9 things to know about Miss World Australia’s 1st Aboriginal finalist

19-year-old Magnolia Maymuru has made history as the first aboriginal woman to become a finalist at Miss World Australia. We tell you more about her. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)

Updated on: May 13, 2016 8:13 PM IST

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19-year-old Magnolia Maymuru has made history as the first aboriginal woman to become a finalist at Miss World Australia. We tell you more about her. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)

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Maminydjama Maymuru, a 19-year-old Yolgnu woman, has won the Northern Territory state final of Miss World and advanced to the national final, which will be held in July. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)

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Maymuru, who goes by the name Magnolia when modelling, is from the remote community of Yirrkala in East Arnhem Land. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)

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She is 5’10. (Facebook)

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She became a model only recently, after being spotted by the director of Northern Territory Fashion Week, Mehali Tsangaris. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)

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Tsangaris saw Maymuru taking money out of an ATM in Darwin in 2014, and offered her a job on the spot to be model under his management. She rejected the offer because she had to finish Year 12. But then Tsangaris saw her again in 2015 and convinced her to take up his offer. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)

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Maymuru hails from the remote east Arnhem Land community of Yirrkala and grew up in the bilingual community surrounded by her family of traditional artists. (Facebook)

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Maymuru was born about 600 kilometres east of Darwin in Yirrkala, a coastal Arnhem Land community well-known for its Indigenous artwork, singers and traditional culture. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)

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Maymuru also hoped her participation in the pageant — something traditionally associated with bikinis, crowns and proclamations of world peace — would continue to boost her career prospects and show Australia a different side to young Indigenous women. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)

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While she hopes her story will be an example for others, she’ll be just as happy if the experience only lasts a few years, as she loves her home. (Facebook/ Magnolia Maymuru)