AustLit

'Knowledge is the Prime Resource! The pursuit of knowledge is perhaps life's greatest challenge. Traditionally Aboriginal peoples cared for the land, living as one with it. This custodial relationship, expressed through cultural practices, sustained the natural environment and secured the viability of resources necessary to sustain the continuing existence of Aboriginal society over many millennia. This book containing the words of Frances Bodkin and visual imagery of Lorraine Robertson will take you on a journey of understanding the ancient knowledge of the original People of This Land of the D'harawals.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Throughout the past two hundred years, society has come to regard the Koori Dreaming stories as something akin to the fairy stories they were told as children.

'However, for thousands upon thousands of years, the stories in this book were used as a teaching tool to impart to the youngest members of the clans the laws that governed the cultural behaviour of clan members. The successive attempts to destroy the Koori culture and assimilate The People into the Euro-centric population were unsuccessful, and the Dreaming Stories were able to continue in their disguise as charming legends in which animals, birds, insects, even fish became the heroes and heroines.

'This book containing the words of Frances Bodkin and visual imagery of Lorraine Robertson will take you on a journey of understanding the ancient knowledge of the original People of This Land of the D'harawals.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This book is written for children, to bring understanding to their young minds that climate change is not just a recent affliction, but rather a continuous event. What is the affliction is that which modern society's commercialisation and industrialisation have done to natural climate change.' ...

'The Times of Day have been described first, followed by the Annual Season Cycle, and how the European seasons fit within the D'harawal Year; included within this section is the activity of animals and plants, triggered by the climatic conditions of each season. This is followed by the minor cycles which have an impact on D'harawal life, then the longer-term fluctuations in climate. Stories are included to illustrate how important knowledge of the weather and climate fluctuations was to the D'harawal Peoples' (pp. 7, 9).