1. Aboriginal Australians
2. Australian Government policy
3. Civil rights
4. Colonisation
5. Country
6. Culture
7. History
8. Human rights
9. Law
10. Reconciliation

Thomas Mayor is a Torres Strait Islander man born on Larrakia country in Darwin. Blak Douglas was born Adam Douglas Hill to an Aboriginal father of the Dhungutti people and an Irish-Australian mother. In this picture book, they explain the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart for young readers. The Uluru Statement makes an affirmation that the first nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands have never ceded sovereignty – not when first colonised by the British, and not with the enactment of the Australian Constitution in 1901. At the same time, it also acknowledges the sovereignty that we all share, as citizens of Australia. This book invites the younger generation to engage in the discussions around this important document and to find out more.

The illustrations are vibrant, bright paintings detailed with black outlining. They are on different coloured backgrounds which enhance the tones used on each page. The overall effect is striking and eye-catching.

The book includes the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) map of Australia, the full ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’, and further study resources. These include sections entitled, ‘What you need to know about the Uluru Statement from the Heart’ and ‘How you can help find our heart’ (for example, learn some words from a First Nations language, learn about the different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander seasons).

1. Thomas Mayor, author, reads ‘Finding Our Heart’ aloud, 16 May 2020 https://www.facebook.com/ThomasMayorOfficial/videos/245027193376499
2. Our hope for the future: Youth and the Uluru Statement from the Heart https://ulurustatement.org/resources
3. The Uluru Statement from the Heart Educational Toolkit for Students and Teachers https://fromtheheart.com.au/resources/toolkit/
4. Reconciliation NSW: The Uluru Statement from the Heart https://www.schoolsreconciliationchallenge.org.au/activities/the-uluru-statement-from-the-heart/
5. Dominic O’Sullivan, ‘Indigenous recognition is more than a Voice to Government – it’s a matter of political equality’, The Conversation, 26 February 2021 https://theconversation.com/indigenous-recognition-is-more-than-a-voice-to-government-its-a-matter-of-political-equality-154057
6. Tessa Wooldridge, ‘More Australian History for Australian Kids … this time from an Indigenous Perspective’ offering an annotated bibliography’, 7 October 2020 https://tessawooldridge.com/2020/10/07/more-australian-history-for-australian-kids-this-time-from-an-indigenous-perspective/