This year's theme for the International Day of World's Indigenous Peoples is the role of Indigenous women in the preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge. This theme acknowledges that ‘despite the crucial role indigenous women play in their communities as breadwinners, caretakers, knowledge keepers, leaders and human rights defenders, they often suffer from intersecting levels of discrimination on the basis of gender, class, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.’
In line with celebrating this observance, below are two powerful books by Indigenous women from around the world.
WINNER OF THE JANN MEDLICOTT ACORN PRIZE FOR FICTION
WINNER OF THE MITOQ BEST FIRST BOOK OF FICTION
WINNER OF THE NGAIO MARSH AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL
aue
(verb) to cry, howl, groan, wail, bawl. (interjection) expression of astonishment or distress.Taukiri was born into sorrow. Aue can be heard in the sound of the sea he loves and hates, and in the music he draws out of the guitar that was his father’s. It spills out of the gang violence that killed his father and sent his mother into hiding, and the shame he feels about abandoning his eight-year-old brother to a violent home.
But Taukiri’s brother,…
The story of an Aboriginal woman who worked as a police officer and fought for justice both within and beyond the Australian police force.
Black and Blue is a memoir of remarkable fortitude and resilience, told with wit, wisdom, and great heart.
A proud Gunai/Kurnai woman, Veronica Gorrie grew up dauntless, full of pride and a fierce sense of justice. After watching her friends and family suffer under a deeply compromised law-enforcement system, Gorrie signed up for training to become one of a rare few Aboriginal police officers in Australia.
In her ten years in the force, she witnessed appalling…
Becky Manawatu
Becky Manawatu (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is a West Coast…
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Veronica Gorrie
Veronica Gorrie is a Gunai/Kurnai woman who lives and writes in…
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