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state library of queensland

Jarjum Stories

Digitally adapted from an illustration in the 'The crocodile'

Jarjum Stories

Celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s books

This exhibition is in the past.
19 October 2019 – 10 May 2020
kuril dhagun

Enjoy the colourful world of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jarjum (children’s) books and storytelling.

Throughout the world, children’s books by First Nations authors are used as a beautiful extension of cultural practices and act as a powerful meeting place for oral and written traditions.

Exhibition

Cooking fish illustration

Enjoy the colourful world of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jarjum (children’s) books and storytelling.

In celebration of the International Year of Indigenous Languages, we invite you to explore Jarjum Stories. Discover how traditional narratives are being retold, how Queensland languages are being used and how children are being involved to tell their own stories.

Celebrating a rich culture

Going crayfishing illustration

For thousands of years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have used art, stories, dance and song as a form of expression. These cultural practices are intimately tied to their connections to Country, spirituality and understanding of the world and are a continuation of a rich culture across generations.

Throughout the world, children’s books by First Nations authors are used as a beautiful extension of cultural practices and act as a powerful meeting place for oral and written traditions.

Explore the collection


Priority Country Area Program

In the 1980s and early 90s the Queensland Department of Education’s Priority Country Area Program (PCAP) created a series of books with children throughout Queensland. The stories produced reflect the true to life experiences and authorship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in remote Queensland. 

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Landrover illustration
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The Lutheran Archives

Carol Toby and Marie Shipton worked as teacher’s aides in Far North Queensland in the 1970s, sharing their intimate knowledge of country, totems, management practices, survival and language with students. Their teachings were transformed into bilingual readers.

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Stories

Our words, our stories

Authors, language workers and educators discuss the creation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community authored books and their impact on language revitalisation, literacy and identity.

A very cheeky bird: the making of Jingeri Jingeri

Jingeri Jingeri is an English/Yugambeh interlingual book created as a legacy of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages.