'Colouredywun’ is a brightly coloured board book in Aboriginal English that introduces colours, numbers and various animals, food and other objects for young children to look for and name. The final double page spread shows varied coloured objects from the book surrounding a rainbow. On the back cover is a QR that provides a reading of the book in Aboriginal English.
Aboriginal English is one of a number of languages spoken at Bidyadanga Remote community (La Grange) in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In 2020 the Indigenous Literacy Foundation worked with the KindiLink, a play and learn group based La Grange Remote Community School in the creation of several books in language, ‘Colouredywun’ is a result of this collaboration. The project was facilitated by ILF ambassador Alison Lester in conjunction author Jane Godwin and long-time local educator and language advisor Aunty Maureen Yanawana.
Aboriginal English is spoken throughout Australia with geographic varieties. It is a fully-fledged dialect with its own grammatical rules, sounds and vocabulary, differing systematically (and sometimes subtly) from Australian English.
Bidyadanga or Le Grange is a remote Indigenous community on the Kimberley coast of Western Australia some 1590kms north of Perth and 180kms south-west of Broome. It is the largest remote Indigenous community in Western Australia. The recognised traditional owners of the land are the Karajarri people.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
