Papunya School Book of Country and History 25th Anniversary Edition

WINNER: CBCA Book of the Year, Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
WINNER: Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing
WINNER: NSW Premier's Young People's History Prize

This multi-award-winning book tells the story of how Anangu from five different language groups came to live together in the Northern Territory community of Papunya. From the first contacts with explorers, missionaries and pastoralists and the start of the Western Desert art movement and the Warumpi Band, this richly layered text leads us to the development of the Papunya Model of Education, which places Country at the centre of learning.

Combining many voices and many hands, this collaboration between the staff and students of Papunya School, working with writer Nadia Wheatley and artist Ken Searle, set a new benchmark in First Nations publishing. Twenty-five years on, this unique example of 'two way' learning remains a profound metaphor for reconciliation.

'A salutary example of shared authority in the writing of history and demonstrates the educational imperatives of the reconciliation process.' Judges Report, NSW Premier's Young People's History Awards, 2002

'Papunya School Book combines language simple enough for primary school children with concepts too complex for many Australian politicians.'
Jenny Pausacker, The Weekend Australian

'No course in Australian history, at whatever level, will ever be complete now without the Papunya School Book of Country and History.'
Margaret Dunkle, Australian Book Review

'In the context of Australians reckoning with their past, the Papunya School Book of Country and History remains a landmark publication - as potent today as it was when first published twenty-five years ago.' Rachel Perkins, Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman and writer, director and presenter of The Australian Wars