Took the Children Away by Archie Roach

$24.99 AUD

Category: Indigenous

Archie Roach AM's deeply personal song, 'Took the Children Away', from his 1990 debut album, Charcoal Lane, was the first song ever to receive a prestigious Australian Human Rights Award. Its impact was immediate, shining a stark light on Australia's shameful past practices of removing children from the ir families. The song also speaks of love and reconnection and has travelled across seas into the hearts of First Nations communities everywhere. One dark day, when Archie was just two years old, big black government cars came to his home at Framlingham Aboriginal Mission in southwest Victoria. They forcibly took Archie away from his mother, father and family - everything he had ever known. They took away thousands of other Aboriginal children, right around Australia. Powerful people had decided that these children would be better off living and learning all the white man's ways. Frightened and alone, they grew up in institutions and foster homes. They became known as the Stolen Generations.  Ruby Hunter was one of those children, too, only eight when she was taken from the loving arms of her grandmother living on the Coorong in South Australia. Archie and Ruby met and fell in love as homeless teenagers and Archie started writing songs to help ease his pain. Archie's songs, loved by fans worldwide, tell a powerful story of survival and renewal, and the healing power of music.   In this special 30th anniversary edition, Archie's iconic lyrics sit alongside evocative illustrations by his beloved soulmate and musical collaborator, Ruby Hunter. Also included are Archie's recollections of his family and rare historical photographs. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this book contains images of people who are deceased or who may now be deceased.     ...Show more

Truth Telling - History, Sovereignty and the Uluru Statement by Henry Reynolds

$34.99 AUD

Category: Indigenous

If we are to take seriously the need for telling the truth about our history, we must start at first principles. What if the sovereignty of the First Nations was recognised by European international law in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? What if the audacious British annexation of a whole conti nent was not seen as acceptable at the time and the colonial office in Britain understood that 'peaceful settlement' was a fiction? If the 1901 parliament did not have control of the whole continent, particularly the North, by what right could the new nation claim it? The historical record shows that the argument of the Uluru Statement from the Heart is stronger than many people imagine and the centuries-long legal position about British claims to the land far less imposing than it appears. In Truth-Telling, influential historian Henry Reynolds pulls the rug from legal and historical assumptions, with his usual sharp eye and rigour, in a book that's about the present as much as the past. His work shows exactly why our national war memorial must acknowledge the frontier wars, why we must change the date of our national day, and why treaties are important. Most of all, it makes urgently clear that the Uluru Statement is no rhetorical flourish but carries the weight of history and law and gives us a map for the future.   ...Show more

The Experimental Gentleman

$25.00 AUD

Category: Indigenous

Loving Country: A Guide to Sacred Australia by Bruce Pascoe; Vicky Shukuroglou

$45.00 AUD

Category: Indigenous

Loving Country is a book that inspires ultimate respect for Mother Earth and the role of her custodians. While readers are encouraged to discover the sacred country of Australia in an open-minded and sensitive manner, the intention of this book is to foster communication and understanding between a ll peoples and country, to bring about a range of environmental and social changes. Co-authors Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou hope to empower communities to tell their own stories, and for people to honour them and the country from which they have grown. Beautifully designed, all of the writing and photography in Loving Country has been created in consultation with communities. From the ingenious fish traps at Brewarrina and the rivers that feed the Great Barrier Reef, to the love stories of Wiluna and the whale story of Margaret River, there is so much to celebrate and admire about the oldest continuing culture in the world. For those who want to do more than a whistle-stop tour of Australia, this book offers some keys to unlock and reveal the heart of this loving country. ...Show more

Moli Det Bigibigi (Molly the Pig) ( Australian Reading Hour Special Edition) by Karen Manbullo

