David Spillman & Lisa Wilyuka,
Us Mob Walawurru
Magabala Books, 2007.

Ages 12+

Ruby is the feisty, curious and immensely likeable central character and narrator of this beautifully honed story about growing up as a Luritja girl on a cattle station in Western Australia in the 1960s. It is set against a backdrop of inter-generational tensions about the relevance of cultural heritage through a time of new shifts in the relationship between the Aboriginal people and the “whitefellas”, whose notions of ownership are so very different. The Walawurru of the title is the Luritja word for the wedge-tailed eagle, the brother of the Luritja people. Ruby is filled with joy and an inner-peace every time she sees the bird soaring in the sky and it is a focal point for her unravelling of her own past.

The characters in the story are all painted through Ruby’s eyes so it is through her increased understanding that we too come to recognise the motives behind the events which unfold. Central to the narrative is a trip to an inter-school sporting event a day’s journey away at Tulu, which the teacher Mr Duncan has organised. He is most disconcerted on the morning of departure to discover that not only the children but the majority of the Aborigine adults wish to travel too. A compromise is found but his carefully-timed itinerary is forced to adapt itself to circumstances outside his control, which is where much of the gentle, tolerant humor of the story comes into evidence.

It says much about the quality of the writing here that historical details, some of them rather unpalatable, are interwoven with the story in a way that adds to the emotional charge but is neither judgemental nor didactic. Through Ruby’s journey of self-discovery, we learn not only about being open to what the past can teach; but about how fulfilling life can be when lived in the present through that cultural heritage. This is the uncomplicated premise of the book; Ruby’s distinctive voice, with its blend of insight and humor, more than holds the reader’s attention. A very special book.

Marjorie Coughlan
July 2007