A New Dreaming: The Dunggiirr Brothers and the Caring Song of the Whale
A collaboration between the Yandaarra Collective and the University of Newcastle (UoN) has resulted in the March 2022 publication of a stunning children’s picture book with strong messages about caring for country and each other.
Recommended for primary school students, The Dunggiirr Brothers and the Caring Song of the Whale, connects children to the landscape of the mid-north NSW coast, as well as to the unique stories of the Gumbaynggirr people.
Yandaarra, a Gumbaynggirr word meaning shifting camp together, is a research collective led by Aunty Shaa Smith, Uncle Bud Marshall and Neeyan Smith, Aunty Shaa’s daughter.
Uncle Harry Buchanan held the story for Ngambaa Country and passed the story in the book onto Aunty Shaa who is now the story holder for this story and others belonging to Ngambaa and Gumbaynggirr Countries.
Thi
s collective also includes non-Indigenous academics from the UoN’s Geography and Environmental Studies discipline, Professor Sarah Wright, Dr Lara Daley and Dr Paul Hodge.
A core value of Yandaarra is to understand how to live together on and in relationship with Mother Earth and each other.
The creation of the book was led by Aunty Shaa Smith and collective members were invited into its Dreaming, writing and publication, each carrying different responsibilities.
As yiraali (whitefellas), UoN academics, participating in the process of co-creating the story book brought them into deeper relationships with Gumbaynggirr Country.
Through this learning process, Professor Wright and Doctors Daley and Hodge were responsible for actively centering Gumbaynggirr Custodian's wisdom and Country's sovereignty in their research, teaching practice and life relationships.
In the book, key themes of Aboriginal sovereignty, Country, belonging, history, family and community are told through a unique blend of story, song, Gumbaynggirr language and cultural information.
The book also imparts a welcome message of care and understanding to the wider community and creates a window which encourages children to think and thrive outside what can be a narrowly focused mindset.
Aunty Shaa and the Yandaarra Collective believe that the world is at a point where a radical shift in thinking about how we live with our environment is necessary and Indigenous Australians working with non-Indigenous Australians is a crucial component in that movement.
“When this shifting happens,” Yandaarra say, “it needs to occur on many different levels: in our lives, our dreams, our work, our homes and our families, and through broader structures that can allow a genuinely respectful coming together.”
Yandaarra’s Aunty Shaa is careful to point out that the stories told in the book are not stories of the past but designed to creatively support all children to build better relationships with the environment around them.
“For all of us Gumbaynggirr stories help give a different reference point and one that isn’t about me, me, me,” Aunty Shaa says.
She stresses the importance of her Gumbaynggirr mob becoming part of a global community.
“Sharing stories is such an important part of that,” she says. “It is about finding our way together now and living the new Dreaming.”
The book comes with links to a recording of Gumbaynggirr words used in the book and Teacher’s Notes designed by Aunty Shaa to guide and support teachers on other Countries to work respectfully with the teachings and stories of these places.
The Yandaarra website also hosts a 34-minute video that tells the bigger story about The Dunggiirr Brothers and the Caring Song of the Whale.
Contact
- Jacqui Wright
- Phone: 0428 393 801
- Email: jacqui.wright@newcastle.edu.au
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The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.