Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Titles1.0
There are 33 titles in print relating to Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Island life. These titles include Torres Strait Songbooks, Explorer's Guides, Childrens Stories and more.
This book was commenced in 1964 and was intended to be a collaboration between the anthropologist Charles Mountford and the artist and author Ron Edwards. The plan was that Edwards would explore north Queensland to record rock art sites and send the results to South Australia to Mountford, whose part in the project was to interpret the material sent to him. Unfortunately Mountford died in 1976 and any writing that he may have done for the book seems to have vanished. The project was then abandoned, but in 2007 Edwards discovered that some of the art that he had recorded forty years earlier had faded from sight, and other examples had been destroyed. Realising that the drawings that he had made all those years ago might now be the only evidence of many of the sites it was decided to publish the drawings, and the field notes that went with them, as a historical record.
Torres Strait Island Songbooks
Edited and illustrated by Ron Edwards. 177 traditional songs with notes and music. Some of these can also be found in the relevant island songbook (the first 6 listed below). 240 pages.
18 songs, 24 pages
22 songs, 32 pages.
13 songs, 24 pages.
28 songs, 40 pages.
7 songs, 12 pages.
24 songs, 40 pages.
22 songs, 28 pages.
32 songs, 40 pages.
Torres Strait Island Dictionaries
By Sydney H. Ray. Edited and illustrated by Ron Edwards. The only available dictionary of Eastern and Western Island languages. Drawn from Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. 234 pages.
By Dr. Anna Shnukal. Illustrated by Ron Edwards. This dictionary contains almost 4,000 common words and phrases. Also included are culturally significant place names, customs, games, mythical beings, flora and fauna, seasons, stars and constellations. 172 pages
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Chilren's Books
A story written as part of a project to make books available for indigenous communities that the children can relate to. 14 pages, colour illustrations.
A rhyming story set in the Torres Strait. Part of a program to produce local stories for Indigenous children. This one is for younger children and has large type. 12 pages.
Edited by Ron and Anne Edwards. Stories and drawings from children of the Sacred Heart School, Thursday Island Primary School and the Horn Island School. 32 pages.
A children’s story with additional art work by Torres Strait children. Part of a program to produce local stories for Indigenous children. Copies may be obtained from the Mabuiag school. We have some copies & will pay royalties to the school on all sales made. 24 pages
Tells of traditional Cape York life in verse and drawing. Published originally as a limited edition, this edited paperback version is for school use. 36 pages.
By Oochuyung, a Wik girl, with illustrations by Ron Edwards. Her second book (after Sand Beach Girl) tells a simple childhood story with supernatural overtones. 32 pages, colour illustrations.
A children’s story written for the children of Pormpuraaw school, Cape York. Part of a program producing local stories for Indigenous children. 28 pages, colour illustrations.
By Oochuyung, illustrated by Ron Edwards. A storyline derived from recollections and memories of the authors childhood. 28 pages, colour illustrations.
A children’s book by Islander Anna Larry with illustrations by Ron Edwards. Written in Torres Strait Creole. An English text is also provided. 24 pages.
The Stephen Island children enjoyed this story about an incident involving people from another island. (Possibly unsuitable for other schools as local drunks and violence is mentioned?) 20 pages.
Written by Oochuyung, a Wik girl, with illustrations by Ron Edwards. A children’s story based on her childhood experiences in the Napranum area of Cape York. 20 pages. Colour illustrations.
Contains stories about Stephen Island (Torres Strait) written and illustrated by local children, with drawings by the Edwards. Copies obtainable from the Stephen Island school. We also have a few copies and will pay royalties to the school on all sales made. 36 pages.
A children’s book by Islander Anna Larry with illustrations by Ron Edwards. Written in Torres Strait Creole. An English text is also provided. 24 pages.
Torres Strait Island Activities
Few Australians know anything about the Torres Strait and its people where a distinctive type of traditional tropical cooking has evolved, drawing on the Pacific Islands and Asia. A majority of sales of this book occur where young islanders are re-discovering their traditional cuisine. Condiments used are generally available but other ingredients are rather exotic! Simple traditional ingredients, traditional island methods, creating tasty traditional food, based on spices, coconut milk and a variety of sea food. 84 pages.
This book gives step by step instructions on how the Torres Strait people make all sorts of fun things from coconut fronds. These include birds, stars, fish, balls, wands and hats. 17 projects and 277 drawings. 64 pages.
An Islander's Autobiography
Autobiography of Islander Thomas Lowah (1914-1989);
He tells of his life as a diver on pearling luggers, sailing the waters of the Torres Strait and working down the Great Barrier Reef. Conditions were so hard that the skipper would not let the divers out of the water to eat their lunch of damper and syrup, but would hand it down to them to eat while they trod water.
One of the first autobiographies of a Torres Strait Islander and a unique document of a way of life that is parallel to, but quite different from, life in the white community. Illustrated by Ray Crooke. 148 pages.
Torres Strait Explorer's Guides
These books contain stories from various Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal communities with some artwork by local children. Copies may be obtained from the relevant school. We have some copies and will pay royalties to the relevant school on all sales made.
32 pages.
20 pages.
36 pages.
20 pages.
The result of a Writer’s Week at Napranum organised by the local Indigenous community under the direction of Ron Edwards (who also illustrated it). This was the first attempt at writing by most of the participants and the essays are mainly short and biographical. Contains writing about the area by eight people, including Fiona Doyle (Oochooyung). 24 pages.
20 pages.