$2.99 AUD

Category: Indigenous

Written in Kriol and English, this is the story of Molly, a little pig who is rescued from the bush. She's taken back to the community where she finds a happy home. Happy, that is, apart from the local dogs who keep chasing and frightening her. Moli is greatly loved in her community, but what she loves most is Weet Bix. She loves it so much that it's not too long before little Moli is a very big pig indeed. So big, she now chases and frightens the local dogs. All in good fun, of course. The illustrations are an absolute delight, and watching Molly grow and grow and grow will bring a smile to readers' faces and outright laughter at the end. ...Show more

Lowitja: The Authorised Biography of Lowitja O'Donoghue by Stuart Rintoul; Lowitja O'Donoghue

$45.00 AUD

Category: Indigenous

The profoundly moving biography of a truly great Australian who, against the greatest of odds, became one of Australia's most respected and recognisable Indigenous leaders. 'I am sometimes identified as one of the "success stories" of the policies of removal of Aboriginal children. But for much of my ch ildhood I was deeply unhappy. I feel I had been deprived of love and the ability to love in return. Like Lily, my mother, I felt totally powerless. And I think this is where the seeds of my commitment to human rights and social justice were sown.' - Lowitja O'Donoghue Lowitja O'Donoghue is a truly great Australian. She is arguably our nation's most recognised Indigenous woman. A powerful and unrelenting advocate for her people, an inspiration for many, a former Australian of the Year, she sat opposite Prime Minister Paul Keating in the first negotiations between an Australian government and Aboriginal people and changed the course of the nation. But when Lowitja was born in 1932 to an Aboriginal mother and a white father in the harsh and uncompromising landscape of Central Australia the expectations for her life could not have been more different. At the age of two, she was handed over to the missionaries of the Colebrook Home for Half-Caste Children and cut off completely from her people and her culture. She would not see her mother again for another thirty years and would have no memory of her father. In 2001 a bitter controversy arose over whether Lowitja was 'stolen' as a child. In search of a past she did not remember, Lowitja went back to Central Australia accompanied by journalist Stuart Rintoul. This ground-breaking and long-awaited biography completes that journey into Lowitja's life and the challenging history of her times. It is a remarkable work about an extraordinary woman. 'A remarkable Australian leader. A leader whose unfailing instinct for enlargement marks her out as unique.' - Paul Keating 'If there is one woman that you would identify as being someone that inspires you, that terrifies you, that is a symbol of possibility, it would be Lowitja. The dignity, I think, is the thing that you remember the most.' - Linda Burney, first Aboriginal woman to be elected to the House of Representatives 'The greatest Aboriginal leader of the modern era . . . the rock who steadied us in the storm. Resolute, scolding, warm and generous, courageous, steely, gracious and fair. She held the hardest leadership brief in the nation and performed it bravely and with distinction.' - Noel Pearson 'She changed the course of Australian history. She literally seized the day.' - Robert Tickner, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs 1990-96 ...Show more

My Tidda, My Sister: Stories from Australia's First Women by Marlee Silva

$29.99 AUD

Category: Indigenous

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and society has existed on this continent for millennia. It is a culture that manifests as the ultimate example of resilience, strength and beauty. It's also a culture that has consistently been led by its women. My Tidda, My Sister shares the experiences of many Indigenous women and girls, brought together by author and host of the Tiddas 4 Tiddas podcast Marlee Silva. The voices of First Nations' women that Marlee weaves through the book provide a rebuttal to the idea that 'you can't be what you can't see'. For non-Indigenous women, it demonstrates the diversity of what success can look like and offers insight into the lives of their Indigenous sisters and peers. Featuring colourful artwork by Goreng Goreng artist Rachael Sarra, this book is a celebration of the Indigenous female experience through truth-telling. Some stories are heart-warming, others shine a light on the terrible realities for many Australian Indigenous women, both in the past and today. But what they all share is the ability to inspire and empower, creating a sisterhood that all Australian women can be part of. Also features foreword by Leah Purcell and illustrations by Wiradjuri, Ngiyampaa woman Charlotte Allingham. ...Show more

