Our Birds: Ŋilimurruŋgu Wäyin Malanynha

SHORTLISTED 2019 Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Awards (Eve Pownall Award for Information Books)

A delightful gift book of birds from around Yirrkala, which is Siena’s home in North-east Arnhem Land. This beautiful little book includes the English and Yolŋu names of the birds and their Yolŋu moiety. In Yolŋu culture, everything is divided into two moieties: Yirritja and Dhuwa – and as a result all things are classified, from a body of water to a specific type of tree or bird. Birds give themselves their Yolŋu name by the sounds they make. Our Birds also includes beautifully captured landscapes from a child’s perspective. When Siena was 12, she took up photography on her iPad, but was gifted a camera from her aunty. In a short period of time, Siena was an avid photographer and had published her own book of birds. This book is the result of that inspiration.
Siena Mayutu Wurmarri Stubbs is a young Yolŋu woman of the Gumatj clan of the Yirritja moiety. Her homeland is Buwaka.

Paperback 48 pages

When Siena was 12, she took up photography on her iPad, but was gifted a camera from her aunty. In a short period of time, Siena was an avid photographer and had published her own book of birds. Our Birds: Ŋilimurruŋgu Wäyin Malanynha is the result of that inspiration.