Strangers on Country

- Blurb -

Age range 9+Giom, Anco and Duramboi are the names of just threeyoung shipwreck survivors and convict escapees who were given refuge byIndigenous communities during the nineteenth century. No one knows exactly howmany received sustenance from the local people, but there are some documentedaccounts of these experiences. Strangerson Country includes the stories of six Europeans and the people who caredfor them.To Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,the first castaways and runaway convicts that arrived in their homes must haveappeared pretty scary. The strangers didn't speak their language and didn't understandtheir ways, but they were desperately in need of refuge. Despite their fears,the Indigenous hosts often treated the lost strangers with kindness, takingpity on them and giving them food and shelter. When they returned to live amongwhite people, the castaways and convicts spoke fondly of the people who hadrescued them.Based on historical records each story in this bookis told through two historical fiction narratives. The first is from the pointof view of an Indigenous person who befriends the stranger in their land. Thesecond is from the point of view of the castaway or convict who is givenrefuge. At the end of each chapter, there is a section of facts and information.Too often Australian history is told only from the point of view of theEuropeans who sailed here from across the world.Richly illustrated and drawing on the extensivecollections of the NationalLibrary of Australia, Strangers onCountry will inspire young readers to think about how all Australians todaycan learn from traditional Indigenous ways of thinking and doing. When welisten to and understand others, work with people, instead of doing things topeople, then we can all begin to adopt the wise ways of the past.Thisbook was inspired by and based on Livingwith the Locals: Early Europeans' Experience of Indigenous Life by JohnMaynard and Victoria K. Haskins.