘aunt’ in Tongan, so I am Winnie’s mehikitanga, her father’s eldest sister.
In our culture, that gives me naming rights, so I called her Winnie,” says Winnie snr. Credit: Wolter Peeters Winnie snr: There is no word for “aunt” in Tongan, so I am Winnie’s mehikitanga , her father’s eldest sister. In our culture, that gives me naming rights, so I called her Winnie.
I don’t have any biological children, so she is like my own firstborn. She is my first love. When Winnie was only four, her mum, Mafile’O Theresa, died of cancer after a six-month illness.
As her coffin was lowered into the ground, Winnie cried out, “Who’s going to be my mummy now?” We were already close, so I took on the role of mother then. Mum and I lived next door [in western Sydney] and she and her younger sister Elizabeth [a toddler], and brother Johnny [a baby] were always at our place. I never wanted to replace her mum; I just wanted her to know she had someone she could always go to.
Winnie was very intelligent and a reader from a young age. I bought her books. Harry Potter was a favourite.
I had dreamt of going to uni as a child and I had the marks when I finished school, but there was no money. I was over the moon when I learnt t.
