Barddabardda Wodjenangorddee: We're Telling All of You

Abstract

For countless generations, coastal country in the west Kimberley region of northwest Australia has been the home of Dambeemangaddee Traditional Owners. Barddabardda Wodjenangorddee: We're Telling All of You describes the deep history of this country. In it senior people describe their country's creation during Lalai and provide recollections of ancestors' lives. It contains an unprecedented level of detail regarding Dambeemangaddee history, culture and country: the Aboriginal names of some three hundred ancestors, many born in the mid-1800s; their connections to country and to each other; their responses to the arrival of explorers, missionaries and others in their country; and their often heroic efforts to sustain their traditions and care for their country despite outsiders' attempts to regulate their lives and displace them from their lands.

This book is based on the cultural knowledge and recollections of Janet Oobagooma, Donny Woolagoodja and other Senior Dambeemangaddee People. It was compiled and written in collaboration with Dambeemangaddee People by Valda Blundell, Kim Doohan, Daniel Vachon, Malcolm Allbrook, Mary Anne Jebb and Joh Bornman. It is published by the Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation, which manages health, education and social support programs for the Kimberley Dambimangari community. Show more