Suggesting reading for NAIDOC 2024
Published on 08 July 2024
Held across the country from 7-14 July 2024, NAIDOC Week celebrates and recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This year’s theme chosen by the National NAIDOC Committee, is Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud.
The theme honours the enduring strength and vitality of First Nations culture – with fire a symbol of connection to Country, to each other, and to the rich tapestry of traditions that define Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
To celebrate NAIDOC, we've put together a selection First Nations books available at the library.
Non-Fiction
Woven: First Nations poetic conversations from the Fair-Trade Project
Following from the much-loved Guwayu anthology, this second collaboration between Red Room Poetry and Magabala Books invites some of the world's leading First Nations poets together in poetic conversation. This collection weaves words across lands and seas, gathering collaborative threads and shining a light on First Nations poetry from Australia and across the globe.
Gigorou: it's time to reclaim beauty: First Nations wisdom and womanhood
'You're too pretty to be Aboriginal' is a shocking statement Sasha Kutabah Sarago experienced at a young age. In her 2020 TEDx talk, 'The (de)colonising of beauty', Sasha shares how she reclaimed her femininity by redefining beauty. In challenging our modern-day concepts of beauty from a First Nations woman's perspective, she asks, does beauty liberate you, or is it time to rethink beauty? Gigorou, meaning 'beautiful' in Jirrbal -- her grandmother's language -- is an extension of this conversation.
Adult Fiction
The yield
The yield in English is the reaping, the things that man can take from the land. In the language of the Wiradjuri yield is the things you give to, the movement, the space between things: baayanha. Knowing that he will soon die, Albert 'Poppy' Gondiwindi takes pen to paper. His life has been spent on the banks of the Murrumby River at Prosperous House, on Massacre Plains. Albert is determined to pass on the language of his people and everything that was ever remembered. He finds the words on the wind. August Gondiwindi has been living on the other side of the world for ten years when she learns of her grandfather's death. She returns home for his burial, wracked with grief, and burdened with all she tried to leave behind.
Dark as last night
Dark as Last Night confirms, once again, that Tony Birch is a master of the short story. These exceptional stories capture the importance of human connection at pivotal moments in our lives, whether those occur because of the loss of a loved one or the uncertainties of childhood. In this collection we witness a young girl struggling to protect her mother from her father's violence, two teenagers clumsily getting to know one another by way of a shared love of music, and a man mourning the death of his younger brother, while beset by memories and regrets from their shared past.
Junior
The Wylah series
Wylah is brave, clever and strong-willed, and all her best friends are giant megafauna animals. Wylah dreams of becoming an art teacher like her greatly respected Grandmother. But when her tribe is attacked by the Dragon Army and taken captive, Wylah must summon the courage to unite the five Guardians and save her people. But she isn't a warrior. Not yet, anyway.
What will it take for Wylah to become a warrior, like her Grandmother before her?
Introducing an unforgettable cast of characters, Wylah: The Koorie Warrior is a heart-stopping and imaginative adventure, inspired by First Nations history and grounded in culture.
Wylah is Co-Written by Jordan Gould a Proud Peek Whurrong Man and Richard Pritchard an Indigenous Samoan.
The broken rainbow
When Nerra's great-grandmother passes away, she leaves a box of artefacts to Nerra. Nerra is drawn to the clapsticks which glow red hot, and when she picks them up, she is transported back in time. Dreaming is out of balance and a hero needs to help. Bineal and Pirnbial, husband and wife of the rainbow, have been split apart and captured by the evil Devour'ena. With the help of the Keeper of Clean Sand and Clear Water and the cleverman, Bobbinary, can Nerra reunite the rainbow and bring Dreaming back into balance?
Junior Non-Fiction
Come together: things every Aussie kid should know about the First Peoples
In this book, Isaiah, a Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara man, establishes a foundation of First Nations knowledge with 20 key topics and connects us to each topic through his own personal story and culture, from the importance of Elders to the Dreaming.
This book thinks ya deadly!: a celebration of blak excellence
Written by Corey Tutt, author of The First Scientists, this book features the profiles of 80 Blakfellas who are doing deadly things across sport, art, activism, and science, through to politics, education, and literature. It showcases the careers and Corey's personal stories of First Nations People who have done great things in their respective fields, including Professor Marcia Langton, Miranda Tapsell, Tony Armstrong, Dr Anita Heiss, Danzal Baker (Baker Boy), Adam Goodes and Blak Douglas. Molly Hunt's deadly illustrations make this book the perfect gift for all ages. A celebration of Blak excellence, it will inspire future generations to create change and leave readers to ponder, 'What makes ME deadly?'
Young Adult
Robert runs
Robert Runs is a fast-paced thriller based on the author's great-great grandfather, Robert 'Goupong' Anderson, who was once the fastest man in Australia and world-record holder. Goupong, his little sister Dot, and his best friend Jonathan belong to the Ugarapul people, the Green Tree Frog tribe, and live with their families and others within the harsh confines of the Deebing Creek Mission a place run by the malevolent Boss Man. Goupong and Jonathan are focused on winning the mission's biggest running race that year, but when mysterious noises, unexplained occurrences and biblical events begin to plague the local area they are forced to investigate.
Unlimited futures: speculative, visionary Blak and Black fiction
Unlimited Futures is an anthology of Own Voice speculative fiction from First Nations writers and Black writers, reflecting visionary pasts, hopeful futures and the invisible ties between First Nations people and People of Colour. With contributions by Tuesday Atzinger, Flora Chol, Claire Coleman, Zena Cumpston, Lisa Fuller, Meleika Gasa-Fatafehi, Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Chemutai Glasheen, Genevieve Grieves, Rafeif Ismail, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Laniyuk, Maree McCathy Yoelu, Jasmin McGaughey, SJ Minniecon, Sisonke Msimang, Merryana Salem, Mykaela Saunders, Aisha Trambas, Alison Whittaker, and Jasper Wyld.
Picture Books
Seasons: an introduction to First Nations seasons
Have you ever been excited for summer on the first day of December, only to be disappointed when it's cold and rainy? For First Nations People, the seasons don't change when the calendar does. Instead, we look for changes in plants, animals, water, weather, and the stars to mark the start of a new season.
The emu who ran through the sky
Lofty, a young emu desperately wants to win a big emu race, but he is slow and clumsy - and his first race ends in disaster! But Lofty realises there is another way to win the race. He enlists the help of his Bush Mob friends Eagle, Sugar Glider, and Bat - who are all excellent fliers - to teach him to fly. But it is Bush Mob's inventor, Platypus, who designs the Feathery Paraglider that allows Lofty to win the day!
You can view a full list here.
