First Nations Resources

Black Cockatoo is a vignette that follows Mia, a young Aboriginal girl as she explores the fragile connections of family and culture.Mia is a 13-year-old girl from a remote community in the Kimberley. She is saddened by the loss of her brother as he distances himself from the family. She feels powerless to change the things she sees around her... until one day she rescues her totem animal, the dirran black cockatoo, and soon discovers her own inner strength.Black Cockatoo is a wonderful small tale on the power of standing up for yourself, culture and ever-present family ties.

Mia could hear the squarks of her Jarriny before she saw them. Her eye's had flicked to the sky in search of the passing dirrarn but soon realized the noise was from the bird just beyond the gate. We first met Mia in Black Cockatoo, as she navigated her way through culture, Country and familial ties. Dirrarn follows Mia as she finds herself at boarding school and the challenges of living thousands of kilometres away from home, family, and the big sky country she loves. Mia along with her best friend, Naya, negotiate new friends, new ways of thinking and new ways of being in a different world. As Mia wrestles with all that is unfamiliar, she soon must learn to stand in her truth when confronted with unending challenges. The dirrarn (black cockatoo) is Mia's totem animal. It provides her with the strength and freedom to stay connected to her world, even when she is a long way from home. It is this totem she draws upon. Dirrarn is a sensitive story on the power of place, personality and the honour of standing up for the truth.

Since its publication in 1987, Sally Morgan's My Place has sold more than half a million copies in Australia, been translated and read all over the world, and been reprinted dozens of times. Sally's rich, zesty and moving work is perhaps the best loved biography of Aboriginal Australia ever written. My Place for Younger Readers is an abridged edition that retains all the charm and power of the original.

A young Aboriginal girl is taken from the north of Australia and sent to an institution in the distant south. There, she slowly makes a new life for herself and, in the face of tragedy, finds strength in new friendships. Poignantly told from the child's perspective, Sister Heart affirms the power of family and kinship. This compelling novel about the stolen generations helps teachers sensitively introduce into the classroom one of world's most confronting histories.

A ground-breaking graphic novel sharing the stories of Yindjibarndi Creation-times in an immediate and engaging way for a contemporary audience. Yindjibarndi believe all creation is written in our landscape and was sung long ago, filling our Ngurra (Country) with sacred meanings and deep religious significance. At the dawn of time, Ngurra Nyujunggamu, the world was soft as clay and the sky was very low. Our Creator, Minkala, sang the songs from which all life and Ngurra evolved. These are some of our stories. Our grandmothers and grandfathers sing our songs and tell our stories every day, just like our old people long ago sang songs and told stories to their children. And now we are sharing them with you.

"The other kids playing were bigger you see, 'Why is there no one the same size as me?' Without all the kids he'd played with and known, Alfie felt small, not to mention alone." Alfie's Big Wish tells the story of a little boy who is determined to find a friend who truly knows and understands him. Despite his best efforts, Alfie spends a whole day playing alone. Exhausted and dispirited, he falls asleep only to find, in the morning, that wishes made on stars sometimes really do come true.

Big Fella Rain is a celebration of northern Australia as animals, birds, trees and a parched earth await the first rain. It is almost as if country stands still as the sparse yet evocative text pays homage to the transition from dry season to wet season in a country that is like no other place in the world. Fern Martins illustrations seamlessly portray the dramatic skies, the thirsty animals and tiny creatures whose very existence rely on the monsoonal changes. Her exquisite rendering of the big landscape against the subtle shifts in the environment have a timeless quality that will capture the hearts of all readers.

This iconic song is one that marks the history of the Aboriginal Rights movement along the way to reconciliation. Though written 30 years ago, the lyrics have become the inspiration for a picture book project in which school children around Australia were invited to illustrate the meaning of the song. The simple power of the lyrics have been captured in a diversity of styles and motifs by the children’s frank images, all filled with the brightness of hope for the song’s theme – we are one. It’s the kind of book to pore over while listening to the song in the background, something that would make an inspirational experience for children.

A joyful celebration of family and culture, the Welcome to Our Country series introduces First Nations history to children. From Australian of the Year Adam Goodes, co-writer Ellie Laing, and Barkindji illustrator David Hardy. Welcome, children! Nangga! Nangga! Yakarti! Tonight will be our Ceremony. Our family gathers as the fire burns. The smoke rises up as we take it in turns . . . Then clapsticks tap - one, two, three - but a stick is missing! Where could it be? Joyful and full of fun, Ceremony invites you to celebrate the rich traditions of dance, family, community and caring for Country from the world's oldest continuous culture.

