Jessica Mauboy’s mission to help improve literacy of Indigenous children
Singer-songwriter Jessica Mauboy reveals how her past has inspired her music and why she is helping others.
From saltwater to freshwater crocodiles, the red dirt to the billabongs, Jessica Mauboy’s natural environment growing up in Darwin on Larrakia Nation inspires much of her music today.
A born storyteller, the famous singer-songwriter and proud Kulu Yalanii and Kakaman woman will share her inspirational processes as part of the impressive line-up of virtual offerings this Indigenous Literacy Day on Wednesday, September 1.
Hosted by author, artist and performer Gregg Dreise, the annual day – presented by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation in collaboration with the Sydney Opera House’s Digital Creative Learning team – offers a “window into the richness, diversity and multilingual literacy of First Nations people through storytelling”.
Following this year’s theme of “celebrating stories and language”, Mauboy will appear in a short video that can viewed along with 50 other short videos on demand from 9am. With more than 250 Indigenous languages, including around 800 dialects, in Australia, she says sharing stories from these cultures offers all Australians a sense of inclusion.
“I had a lot of favourite stories growing up but the one that really got me was the Dreamtime story of the Rainbow Serpent,” says pop princess Mauboy.
“Books that I gravitated towards more were about the environment that I grew up in, from the saltwater to the freshwater crocodiles to coconut and mango trees.
“The red dirt, the bushlands and billabongs and just being out there whether it was hunting or sitting out in Dad’s tin boat and fishing for barra or crabbing.
“I understood that part of the world growing up and books that reflected that meant something to me because I knew about it.”
While she learned to connect to the stories of the land, Mauboy also found rhythm in her environment and learned to incorporate those feelings into her music.
“A certain environment creates sound – it could be the wind brushing off the saltwater and then shifting into the grainy sand – that’s what I was listening for,” says Mauboy.
When Mauboy joined ILF ambassador Dreise on a trip to the Tiwi Islands in 2019, they witnessed first-hand the importance of sharing stories everyone can relate to.
Dreise, a proud descendant from the Goomeri and Yuwalayaay people in south western Queensland and north west of NSW worked is a celebrated author and illustrator who uses storytelling to address his culture through themes of friendship, kindness, tempers, bullying, being humble, and social change.
“Everyone, their favourite books are those they feel part of,” says Dreise.
“Imagine kids for the first time, how beautiful it was when Jess and I were up on Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory, when we gifted them their own book in their own language.
“I created a book with them called Teeny Weeny Yikiyikini, which is all about trying to help those kids remember the traditional names of all the birds up there.”
Dreise says the work achieved by the ILF helps bring books like this to communities often cut off from relatable literature.
“Most people can get to a bookstore or library within, 10 or 15 minutes,” he says. “But for those kids in remote communities, there are no town libraries or bookstores and a lot of them don’t even have school libraries, there’s just not enough resources in tiny communities to warrant that.
“It’s wonderful that we have Indigenous Literacy Day where all Australians can get behind a beautiful cause and gift a little bit and bring people on the journey up with them.”
To celebrate Indigenous Literacy Day, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation is hosting a free virtual celebration for all Australians live from 9am Wednesday, September 1 at www.ild.org.au
INDIGENOUS BOOKS FOR KIDS
Ages 0-5
My Body by Maureen Yanawana with families of La Grange KindiLink. Illustrated by children from La Grange Remote Community School. Photographs by Wayne Quillam rrp:$16.99
This bright, beautiful and fun board book is perfect for the youngest readers to learn the names of various parts of the body.
Can You Dance? by Sally Morgan, illustrations Kathy Arbon rrp: $14.99
This board book will get toddlers and preschoolers up off their feet following the actions of the animals featured in the book.
Ages 3+
Wamparla Apira (Possums and Tall Trees) by Thanthi Syd Strangways, illustrations Kathy Arbon rrp: $19.99
Told in Arabana and English, this fascinating story is an important addition to the Arabana Wangka language resources for the Arabana people of northern South Australia.
Moli, Det Bigibigi (Molly the pig) by Karen Manbullo, illustrations the Binjari Book Mob rrp: $19.99
Written in Kriol and English, this is the story of Molly, a little pig who is rescued from the bush.
Tudei en longtaim (Now and Then) by Stella Raymond, illustrations the Binjari Book Mob rrp:$19.99
Move and back and forth in time in Stella’s fascinating book comparing how life is lived now in Aboriginal communities to how it was lived in the olden days. Written in English and Kriol.
Hello Hello by remote community schools at the Spinifex Writing Camp rrp: $24.99
A family is walking home on a very dark night. It’s hard to see clearly – what is that shadow? And what is that noise?
No Way Yirrikipayi! By children from Milikapati School with Alison Lester rrp:$19.99
The story of a hungry crocodile that goes searching for food on Melville Island. Along the way he encounters both land and sea animals.
Ages 5-8
I Saw We Saw by Yolŋu students at Nhulunbuy Primary School with Ann James and Ann Haddon rrp: $24.99
A fascinating glimpse into the world of Yolŋu students at Nhulunbuy Primary School.
Ages 8-12
Yakanarra Song Book rrp: $24.99
A collection of 14 beautifully illustrated songs about Yakanarra and the Walmajarri people who live there
Ages 12+
Storm Warning by Lauren Boyle, illustrated Alyssa Mason rrp$11.
This story entangles natural and human-made disasters stretching back from the British nuclear tests at Maralinga to a massively destructive storm in the present day. The main characters, two teenage friends, and their pet dog, are left to outwit ‘mutants’ - who have been unwittingly released through a chain of catastrophic and unheeded events.
Mixed Feelings by Declan Miller rrp:$11.95
First in a series with main character, Pam, as she struggles with the anxieties of fitting in at school. This story is set in Alice Springs (Mparntwe).
Exo Dimensions by Seraphina Newberry rrp:$11.95
A roller coaster of a ride into central Australian Indigenous creation stories, woven through family relationships, honour and sheer adventure.
Note: All proceeds from book sales support ILF’s publishing projects that work with remote children and community across Australia. Purchase from: shop.ilf.org.au
Originally published as Jessica Mauboy’s mission to help improve literacy of Indigenous children
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