Wiluna story books

Wayipa ngaanyalampa bukba palyanila

Wiluna is a Martu community where Mantjitjarra is the main Aboriginal language amongst other Western Desert languages. Martu English is widely spoken and our students are learning Standard Australian English as an additional language or dialect. Other languages such as Fijian, Tongan and Mandarin are spoken by families and workers in this small community of about 200 people.

Our stories come from areas around the community that Wiluna students visit with families as they grow up. When they go to these places, they camp, hunt and learn from elders about language, life and how to live it.

We are very proud of our students and their languages. We would like to acknowledge Annette Williams, Stacey Petterson and Tina Williams for their support developing the artwork. Thank you also to Sandra Wongawol for encouraging the students to speak and write in home language.

Thank you to the students in years 5 and 6 who have created this book, they are storytellers, artists and linguists. Thank you especially to Kheshaun Gilbert, Monty Petterson and Anton George for your yarns and the extra time after school where you worked on this project.

May your work be an inspiration to us all.

Pukulpayan ngaagu wangga bukgu.