The Dunggiirr Brothers and the Caring Song of the Whale

Aunty Shaa Smith with Yandaarra

Welcome to Ngambaa Country on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. I am Aunty Shaa and this is the story of the Koala Brothers, the Dunggiirr Brothers. This is the story of our Country.

We live the story of being saved by Dunggiirr and we do a ceremony to keep it alive. It is this story and memory we share with you in this book.

This stunning picture book from the Yandaarra collective, a project led by Gumbaynggirr Elder Aunty Shaa Smith, helps us learn some stories of the mid-north NSW coast. The Dunggiirr Brothers and the Caring Song of the Whale also spreads a welcome and beautiful message of care and understanding to the wider community.

Yandaarra share some bigger story about The Dunggiirr Brothers & the Caring Song of the Whale.

Resources

Allen & Unwin book page, including Gumbaynggirr audio pronunciation guide
Click here for PDF
RECOMMENDED FOR: 7-12 years old Years 2-6, PRIMARY
THEMES: Aboriginal sovereignty, Country, belonging, history, stories, Indigenous stories, family and community.
ISBN: 9781760526313
CURRICULUM LEARNING AREAS:
• CROSS CURRICULUM: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
• CROSS CURRICLUM: Sustainability
• ENGLISH: Literature and literacy
NOTES WRITTEN BY:
Aunty Shaa Smith, Neeyan Smith, Uncle Bud Marshall, Sarah Wright, Lara Daley and Paul Hodge
Yandaarra including Smith, S., Smith, N., Hodge, P., Daley, L., and Wright S. (2022) ‘Ngurrajili ‘continued giving’: coming together around yuraal, food, as decolonising practice’ in Vegan Geographies: Spaces Beyond Violence, Ethics Beyond Speciesism (eds.) Hodge, P., McGregor, A., Springer S., Véron, O., and White, R.J., Lantern Publishing & Media, Brooklyn, NY.
Smith, A. S., Marshall, U. B., Smith, N., Wright, S., Daley, L., & Hodge, P. (2022) Ethics and consent in more‐than‐human research: Some considerations from/with/as Gumbaynggirr Country, Australia. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.
Smith, A. S., Smith, N., Daley, L., Wright, S., & Hodge, P. (2020). Creation, destruction, and COVID‐19: Heeding the call of country, bringing things into balance. Geographical Research.
Smith, A. S., Smith, N., Wright, S., Hodge, P., & Daley, L. (2020). Yandaarra is living protocol. Social & Cultural Geography, 21(7), 940-961.
Aunty Shaa shares her inspiration and hopes for the book.
PDF

Purchase the book

Yandaarra means shifting camp together in Gumbaynggirr.

We wrote this book together as Yandaarra. Yandaarra is gunganbu, we belong to each other, with each other and with Country. Our intention is to live the story and the law that is in the story. We want to invite a lot of people to do the same thing, to look after the earth and each other.

The Dunggiirr Brothers and the Caring Song of the Whale

Resources

Yandaarra means shifting camp together in Gumbaynggirr.

Gumbaynggirr Jagun