‘Nyaa nyuntu nyanganyi?’ means ‘What can you see?’ in the Pitjantjatjara language. This is the question asked in a beautifully illustrated book created by the families from the Amata Playgroup Early Years program.
The book aims to introduce young children to various animals, birds, reptiles and bush tucker and their Pitjantjatjara names through the simple question ‘Nyaa nyuntu nyanganyi? Or ‘What can you see? Each page spread provides an illustration and the matching Pitjantjatjara term such as ‘mala’ for kangaroo or ‘pinta-pinta’ for butterfly. A list of the Pitjantjatjara term and its English equivalent is included at the end of the book. A QR code on the book’s front cover allows readers to listen to the text in language.
The book was developed in a workshop, facilitated by ILF ambassador Alison Lester as part of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation’s Community Literacy projects.
The Amata community is in the extremely remote Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia, 40km south of the Northern Territory border and around 250km west of the Stuart Highway. The traditional owners are Yankunytjatjar people, and the languages spoken are Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
