Hello, I'm Rohani Foulkes.

I am a Waiben Torres Strait Islander woman also of Malaysian, Scottish and English heritage. I was born in Cairns, Australia, where the rainforest meets the sea, and for the past 12+ years I have lived, worked and raised my family in Detroit within Michigans Great Lakes region of North America.

A little about me

I am a chef, teacher, advocate, entrepreneur and business owner, and food has been central to my identity, my vocation and my voice for as long as I can remember. My food journey began young, digging pippies on sandy shorelines, night fishing from wharves reaching out into the ocean, hand-husking coconuts and harvesting Bowen mangoes. Food was one of my earliest ways of understanding place, family and belonging.

At the same time, my connection to culture was disrupted. Growing up, I experienced institutional and familial separation, and it has taken me decades to understand more deeply how colonial occupation, assimilation policies and institutional racism shaped my relationship to Country and culture.

For much of the past decade, I have been living away from Australia while intentionally working to reconnect, learning, listening, healing and finding ways to understand what was disrupted, what was lost, and what I still have to learn and contribute. That work is deeply personal, but it is also about my children and future generations.

Food as Knowledge

I began working in restaurants at 12 years old and have spent my life in hospitality. For more than a decade, I have built my professional life in Detroit around food, hospitality, education and advocacy, including work focused on food access, food sovereignty, wage equity and healthier workplace conditions.

I’m raising funds to return to Australia this December to facilitate *Food as Knowledge: Place, Memory & Responsibility* at The Returning: Gathering 2026 on Bundjalung Country.

I have returned to Australia before to see family and friends, and those journeys have always been a significant financial commitment, fully self-funded by me and my family. **This return is different.**

For the first time in my life, I am returning not simply as a daughter, mother, sister or friend, but as a professional woman, an Indigenous woman and a holder of Indigenous food knowledge, invited to share that knowledge on Country, in community. **This is a return rooted in healing, recognition and contribution: an opportunity to bring what I have learned, lived and carried back into relationship with Country and community. This returning is profoundly personal, and represents a meaningful step in my ongoing journey to reclaim connection, honor what has been passed down to me, and contribute to what comes next.

My workshop

Food as Knowledge: Place, Memory & Responsibility, will explore food as a living system of relationship rather than simply a commodity. Participants will consider how ingredients carry stories of Country, culture, migration and memory; how food connects us to people and place; and how the ways we source, prepare and share food can shape our responsibilities to one another and the environments from which our food comes. I am particularly interested in creating an experience where participants can taste, touch, question and reflect, using food as a vessel for knowledge.

Why This Matters

The Returning is a First Nations-curated gathering bringing together women and non-binary people of all ages and backgrounds to share ancestral skills and wellness practices, connect to Country and one another, and create space for reconnection.

More than half of the facilitators are Indigenous women from across Australia. Being invited to contribute is profoundly meaningful to me.

I very rarely have the opportunity to engage with my Indigenous identity, food practice and professional experience in such a deeply connected way. Returning to Australia for this work gives me an opportunity to contribute, while also listening and learning from the Indigenous knowledge holders and communities who will be part of the gathering. This is not simply a trip home. It is an opportunity to participate in a meaningful way and in work that sits at the heart of my practice and my ongoing journey of reconnection.

How you can help

Traveling from Detroit to Australia is a significant financial undertaking. I need to arrive several days before the workshop to acclimate, prepare the workshop materials, source ingredients, and develop participant resources. I am asking for help to raise $7,500 to cover the essential costs of making this return possible.

But this campaign is about more than raising funds. Over the coming months, I hope to invite you to follow along as I prepare, learn, return and share this work. I’ll be sharing stories, resources and reflections about Torres Strait Islander culture, Indigenous food knowledge, Country, memory and connection, creating space for learning and conversation along the way.

If you are able to contribute financially, I am deeply grateful. If you cannot, sharing the fundraiser, following along, engaging with what I share, or simply making space to learn is also meaningful support. This is an invitation to come alongside me for the journey, not simply to fund the destination.

How the funds will be used

Funds will be used first toward airfare and accommodation, followed by workshop preparation, materials and local transportation. If the full goal is not reached, funds will still be applied proportionately toward these essential costs.

Thank you

Every contribution helps make this opportunity possible. If you are able to contribute, thank you. If you are not in a position to give, sharing this fundraiser with someone who may connect with this work and may be able to help is equally meaningful.

~ Ro