‘Outside our classroom we have an amazing river. We call it duraya, which means river in the local Dhurga language.’
‘Duraya Seasons’ was written and illustrated by the Year 3/4 class of Bermagui Public School on the far south coast of NSW. The traditional owners of the land are the Yuin people and Dhurga is one of the languages spoken by the Yuin people.
Starting with ‘Spring - gambambara’ the book describes seasonal changes through the happenings with plants, animals, birds, and marine life in and around the river. Plants and wildlife such as the ‘Mamaadja’ tree are referred to by their Dhurga names.
The illustrations created by the students spread across the pages with deep vivid colours and add to a sense of the seasonal changes.
At the back is a comprehensive glossary of the Dhurag words used that make reading the book easy and enjoyable. The glossary also provides a useful explanation of the use of two suffixes in the book to indicate a plural but used in different ways—one after a consonant and the other after a vowel.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
