Each year in Australia, the first week of July is dedicated to National Aborigines and Islanders Day Obervance Committee (NAIDOC) Week. A week to recognize and celebrate the history and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, a group of people who have historically been abused and forgotten in colonized Australia.
NAIDOC advocates continue to educate those who will listen on the history and traditional practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples so that they will not be forgotten. Here we have put together 7 books by Aboriginal authors, stretching from non-fiction memoirs to poems, to historical re-imaginings, that delve into Aboriginal culture.
Trigger Warning: These recommendations contain mentions of violent acts and the killing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and may be triggering to some readers. Please exercise personal care when reading.
Ruby Moonlight by Ali Cobby Eckermann
Ruby Moonlight tells the story of colonialism in South Australia in 1880 through captivating poetry. This verse novel follows the story of Ruby, who survives a massacre of her people and becomes a refugee. Ruby finds shelter in the woods, where Eckermann captivates readers with beautiful descriptions of the natural world. As she wanders the landscape alone, she comes across an Irish trapper who becomes her companion. Eckermann takes this little-known history and brings it to life with themes of nature, harmony, loneliness, fear, grief, and loss.
“Each poem story stands powerfully on its own, but read as a novel, the immense power is breathtaking.”
Goodreads review
Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity by Ellen van Neerven
In Personal Score, Ellen van Neerven writes about their personal experience with being a queer Aboriginal person through the lense of thier experiences on the soccer field. van Neerven grew up loving the game of soccer when they were too young to understand the cultural implications of the game. However, they quickly came to learn of the sport’s complex relationship with race, gender, and sexuality. van Neerven bravely disscusses their perspective as a queer First Nation athlete and how they learned to become an athlete that advocates for others like them in a touchingly personal story.
“A really fascinating look at the ways in which sport has been used to create divides, as well as the ways it can be used to bring people together.”
Goodreads Review
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, translating to River of Dreams, takes place in Gundagai in 1852 after a major flood of the Murrumbidgee River kills many in Wagadhaany’s town and reminds her of the dangerous beauty their sacred river offers. She is one of the few survivors, but now she is forced to leave her home with a broken heart. She searches for the family, country, and life that she lost, finding people who help her heart to heal, but also finding what it means to be subject to the White man’s law. Based on true events in Wiradyuri country, Wagadhaany’s story is one of loss, love, and a search for belonging.
“Stirring and edifying, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray is a book that will speak to the hearts and minds of readers.”
Goodreads review
Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta
In Sand Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta brings an Indigenous perspective to global systems and explores how we can live differently with Indigenous thinking. It includes many Indigenous traditional storytelling methods, such as telling stories visually through carvings, symbols, and sand talk, which involves drawing images in the sand to convey knowledge. It also consists of the technique known as ‘yarning’ in which people sit in a circle and talk, listen, and share experiences and perspectives to bring people together under a common understanding. These traditional methods that Yunkaporta shares with the world help to bring new ideas on issues like history, money, education, and sustainability that are sure to open your mind.
“I’ve never read a book that actually challenged the internal workings of my brain. I just kept turning the pages, and new ideas jumped into my mind one after the other.”
Goodreads review
After Story by Larissa Behrendt
Larissa Behrendt’s After Story follows Aboriginal mother and daughter Della and Jasmine as they leave Australia and travel to famous literary sites in England, including some of Jasmine’s literary heroes like Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters. While on their tour, a young girl goes missing, reminding them both of the disappearance of Jasmine’s older sister twenty-five years earlier. The women find inspiration and connection in the English countryside with their own Indigenous ancestry, seeing the power that stories and wisdom can bring. It is an inspiring tale of reflection and reconnection with even the most painful truths that make us who we are.
“This is a beautiful book, with carefully drawn characters and so many different storylines running through the chapters. It’s about mothers and daughters, love and loss, how we value different stories and different kinds of knowledge.”
Goodreads review
Talking to My Country by Stan Grant
Talking to My Country is a deep dive into Australia’s complex history, leaving no stone unturned. It is a painfully truthful book addressed to all Australians. Grant makes it clear that it is not a book about race or Indigenous people, but about Australian identity and all the responsibilities and possibilities that come along with it. Grant weaves his personal experiences with injustices with historical stories and statistics. In his follow-up, Australia Day Grant goes even deeper, forcing Australians to reckon with their country’s history, reflect on the realities, and decide what can be done to change the narrative of a country.
“Every Australian needs to go and pick up this book right now, and if you’re not Australian and want to educate yourself on Australia’s history and the injustices that still take place in our country today against the original owners of this land, then read this book.”
Goodreads review
Carpentaria by Alexis Wright
Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria takes on the harsh realities of Aboriginal life while engaging with some of the myths and legends surrounding the culture. It takes place in northern Queensland and follows two groups, the Phantom family’s Westend Pricklebush people and Joseph Midnight’s Eastend mod as they fight amongst themselves and with the White officials who try to dominate their land and ways of living. It is a complex story with complex characters who all have different goals and desires that drive them. However, the fight to protect nature, resources, sacred sites and practices, and the people takes over in an engaging story seeped in magical realism.
“Lyrical, passionate, and seemingly detached from the unusual artistic traditions, it feels like you’re hearing the genuine voice of a strange and distant land that has not been shown in literature before.”
Goodreads review
To read is to educate, and educating yourself is the first step to understanding and changing a historical narrative. That is why books like these, which aim to reclaim history and tell untold stories, are so important. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have a unique relationship with the world around them that we can all learn a great deal from. We hope that with these recommendations, you gain a new outlook on the world.
For more books by Australian authors, click here.
Find these books and more on our Mythos and Legends Unveiled: A Cultural Tapestry bookshelf on Bookshop.org.
