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The Kimberley
- Do Not Go Around the Edges byISBN: 0958810117Publication Date: 1995Illustrated with traditional Aboriginal dot form and contemporary images, this is a poetry collection from an elder of the Wunambal people. The poems are juxtaposed with the story of the author's life. The illustrator is a writer and artist of other children's books and has worked in Aboriginal education.
- Jandamarra byISBN: 1742375707Publication Date: 2013The epic and tragic story of Jandamarra, Indigenous hero of the Kimberley told through text and illustrations. A story for all Australians, providing a unique insight into an extraordinary man and a powerful slice of history.
- Barefoot byCall Number: HAWISBN: 9781920731533When the Jirroo kids - Janey, Jimmy, Tich, Buddy and Dancer form their band, they're just looking for fun. But as their special place, Eagle Beach comes under threat things start getting serious. The rumble of bulldozers begins to drown out their music, as the mystery of a fortune in missing diamonds, hidden graves, old murders, new dangers and ancient secrets collide. The kids will need to draw on everything they've got to make it through.
- Red Dirt Talking byISBN: 1921888792Publication Date: 2012It's build-up time in the north-western town of Ransom, just before the big wet, when people go off the rails. In the midst of a bitter custody battle, an eight year old girl goes missing. Annie, an anthropology graduate fresh from the city, is determined to uncover the mystery of the child's disappearance. As Annie searches for the truth beneath the township's wild speculations, she finds herself increasingly drawn towards Mick Hooper, a muscly, seemingly laid-back bloke with secrets of his own. Praise for the Book 'an insightful and wryly funnylook at life in the remote Outback.' Melissa Lucashenko 'The characters who inhabit and walk through this story are very real people, with all the human strengths and weaknesses that make us who we are.' Samuel Wagan Watson
- Ngay Janijirr Ngank - This Is My Word byISBN: 9781875641475Publication Date: 1999"A long time ago in Ngarlan, the place where Beagle Bay stands, a very strange and frightening thing happened. This was a long time before any Europeans or white people (wajbal) were around in this part of the country . . ." "So begins a beautiful, poignant story told by Magdalene Williams of the Nyulnyul people. Although raised in the confines of Beagle Bay mission, she was constantly exposed to her traditional culture through her elders. Her account of the coming of the missionaries, and the resultant destruction of Law and culture, is interweaved with the richness and poetry of Nyulnyul stories. Ngay Janijirr Ngank is a perceptive record of the Nyulnyul of the Kimberley, illustrated by Pat Torres with photographs by Maria Mann."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
- Raparapa byISBN: 9781921248283Publication Date: 1990Nine Kimberley Aboriginal stockmen tell their stories - and each one reflects the hard slog of their lives, particularly the tough and often abusive living and working conditions. These men worked seven days a week, all-year-round for payment of tobacco, flour, tea, blankets and, sometimes, clothing. Held in high esteem, the four men who remain are Senior Elders, cultural advisors and lawmen who contribute to the welfare of their people and communities. The men in Raparapa are resourceful, resilient, flexible, strong and intelligent. They worked hard to better the lives of future generations of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley. Their foresight and determination helped Indigenous people buy back vast tracts of land on which they now live, with their families, running their own cattle stations. There is an underlying sense of pride in the work these men undertook. Their work ethic is matched only by their love of the Kimberley countryside and the mighty Fitzroy River flowing through it.
The Pilbara
- The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf byISBN: 9780763680206Publication Date: 2016"If an 'exhilarating dystopia' strikes you as oxymoronic, this vivid, original debut just might change your mind." -- Kirkus Reviews A compelling novel asks what happens when children develop inexplicable abilities--and the government sees them as a threat. They're known as Firestarters. Boomers. Skychangers. Ashala Wolf and her Tribe of fellow Illegals have taken refuge in the Firstwood, where they are hidden and free. But when she is betrayed by a friend and captured by an enemy, Ashala is forced to succumb to a machine that will pull secrets from her mind. Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?
- Under a Bilari Tree I Born byISBN: 9781925162103Publication Date: 2015Alice Bilari Smith lived in the Pilbara, on stations and in the bush, on government reserves and in towns. Narrowly avoiding removal from her family by 'the Welfare', life on the stations taught her to cook and launder, sew and clean, shoe horses, chop wood and milk cows. As a young married woman she added mustering, dingo scalping, shearers' assistant and sheep-yard building to her skills. Alice also grew up in the ways of her country, hunting, cooking and building in the traditional manner. As well as a large family of her own, Alice played an active role in caring for other Aboriginal children and initiated the establishment of a Homemakers Centre in Roebourne. This is Alice's insightful and inspiring story - the story of a life that is remarkable and yet typical of Australia's strong country women.
- Wanamurraganya byISBN: 0949206997Publication Date: 1995Wanamurraganyais the story of Jack McPhee an itinerant station and mine worker from the Pilbara region of Australia. Sally Morgan met Jack McPhee, her grandfather through Aboriginal kinship, when she travelled North in search of her extended family whilst researching her first book, My Place.
