Australian First Nations nonfiction books

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Black Duck: A Year at Yumburra

Bruce Pascoe, Lyn Harwood

'Sometimes you need to repeat something a hundred times before a bell rings in the colony.'

From the bestselling author Bruce Pascoe comes a deeply personal story about the consequences…

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Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1860

Richard Broome

The story of how Victoria's First Nations people survived near decimation to become a vibrant community today. This second edition has been fully updated, and covers the Yoorrook Justice Commission…

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Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity (First Knowledges)

Ian J McNiven, Lynette Russell

In the first book to detail Indigenous innovations in Australia, Ian J McNiven and Lynette Russell showcase this legacy of First Nations peoples and how they offer resourceful ways of…

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Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking

Tyson Yunkaporta

Sand Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta’s bestselling debut, cast an Indigenous lens on contemporary society. It was, said Melissa Lucashenko, ‘an extraordinary invitation into the world of the Dreaming’.

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The Welcome to Country Handbook

Marcia Langton

The definitive book that introduces readers from all backgrounds to First Nations histories and cultures.

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Kuracca

Us Mob Writing

Kuracca - meaning white sulphur crested cockatoo - is a multi-lingual anthology featuring eleven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women writing poetry, prose, songs and stories about their unique lives.

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The Queen is Dead

Stan Grant

From Stan Grant, leading journalist and author of the critically acclaimed bestsellers Talking to My Country and Australia Day, comes an extraordinary and powerful call to action.

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Law: The Way of the Ancestors (First Knowledges)

Marcia Langton, Aaron Corn

Law is culture, and culture is law. Given by the ancestors and cultivated over millennia, Indigenous law defines what it is to be human. Complex and evolving, law holds the…

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Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity

Ellen van Neerven

Ellen van Neerven's first work of nonfiction, Personal Score, is a ground-breaking look at sport on this continent from a First Nations and queer perspective.

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Plants: Past, Present and Future (First Knowledges)

Zena Cumpston, Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Lesley Head

Plants: Past, Present and Future celebrates the deep cultural significance of plants and shows how engaging with this heritage could be the key to a healthier, more sustainable future.

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Sister Girl: Reflections on Tiddaism, Identity and Reconciliation (New Edition)

Jackie Huggins

A new edition of seminal Tiddaist classic by Murri historian and activist Jackie Huggins, featuring timely and compelling speeches and essays.

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Australia Day

Stan Grant

‘As uncomfortable as it is, we need to reckon with our history. On January 26, no Australian can really look away.’

Since publishing his critically acclaimed, Walkley Award-winning, bestselling memoir…

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The Old Songs are Always New

Genevieve Campbell

Approximately 1300 ethnographic field recordings of Tiwi songs, made between 1912 and 1981, are archived at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in Canberra.

In…

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Songlines: The Power and Promise (First Knowledges)

Margo Neale, Lynne Kelly

Weaving deeply personal storytelling with extensive research on mnemonics, Songlines: The Power and Promise offers unique insights into Indigenous traditional knowledges, how they apply today and how they could help…

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Another Day in the Colony

Chelsea Watego

A ground-breaking work - and a call to arms - that exposes the ongoing colonial violence experienced by First Nations people.

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Murli la - Songs and stories of the Tiwi Islands

Ngarukuruwala Women's Group

A beautiful book that brings many lifetimes of sung Tiwi knowledge to the page for the first time.

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Astronomy: Sky Country (First Knowledges)

Karlie Noon, Krystal De Napoli

What do you need to know to prosper for 65,000 years or more? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians.

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Country: Future Fire, Future Farming (First Knowledges)

Bill Gammage, Bruce Pascoe

What do you need to know to prosper as a people for at least 65,000 years? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of…

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True Tracks: Respecting Indigenous Knowledge and Culture

Terri Janke

Indigenous cultures are not terra nullius - nobody’s land, free to be taken. Using real-world cases and personal stories, True Tracks is a ground-breaking work that paves the way for…

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Design: Building on Country (First Knowledges)

Alison Page, Paul Memmott

Aboriginal design is of a distinctly cultural nature, based in the Dreaming and in ancient practices grounded in Country.Alison Page and Paul Memmott show how these design principles of sophisticated…

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Loving Country: A Guide to Sacred Australia

Bruce Pascoe, Vicky Shukuroglou

A new, fully illustrated book from award-winning author Bruce Pascoe and photographer Vicky Shukuroglou that offers a deeper understanding of Australia and how best to travel and appreciate the heart…

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Lies, Damned Lies: A Personal Exploration of the Impact of Colonisation

Claire G. Coleman

A deeply personal exploration of Australia’s colonisation past, present and future by one of Australia’s finest contemporary authors.

