For the Yawuru people the seasons is not time or date specific. They learn from Country, it tells them when they have arrived by ‘what we feel, see, taste, smell and hear’. The book outlines six seasons each recognisable by changes in the weather, the arrival of particular animals such as flying foxes or whales or the blooming of certain plants.
The different seasons are shown by the opening phrase ‘Country tells us when…’ and a series of illustrations and words leads into the season’s name ‘we spot the yari (humpback whale) travelling up the coast to have her babies. It’s Barrgana time.’
The Yawuru people are the traditional owners of the lands and waters in and around Rubibi (Broome) in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The book inspiration for the book is the need to share and teach important Cultural knowledge and Language in a story that would both engage and inform the younger generations
The artwork layers the distinctive seasonal colours of the Kimberley trough the medium of block printing. Insects, birds, animals and marine creatures as well as plants against the landscape of this unique country. The endpapers are particularly notable with their silhouettes of the fauna set against an ochre coloured background, a colour prominent in the region.
At the back is a QR code that allows readers to hear the text in English and Yawuru.
Creators, Tsheena Cooper, Mary Dann, Dalisa Pigram-Ross and Sheree Ford are members of the Yawuru community and are teachers at Cable Beach Primary School in Broome.
“Country tells us when …’ is a CBCA 2024 Notable book.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
