ILF Community Publishing
March 2023
ISBN: 9781922592460
ISBN 10: 1922592463
9781922592484 (Karajarri), 9781922592477 (Mangala)
RRP: $26.99
Community: Rubibi (Broome), WA
Language: Yawuru
The Yawuru people are the traditional owners of the lands and waters in and around Rubibi (the town of Broome). As more and more First Nations seasonal calendars are being shared with students, what a wonderful resource this one is – even if this is not in your part of the country. You would be able to put together a wonderful inquiry around the traditional seasons for the owners of the Country on which you teach and learn, with local knowledge holders and resources.
These four educators at Cable Beach primary school wanted to share the traditional knowledge in a way that their young Smalls would be able to grasp and so worked together on the text and the wonderful block printed illustrations, which so evocatively capture the Kimberley landscape, to that end. The book has also been translated into two neighbouring languages, Karrajarri and Mangala.
The Yawuru people knew which season had arrived by ‘what we feel, see, taste, smell and hear.’ So much more attuned than the rest of us really who really on judge on if it’s hot or cold, windy or rainy and so on.
Reclamation of language, customs, cultural knowledge and the way it is imparted are an important step forward in many communities, and it is enterprises such as this that pave the way for jarjums to grow up in authentic cultural practices. But, beyond that, it is also so important for all children to understand and respect the richness of this traditional knowledge, which was part of the First Nations’ safekeeping of the entire land, no matter which Country they were on.
It is a truly beautiful book with its English and Yawuru text and the vivid illustrations – a real bonus is the inclusion of the QR code on the back cover so you can hear the book read – because for many of us, getting our very whitefella tongues around language is tricky.
This is another stand-out title and it’s possible that you might have missed it as well, so why not order now and add to your collection, particularly for those investigations around weather and Australia’s geographical landscapes and wildlife. Definitely a 5 ☀️🌧️🍃🌊🌩️rating for your jarjums from around 4 years upwards.
- Australia Post/Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Teaching notes by Shelley Ware for ‘Country calls us when…’ (Yawuru edition)https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/country-tells-us-when-teacher-guide-and-lesson-plans.pdf
- Celebrating ‘Country Tells Us When… in Community’ Book launch Broome 2023https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht_vSqu_IeY
- Western Australia Department of Education News 16 May 2023. ‘A team of educators have written a Yawuru children’s picture book to help preserve language and culture for generations to come.’https://www.education.wa.edu.au/news/educators-write-yawuru-picture-book
- Bureau of Meteorology. Indigenous Weather Knowledge – Yawuru Countryhttp://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/calendars/yawuru.shtml
- Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community La Grange Inc. ‘Welcome to Bidyadanga’https://www.bidyadanga.org.au/
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