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My Tidda, My Sister

Marlee Silva

My Tidda, My Sister shares the experiences of many Indigenous women and girls, brought together by author and host of the Tiddas 4 Tiddas podcast, Marlee Silva. The voices of…

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Treading Lightly

Karl-Erik Sveiby,Tex Skuthorpe

Thousands of years ago Aboriginals taught themselves how to build a sustainable society in our fragile landscape. Industralised societies are in danger of collapse because they are consuming more than…

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Us Women, Our Ways, Our World

An exemplar of Indigenous Studies writing, epistemologically, theoretically and methodologically.

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Gularabulu: Stories from the West Kimberley

Paddy Roe

A revised edition of Indigenous Australian storytelling as it actually sounds, which provides a picture of the life of the people of the west Kimberley after colonisation. Paddy Roe was…

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The Politics of Identity

Bronwyn Carlson

In this award-winning work Carlson explores the complexities surrounding Aboriginal identity today. Drawing on a range of historical and research literature, interviews, and surveys, The politics of identity explores Aboriginal…

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Quarterly Essay 64: The Australian Dream - Blood, History and Becoming

Stan Grant

In a landmark essay, Stan Grant writes Indigenous people back into the economic and multicultural history of Australia. This is the fascinating story of how fringe dwellers fought not just…

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Talkin’ Up to the White Woman (20th Anniversary Edition)

Aileen Moreton-Robinson

Persuasive and engaging, Talkin’ Up to the White Woman is a timely and necessary argument for the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in the teachings and practices that impact on Australia’s…

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No Longer A Wandering Spirit

Sharon Huebner, Ezzard Flowers

Kia Kia, Noogiting Wirren, Minang Yorga, Minang Boodja.

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Salt: Selected Stories and Essays

Bruce Pascoe

A collection of stories and essays by the award-winning author of Dark Emu, showcasing his shimmering genius across a lifetime of work.

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Living on Stolen Land

Ambelin Kwaymullina

Living on Stolen Land is a prose-styled look at our colonial-settler ‘present’. This book is the first of its kind to address and educate a broad audience about the colonial…

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Fire Country: How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia

Victor Steffensen

Fire Country is a cry from the heart asking for change in how Australia cares for country.

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Song Spirals: Sharing Women’s Wisdom of Country Through Songlines

Gay'wu Group of Women

Songspirals is a rare opportunity for outsiders to experience Aboriginal women’s role in crying the songlines in a very authentic and direct form.

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Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling

Larissa Behrendt

A vital Aboriginal perspective on colonial storytelling

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Because a White Man’ll Never Do It

Kevin Gilbert

First published in 1973, Gilbert’s controversial account of Aboriginal affairs paints a disturbing image of the impact of the colonisation of Australia and the ongoing problems faced by the Aboriginal…

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Talking Sideways

Reg Dodd, Malcolm McKinnon

Talking Sideways is part history, part memoir and part cultural road-map. Together, Dodd and McKinnon reveal the unique history of this extraordinary place and share their concerns and their hopes…

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Australian First Nations nonfiction books

Black Duck: A Year at Yumburra

Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1860

Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity (First Knowledges)

Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking

The Welcome to Country Handbook

Kuracca

The Queen is Dead

Law: The Way of the Ancestors (First Knowledges)

Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity

Plants: Past, Present and Future (First Knowledges)

Sister Girl: Reflections on Tiddaism, Identity and Reconciliation (New Edition)

Australia Day

The Old Songs are Always New

Songlines: The Power and Promise (First Knowledges)

Another Day in the Colony

Murli la - Songs and stories of the Tiwi Islands

Astronomy: Sky Country (First Knowledges)

Country: Future Fire, Future Farming (First Knowledges)

True Tracks: Respecting Indigenous Knowledge and Culture

Design: Building on Country (First Knowledges)

Loving Country: A Guide to Sacred Australia

Lies, Damned Lies: A Personal Exploration of the Impact of Colonisation

My Tidda, My Sister

Treading Lightly

Us Women, Our Ways, Our World

Gularabulu: Stories from the West Kimberley

The Politics of Identity

Quarterly Essay 64: The Australian Dream - Blood, History and Becoming

Talkin’ Up to the White Woman (20th Anniversary Edition)

No Longer A Wandering Spirit

Salt: Selected Stories and Essays

Living on Stolen Land

Fire Country: How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia

Song Spirals: Sharing Women’s Wisdom of Country Through Songlines

Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling

Because a White Man’ll Never Do It

Talking Sideways