An Aboriginal ceremony of Welcome to Country is depicted for the first time in a stunning board book from two Indigenous Australians.
Welcome to the lands of the Wurundjeri people. The people are part of the land, and the land is a part of them. Aboriginal communities across Australia have boundaries that are defined by mountain ranges and waterways. Traditionally, to cross these boundaries, permission is required. Each community has its own way of greeting, but the practice shares a common name: a Welcome to Country. Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin, the senior Aboriginal elder of the Wurundjeri people, channels her passion for storytelling into a remarkable and utterly unique picture book that invites readers to discover some of the history and traditions of her people.
Indigenous artist Lisa Kennedy gives the Wurundjeri Welcome to Country form in beautiful paintings rich with blues and browns, as full of wonder and history as the tradition they depict.
About the Author
Joy Murphy Wandin is a storyteller and writer who is passionate about using stories to bring people together and as a conduit for understanding aboriginal culture. She is an Officer of the Order of Australia. Welcome to Country is her first book. Aunty Joy lives in Victoria, Australia.
About the illustrator:
Lisa Kennedy is a descendant of the Trawlwoolway People on the north-east coast of Tasmania. Lisa was born in Melbourne and as a child lived close to the Maribyrnong River. Here she experienced the gradual restoration of the natural river environment alongside cultural regeneration and reclamation. Through sense of place she feels connected to the Wurundjeri country and all that entails – the water, the land, the animals and the ancestors. The experience of loss and reclamation is embedded in her work. Welcome to Country was her first title with Walker Books.
Hardcover: 26 pages
Dimensions: 22.3 x 19.3 x 2.0 cm