1. Arrernte / Aranda people (C8) (NT SG53-02)
2. Art techniques
3. Autobiographies
4. Bush medicine
5. Central Australia (N.T.)
6. Children, Aboriginal Australian
7. Country
8. Culture
9. Education
10. Emotions
11. Family
12. Health
13. Imprisonment
14. Indigenous knowledge
15. Racism
16. Relationship to place
17. Schools

‘In My Blood It Runs’ accompanies the 2020 award-winning documentary of the same name. Created over three years, it follows the life of Dujuan Hoosan, an Arrernte-Garrwa boy growing up in Mparntwe (Alice Springs). The story is narrated by 10-year-old Dujuan. He is failing at school and out roaming the streets at night and in danger of being taken from his family or arrested and ending up in ‘juvie’ (juvenile detention).

In contrast he loves being out on Country and gaining Indigenous knowledge and language from the Elders, especially Great-Nana MK, a respected Law teacher. Dujuan is also recognised as a Ngangkere or a healer, a power that was passed on to him by his great grandpa. This power he explains means that he is happy and calm when he is out bush, but in town he is wild and out of control. After being expelled from school and picked up four times by the police his family decide to send him to live with his dad up north in Borroloola.

Here life is the same but different. There’s still school but there are more Indigenous than white teachers and some are family. As Djuna says, ‘they set me straight’. He learns to understand the need to learn two ways—the Indigenous way so he can look after ‘our land’ and the white way so he knows how to work with the white man rules.

Djuan tells his story in a simple yet powerful and thought-provoking way. The story is complemented by the dramatic artwork by award-winning illustrator Blak Douglas. The emotional and comparative insights he shares about being on Country as against being at school are insightful and challenging.

The film, and in turn the book, has been a catalyst in the growth of a social-change programme, Children’s Ground, driven in part by Dujuan’s family. In 2019, aged 12, Djuan was given the opportunity to address the UN Human Rights Council. He is the youngest person ever to do so.

Djuan Hoosan is an Arrente and Garrawa man. He was helped by his grandmother Margaret Anderson, a Garrawa woman and Carol Turner, an Arrente woman.

1. Pan Macmillian Ahttps://childrensground.org.au/in-my-blood-it-runs-book-launch/ ustralia Teachers’ notes for ‘In My Blood It Runs’ https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/In-My-Blood-It-Runs_TN-1.pdf
2. ABC Education Educational notes 14 December 2022 on ‘In My Blood It Runs’ https://www.abc.net.au/education/digibooks/in-my-blood-it-runs/101750220
3. Reading Time 29 November 2023. Kevin Brophy reviews ‘In My Blood It Runs’ https://readingtime.com.au/in-my-blood-it-runs/
4. ReadPlus 13 November 2023. Kathryn Beilby reviews ‘In My Blood It Runs’ https://www.readplus.com.au/reviews/in-my-blood-it-runs
5. ABC Radio National Breakfast 14 November 2023. ‘In My Blood It Runs’ documentary turned into a children’s picture book https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/in-my-blood-it-runs-documentary-childrens-picture-book/103101738
6. Ampe-Kenhe Ahelhe (Children’s Ground Central Australia) Launch of ‘In My Blood It Runs’ https://childrensground.org.au/in-my-blood-it-runs-book-launch/
7. ABC IView ‘In My Blood It Runs’ film available on ABC IView Free but log-in required. https://iview.abc.net.au/video/ZW2219A001S00
8. The Conversation 2 July 2020 Lilly Brown writes ‘In My Blood It Runs’ challenges the ‘inevitability’ of Indigenous youth incarceration’ https://theconversation.com/in-my-blood-it-runs-challenges-the-inevitability-of-indigenous-youth-incarceration-140624