1. Board books
2. Bush tucker
3. Culture
4. Family
5. Gunbalunya /​ Oenpelli (West Arnhem Land NT SD53-01)
6. Hunting and gathering
7. Indigenous languages
8. Kinship
9. Kunwinjku people (N65) (NT SD53-02)
10. Oenpelli (N.T.)
11. Readers
12. Rites and ceremonies
13. Social life and customs

This colourful multilingual board book has a subtitle 'Karrbenbukkan wurdwurdkilekilehl' which means ‘teach little children’. Teaching culture from a very young age is important to ensure that children, as the cover of the book states, are ‘growing up culture way’.

Learning and understanding culture and identity from an early age is essential to the people of the Gunbalanya community. At the top of each page are the words ‘Kuni Wanjh Kunwoybuk’ which means ‘This is Our Truth’ highlighting the significance of culture in the community.

The book opens with a reflective circle for the child to see themselves as central to the action. What follows introduces the child to cultural matters essential to their place in the community. Kun-Kurlah = Skin names, smoking ceremony for the baby and the role of Grandma, the gathering and sharing of bush foods, how to hunt and eat animals, ceremonies, dancing. Each colourfully illustrated page shows how teaching the little ones their culture is undertaken by the community as a whole as it is ‘Our Truth’.

Gunbalanya is a large remote town situated about 60km north east of Jabiru, across the East Alligator River in Arnhem Land. Gunbalanya has a population of around 1,200, and the main language spoken is Kunwinjku.

1. Gunbalanya Community West Arnhem Land https://www.westarnhem.nt.gov.au/our-communities/gunbalanya
2. Northern Australia Environmental Research Portal - Gunbalanya Community ‘Celebrating Kunwinijku Knowledge’ https://www.nespnorthern.edu.au/2016/01/20/celebrating-kunwinjku-knowledge/
3. Strengths of Australian Aboriginal cultural practices in family life and child rearing https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/sites/default/files/publication-documents/cfca25.pdf
4. Australians Together Indigenous Culture ‘Why are culture and identity important?’ https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/indigenous-culture/culture-identity/