Top ten summer reads from Indigenous Australian authors
Whether you're planning on taking a beach break this summer or just want to unwind with a good read on the verandah, we've got the books that will keep you reading all season long. So kick back, put your feet up and get lost in worlds of both fiction and non-fiction by Australian Indigenous Authors.
Number 10
Traditional Healers of Central Australia: Ngangkari
by NPY Women's Council Aboriginal Corporation
Traditional Healers of the Central Desert contains unique stories and imagery and primary source material: the ngangkari speak directly to the reader. Ngangkari are senior Aboriginal people authorised to speak publicly about Anangu (Western Desert language speaking Aboriginal people) culture and practices. It is accurate, authorised information about their work, in their own words.
The practice of traditional healing is still very much a part of contemporary Aboriginal society. The ngangkari currently employed at NPY Women’s Council deliver treatments to people across a tri-state region of about 350,000 sq km, in more than 25 communities in SA, WA, and NT.
Acknowledged, respected, and accepted, these ngangkari work collaboratively with hospitals and health professionals even beyond this region, working hand-in-hand with Western medical practitioners.
You can purchase this book through our friends at Booktopia
Number 9
You Call it Desert, We Used to Live There
by Pat Lowe, Jimmy Pike
The first draft of this book was written under a tree on the slope of a sandhill where, for several years, Englishwoman Pat Lowe shared a desert camp with her lifetime partner, Walmajarri man Jimmy Pike. While spending time in the red heart of country that had been the home to the Walmajarri people for thousands of years, they recorded Pike’s stories through his painting and Lowe’s writing.
You call it desert — we used to live there is a new edition of Jilji—Life in the Great Sandy Desert. With Jimmy Pike as her teacher, Pat Lowe explored the day-to-day lives of the desert dwellers. Through her unique understanding of their use of the land, its features, and materials, Lowe writes about the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the desert people.
You can purchase this book through our friends at Booktopia
Number 8
by Ngarta Jinny Bent, Jukuna Mona Chuguna, Pat Lowe, Eirlys Richards
Ngarta and Jukuna lived in the Great Sandy Desert. They traversed country according to the seasons, just as the Walmajarri people had done for thousands of years. But it was a time of change. Desert people who had lived with little knowledge of European settlement were now moving onto cattle stations. Those left behind were vulnerable and faced unimaginable challenges.
In 1961, when Jukuna leaves with her new husband, young Ngarta remains with a group of women and children. Tragedy strikes and Ngarta is forced to travel alone. Her survival depends on cunning and courage as she is pursued by two murderers in a vast unforgiving landscape.
Jukuna’s rich account may be the first autobiography written in an Aboriginal language. Presented in English and Walmajarri, her determination to see her language written has made her one of our most valued authors.
You can purchase this book through our friends at Booktopia
Number 7
Lemons in the Chicken Wire
by Alison Whittaker