Welcome to Country (Hardcover)

This multi-award-winning picture book is an expansive and generous Welcome to Country from a most respected Elder, Aunty Joy Murphy, beautifully given form by Indigenous artist Lisa Kennedy.

Welcome to the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People. We are part of this land and the land is part of us. This is where we come from. Wominjeka Wurundjeri balluk yearmenn koondee bik. Welcome to Country.

• "A resoundingly beautiful book that invites us to recognise the traditional lands that lie beneath our feet and to celebrate local Indigenous culture. This book belongs on every home bookshelf and in every library." Readings
• Aboriginal communities across Australia have boundaries that are defined by mountain ranges and waterways. Traditionally, to cross these boundaries or enter community country you needed permission from the neighbouring community. When this permission was granted the ceremony now called Welcome to Country took place. Each community had its own way of welcoming to country, and they still do today.

Awards

• Winner of the Environment Award for Children’s Literature and Educational Publishing Award
• Notable, 2017 CBCA Picture Book of the Year
• Shortlisted, 2017 CBCA Crichton Award
• Shortlisted, NSW Premier’s Literary Award
• Shortlisted, Speech Pathology Book of the Year Award

About the Author and Illustrator

Joy Murphy Wandin AO is the Senior Aboriginal Elder of the Wurundjeri People of Melbourne and surrounds. We show respect for her and other Elders by calling them Aunty or Uncle. Aunty Joy has had numerous government appointments including as a member of the Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria and of the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. She is a storyteller and a writer and is passionate about using story to bring people together and as a conduit for understanding Aboriginal culture. Welcome to Country is her first book.

Lisa Kennedy is descendant of the Trawlwoolway People on the north-east coast of Tasmania. Lisa was born in Melbourne and as a child lived close to the Maribyrnong River. Here she experienced the gradual restoration of the natural river environment alongside cultural regeneration and reclamation. Through sense of place she feels connected to the Wurundjeri country and all that entails — the water, the land, the animals and the ancestors. The experience of loss and reclamation is embedded in her work. Welcome to Country is her first title with Black Dog Books.