- Conversations with the Mob byISBN: 9781921401039Publication Date: 2008-03-03Conversations with the Mob showcases Lewis' stunning photographs alongside personal recollections of her time living with the Martu 'mob'. This is a unique portrait of contemporary Australian life by turns moving, contemplative and deeply disturbing.
The Gascoyne
The Murchison
- Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence byISBN: 9780702233555Publication Date: 2013The film Rabbit-Proof Fenceis based on this true account of Doris Pilkington's mother Molly, who as a young girl led her two sisters on an extraordinary 1,600 kilometre walk home. Under Western Australia's invidious removal policy of the 1930s, the girls were taken from their Aboriginal families at Jigalong on the edge of the Little Sandy Desert, and transported halfway across the state to the Native Settlement at Moore River, north of Perth. Here Aboriginal children were instructed in the ways of white society and forbidden to speak their native tongue. The three girls - aged 8, 11 and 14 - managed to escape from the settlement's repressive conditions and brutal treatment. Barefoot, without provisions or maps, they set out to find the rabbit-proof fence, knowing it passed near their home in the north. Tracked by Native Police and search planes, they hid in terror, surviving on bush tucker, desperate to return to the world they knew.
- Jinangga byISBN: 9781875641512Publication Date: 2000"This is the remarkable life story of Monty Walgar, a Yamaji man from the Murchison River area of Western Australia. Taken from his mother at the age of 10, he was one of that first generation of Aboriginal people who had legal access to alcohol, and the results were devastating. From the age of 14 onwards he worked tirelessly on stations, the railways and the Canning Stock Route, but he also developed a serious drinking problem which took over his life. After narrowly escaping death in an accident in 1975 he went into rehab, but this was only the start of his battle, a pattern of drinking, rehab, release, drinking, rehab, release ... until in the mid-1980s he finally succeeded in staying sober for good." "Jinangga is a poignant example of the effects of alcohol abuse on the Indigenous people, whose culture it had traditionally never been a part of. Monty tells his story with enormous courage, humility and a gentle humour. His victory over drinking is a source of inspiration to anyone who has struggled with an addiction."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Mid West
- The Fringe Dwellers byISBN: 9781922079541Publication Date: 1961Set in a remote area of Western Australia,The Fringe Dwellers is the story of part-Aboriginal sisters, Noonah and Trilby, who live in a family camp on the fringe of white society. Noonah accepts her position--but Trilby refuses to. The Fringe Dwellers is a landmark novel in Australian literature.
The Arid Interior
- The Girl from the Great Sandy Desert byISBN: 9781922142054The Girl from the Great Sandy Desert is the remarkable account of the life of Mana, a young Walmajarri girl and her family in the desert country of north - west Australia. A collection of accessible stories that elucidate the rich cultural lives of pre - contact Aboriginal Australians, this book is a valuable resource for educators and young readers, and is accompanied by beautiful black and white illustrations.
- Jilji. lIfe in the Great Sandy Desert byCall Number: 572.994 LOWISBN: 9780958810128Publication Date: 1990A rare photographic and textual journey into the life of the Walmajarri people of the Great Sandy Desert. Brilliant photographs interact with illustrations by celebrated artist, Jimmy Pike.
The Goldfields
Map of regions
Map sourced from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Western Australia
Image source https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/gis_maps/11/
The Wheatbelt
- Sweet One byISBN: 1922089753Publication Date: 2014When a senior Aboriginal war veteran dies horribly at the hands of state government authorities, Izzy, a journalist and daughter of a war veteran herself, flies to the goldfields of Western Australia to cover his death. But Izzy is about to learn that for every action there is an equal and bloody reaction. On the trail of the vigilantes, she finds herself embedded in a secret war that is finally, irrevocably, going to explode onto the surface.
- Jasper Jones byCall Number: SILISBN: 1742372627Publication Date: 2009Late on a hot summer night in 1965, Charlie Bucktin, a precocious and bookish boy of thirteen, is startled by an urgent knock on the window of his sleep-out. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in the regional mining town of Corrigan.
Rebellious, mixed-race and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue for Charlie. So when Jasper begs for his help, Charlie eagerly steals into the night by his side, terribly afraid but desperate to impress. Jasper takes him to his secret glade in the bush, and it's here that Charlie bears witness to Jasper's horrible discovery.
With his secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion as he locks horns with his tempestuous mother; falls nervously in love and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend, Jeffrey Lu.
And in vainly attempting to restore the parts that have been shaken loose, Charlie learns to discern the truth from the myth, and why white lies creep like a curse.
In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.
Metropolitan
- Sally's Story byISBN: 9780949206787Publication Date: 1995My Placeis Sally Morgan's rich, zesty and moving story of her childhood and growing up in Perth, Western Australia. It tells how she gradually came to realise the truth about her family and their heritage. In its original edition, My Placewas warmly and enthusiastically received by readers and critics. This new edition has been adapted for younger readers.
- Aboriginal legends from the Bibulmun tribe byCall Number: 398.2 BENISBN: 9780727015044Publication Date: 1981A reminder to the many descendants of the Bibulmun tribe of their priceless heritage.