Australia's First Peoples have lived on this land for many thousands of years, so there are many exciting things they can teach us! In Come Together, Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara man and musician Isaiah Firebrace shares 20 of the most important subjects that all kids should understand, from caring for Country and Dreaming stories, to the importance of Elders and the Indigenous origins of AFL. The more we can all learn about each other, the better we can understand each other and live together in harmony. So let's come together and be proud that we are home to the longest continuing culture on Earth!

When Ernie leaves the city and goes to live in the Aboriginal reserve of Arnhem Land, he sends letters to his old classmates describing the activities of his new friends.

Simple, intelligent, bright and cheerful, this early childhood concept book introduces animal names and verbs and celebrates Indigenous art in a joyous, non-didactic and playful way.

Mother Nature has a language. If we listen, and read the signs in the land, we can understand what she is telling us." For thousands of of years, Aboriginal people have managed the land by burning Country. The trees and grass tell us the right places to burn, and they also tell us when it's the best time to burn. Join Uncle Kuu as he shows us how to listen to the land so that we can look after the plants and animals, and learn how to live with fire.

Every family with young kids will relate to this story about growing up and exploring the world. Perfect for 2-4 year olds, it features lively and engaging illustrations featuring Indigenous kids and a terrific read-aloud text.

Mad Magpie is the third book in this series of morality tales from Gregg Dreise. Inspired by wise sayings and the knowledge of the Elders, Mad Magpie tells the story of Guluu, an angry magpie who is being teased by a gang of butcher birds. The more he is teased, the angrier he becomes. When Guluu seeks advice, his Elders tell him to stay calm. Guluu tries this, but the cheeky birds just laugh at him. One day, when Guluu is at the river looking for worms, the butcher birds arrive and steal his food. He remembers the words of his Elders and he tries again--and this time Guluu has a different outcome.

"My mother shows me how to get bushtucker and she shows me how to paint. Now I'm a famous artist. My paintings are all over the world hanging in important places. Happy times." Told in English and Gija, this is the story of Shirley Purdie, famous Gija artist, as told through her paintings, as part of the Ngaalim-Ngalimboorro Ngagenybe exhibition created for the 2018 National Portrait Gallery exhibition So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history.

My dad made my people's flag to show how we are different. And he knew that our differences make us stronger. Bernard Namok Junior was just a little boy when his dad designed the Torres Strait Islander Flag, a symbol of shared identity and pride for all Torres Strait Islanders, no matter where they are.

Kiri is busy making a new bilum. As she works her family interrupt her all needing different-sized bilums. Will Kiri have the perfect bilum for them?

Our Way is old. Older than the red earth. Older than flickering stars. Our way is respect. A tender, thoughtful story reminding us to respect others and respect ourselves. Part of the Our Place series which welcomes children to culture.

Little Lydia learns to be the best that she can be as she competes in a variety of sports against very unusual competitors. An inspiring celebration of self-belief, the joy to be had in sport, and the importance of persistence.

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.

When we share, there is plenty for all. A tender, thoughtful story with a gentle reminder of all the ways sharing makes us stronger.

For thousands and thousands of years, Aboriginal people lived in the land we call Australia. The land was where people built their homes, played in the sun, and sat together to tell stories. When the white people came, they called the land Terra Nullius. They said it was nobody's land. But it was somebody's land. Somebody's Land is an invitation to connect with First Nations culture, to acknowledge the hurt of the past, and to join together as one community with a precious shared history as old as time.

Simple, intelligent, bright and cheerful, this early childhood concept book introduces animals and numbers and celebrates Indigenous art in a joyous, non-didactic and playful way. Ten Scared Fish is an animal counting book with a difference. Following the river to the sea, the reader meets and counts the animals until finally ten little fish meet a big scary shark! Bold illustrations and a delightfully playful text help readers familiarise themselves with prepositions as well as animals and numbers.

Two Mates is the true story of the special mateship between two young boys who have grown up together in the coastal town of Broome in Australia's north-west. Jack is Indigenous and Raf is a non-Indigenous boy who has spina bifida. Jack and Raf take the reader on a journey of their daily life growing up in Broome. Together they search for hermit crabs, go hunting for barni, fish for salmon, explore the markets, eat satays and dress up as superheros.

Walk with us through one of the Top End's magnificent monsoon forests, in Kakadu National Park, learning about the plants, animals and Kundjeyhmi culture along the way.

Little one, when we say Black Lives Matter, we're saying black people are wonderful-strong. That we deserve to be treated with basic respect, and that history's done us wrong. From birth to the end of school, in joy and in sorrow, on the trumpet and the djembe, at home and in the community, a black child's parents remind him why Black Lives Matter. A gorgeous and essential picture book for children of all ages from bestselling and award-winning author Maxine Beneba Clarke.