Welcome to Country by Joy Murphy

$26.99 AUD

Category: Indigenous

This is an expansive and generous Welcome to Country from a most respected Elder, Aunty Joy Murphy, beautifully given form by Indigenous artist Lisa Kennedy. Welcome to the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People. We are part of this land and the land is part of us. This is where we come from. Wominj eka Wurundjeri balluk yearmenn koondee bik. Welcome to Country. Aunty Joy Wandin Murphy is a most respected senior Wurundjeri elder of the Kulin alliance. This is a very accessible welcome that introduces and gives meaning and explanation within the text to the customs and symbols of Indigenous Australia. Aboriginal communities across Australia have boundaries that are defined by mountain ranges and waterways. Traditionally, to cross these boundaries or enter community country you needed permission from the neighbouring community. When this permission was granted the ceremony now called Welcome to Country took place. Each community had its own way of welcoming to country, and they still do today.   ...Show more

Culture Is Life: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Modern Australia by Wayne Quilliam

$39.99 AUD

Category: Indigenous

Culture is Life is a modern, photographic celebration of the diversity of Indigenous Australians. In the same way that Humans of New York offered interesting life stories to give context to images of everyday New Yorkers, pre-eminent photographer Wayne Quilliam has collected over 500 images and intervie ws with Indigenous people across the country. His work explores the nuances of Indigenous thinking and identity, and focuses on how the First peoples view their place within the contemporary culture of Australia. The people featured in this book include many high-profile Indigenous Australians, as well as community members of different ages from Tasmania to the Torres Strait, offering insights into the dreams of youth and the reflections of Elders. With a short quote sitting next to each image, this book is an accessible gateway to better understand and appreciate the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, presented as a stunning and contemporary photo book.     ...Show more

My People by Oodgeroo Noonuccal

$24.95 AUD

Category: Indigenous

Oodgeroo's writing is often a provocative and passionate plea for justice. My People is a collection of poetry and prose and a reminder of Oodgeroo's contribution to indigenous culture and the journey to reconciliation.

A Question of Colour - My Journey to Belonging by Patricia Lees; Adam C. Lees (As told to)

$22.99 AUD

Category: Indigenous

'These two children have been in our Home in Townsville for more than two years, and in view of their very dark colouring, have not been assimilated into the white race. Every effort has been made to place them in a foster home without success because of their colour.' Queensland State Children's Depart ment correspondence, 21 June 1960. The removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families remains a dark chapter in Australia's history. Pattie Lees was just ten-years-old when she and her four siblings were separated from their mother on the grounds of neglect and placed into State care. Believing she was being shipped and exiled to Africa, Pattie was ultimately fated to spend the rest of her childhood on the island once dubbed 'Australia's Alcatraz' –Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement, off the coast of Queensland. A Question of Colour; my journey to belonging provides a first-hand account of Pattie's experiences as a 'fair-skinned Aboriginal' during Australia's assimilationist policy era and recounts her survival following a decade of sexual, physical and emotional abuse as a Ward of the State. A Question of Colour is a deeply moving and powerful testimony to the resilience of a young girl, her identity and her journey to belong. ...Show more

Sorry Day by Coral Vass; Dub Leffler (Illustrator)

$17.99 AUD

Category: Indigenous

There was a hum of excitement. Flags flickered in the breeze as Maggie's heart danced with delight. 'This is a very special day!' her mother said. Maggie holds tight to her mother as they await the long anticipated apology to show a willingness to reconcile the past for future generations. In the excite ment of the crowd Maggie loses touch of her mother's hand as is lost. In a time 'long ago and not so long ago' children were taken from their parents, their 'sorrow echoing across the land'. As the Prime Minister's speech unfolds Maggie is reunited with her mother. But the faces and memories of the stolen generation are all around them. Two stories entwine in this captivating retelling of the momentous day when the then Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, acknowledged the sorrows of past and said 'Sorry' to the generation of children who were taken from their homes. The book includes a foreword from Lee Joachim; Chair of Rumbalara Aboriginal Cooperative and Director of Research and Development for Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation. ...Show more