- Aboriginal Perth and Bibbulmun biographies and legends byCall Number: 994.1 BATISBN: 9780859051354A collection of articles by Daisy Bates (1863-1951), welfare worker among Aboriginals and anthropologist.
Forty-eight newspaper and magazine articles on the Bibbulmun of south west W.A. published between 1907-1938; includes six articles not previously annotated - The Adventures of Ngilgian, The Romance of Joobyteh and Gootalan, Gootalans Love Story, Norn, Yaggain and Went , Walja and Manitch, Walij and Wordung; life stories; courtship, betrothal and fighting; disease; mythology - snake, bandicoot, eaglehawk, cockatoo, crow. - Kullark The Dreamers byCall Number: A822.914 DAVPublication Date: 1982
South West of WA
- Benang byISBN: 9781863682404Publication Date: 1999I tell you that this story of my own is part of a much older story... one of a perpetual billowing from the sea, with its rhythm of return, return, remain... I offer these words, especially to those of you I embarrass, and who turn away from the shame of seeing me... We are still here, Benang.
- That Deadman Dance byCall Number: SCOISBN: 1405040440Publication Date: 2010Big-hearted, moving and richly rewarding, That Deadman Dance is set in the first decades of the 19th century in the area around what is now Albany, Western Australia. In playful, musical prose, the book explores the early contact between the Aboriginal Noongar people and the first European settlers.
The novel's hero is a young Noongar man named Bobby Wabalanginy. Clever, resourceful and eager to please, Bobby befriends the new arrivals, joining them hunting whales, tilling the land, exploring the hinterland and establishing the fledgling colony. He is even welcomed into a prosperous local white family where he falls for the daughter, Christine, a beautiful young woman who sees no harm in a liaison with a native.
But slowly – by design and by accident – things begin to change. Not everyone is happy with how the colony is developing. Stock mysteriously start to disappear; crops are destroyed; there are "accidents" and injuries on both sides. As the Europeans impose ever stricter rules and regulations in order to keep the peace, Bobby's Elders decide they must respond in kind. A friend to everyone, Bobby is forced to take sides: he must choose between the old world and the new, his ancestors and his new friends. Inexorably, he is drawn into a series of events that will forever change not just the colony but the future of Australia... - A Story to Tell byISBN: 9781920694708Publication Date: 2006In A Story to Tell, Laurel Nannup brings to life a childhood in a large Aboriginal family. While her stories include time spent at the Wandering Mission, their main focus is on memories of family life-picnics, roaming through the bush, sharing campfire tales, and events such as buying a new dress and first communion. The collection is illustrated with Laurel's striking woodcuts and etchings, which, together with a selection of photographs, complement the warm and affectionate humor of her narrative.
The South Coast
- Taboo byCall Number: SCOISBN: 9781925483741Publication Date: 2017From Kim Scott, two-times winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award, comes a work charged with ambition and poetry, in equal parts brutal, mysterious and idealistic, about a young woman cast into a drama that has been playing for over two hundred years ...
Taboo takes place in the present day, in the rural South-West of Western Australia, and tells the story of a group of Noongar people who revisit, for the first time in many decades, a taboo place: the site of a massacre that followed the assassination, by these Noongar's descendants, of a white man who had stolen a black woman. They come at the invitation of Dan Horton, the elderly owner of the farm on which the massacres unfolded. He hopes that by hosting the group he will satisfy his wife's dying wishes and cleanse some moral stain from the ground on which he and his family have lived for generations.
But the sins of the past will not be so easily expunged.
We walk with the ragtag group through this taboo country and note in them glimmers of re-connection with language, lore, country. We learn alongside them how countless generations of Noongar may have lived in ideal rapport with the land. This is a novel of survival and renewal, as much as destruction; and, ultimately, of hope as much as despair.
Longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award 2018
Longlisted for the Abia Literary Fiction Book of The Year 2018
Longlisted for the Indie Book Awards Fiction 2018
Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction 2018
Shortlisted for the Colin Roderick Award 2018
GoodReads 2020 - Terra Nullius byCall Number: COLISBN: 9780733638312Publication Date: 2017Jacky was running. There was no thought in his head, only an intense drive to run. There was no sense he was getting anywhere, no plan, no destination, no future. All he had was a sense of what was behind, what he was running from. Jacky was running.
The Natives of the Colony are restless. The Settlers are eager to have a nation of peace, and to bring the savages into line. Families are torn apart, reeducation is enforced. This rich land will provide for all.
This is not Australia as we know it. This is not the Australia of our history.
The Nullarbor
- Tea and Sugar Christmas byISBN: 9780642278630Join Kathleen in the outback as she eagerly awaits the Christmas Tea and Sugar Train. Will she meet Father Christmas? Will she receive a Christmas gift from him? Contains some brief factual information about the train which for 81 years travelled from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie. It serviced the settlements along the Nullarbor Plain. Without shops or services the train was a lifeline to the isolated workers and their families.