Jess spreads good word
From saltwater to freshwater crocodiles, the red dirt to the billabongs, Jessica Mauboy’s natural environment growing up in Darwin on Larrakia Nation inspires much of her music today.
A born storyteller, the famous singer-songwriter and proud Kulu Yalanii and Kakaman woman will share her inspirational processes as part of the impressive line-up of virtual offerings this Indigenous Literacy Day on Wednesday (September 1).
Hosted by author, artist and performer Gregg Dreise, the annual day – presented by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation in collaboration with the Sydney Opera House’s Digital Creative Learning team – offers a “window into the richness, diversity and multilingual literacy of First Nations people through storytelling”.
Following this year’s theme of “celebrating stories and language”, Mauboy will appear in a short video that can viewed along with 50 other short videos on demand from 9am. With more than 250 Indigenous languages, including around 800 dialects, in Australia, she says sharing stories from these cultures offers all Australians a sense of inclusion.
“I had a lot of favourite stories growing up but the one that really got me was the Dreamtime story of the Rainbow Serpent,” says pop princess Mauboy.
“Books that I gravitated towards more were about the environment that I grew up in, from the saltwater to the freshwater crocodiles to coconut and mango trees.
“The red dirt, the bushlands and billabongs and just being out there whether it was hunting or sitting out in Dad’s tin boat and fishing for barra or crabbing.
“I understood that part of the world growing up and books that reflected that meant something to me because I knew about it.”
While she learned to connect to the stories of the land, Mauboy also found rhythm in her environment and learned to incorporate those feelings into her music.
“A certain environment creates sound – it could be the wind brushing off the saltwater and then shifting into the grainy sand – that’s what I was listening for,” says Mauboy.
When Mauboy joined ILF ambassador Dreise on a trip to the Tiwi Islands in 2019, they witnessed first-hand the importance of sharing stories everyone can relate to.
Dreise, a proud descendant from the Goomeri and Yuwalayaay people in south western Queensland and north west of NSW worked is a celebrated author and illustrator who uses storytelling to address his culture through themes of friendship, kindness, tempers, bullying, being humble, and social change.
“Everyone, their favourite books are those they feel part of,” says Dreise.
“Imagine kids for the first time, how beautiful it was when Jess and I were up on Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory, when we gifted them their own book in their own language.
“I created a book with them called Teeny Weeny Yikiyikini, which is all about trying to help those kids remember the traditional names of all the birds up there.”
Dreise says the work achieved by the ILF helps bring books like this to communities often cut off from relatable literature.
“Most people can get to a bookstore or library within, 10 or 15 minutes,” he says. “But for those kids in remote communities, there are no town libraries or bookstores and a lot of them don’t even have school libraries, there’s just not enough resources in tiny communities to warrant that.
“It’s wonderful that we have Indigenous Literacy Day where all Australians can get behind a beautiful cause and gift a little bit and bring people on the journey up with them.”
To celebrate Indigenous Literacy Day, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation is hosting a free virtual celebration for all Australians live from 9am Wednesday, September 1 at www.ild.org.au