Nomad girl : my life on the gibber plains and beyond / Kanakiya Myra Ah Chee ; as told to Linda Rive.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ah Chee, Kanakiya Myra, author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Artists, Aboriginal Australian--Biography.

Artists, Aboriginal Australian.

Nomads--Australia.

Nomads.

Aboriginal Australians--Biography.

Aboriginal Australians.

Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous peoples--Australia--South Australia.

Ah Chee, Kanakiya Myra.

Colebrook Training Centre (Eden Hills, S.A.).

Institute for Aboriginal Development (Alice Springs, N.T.).

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

xii, 208 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly colour), map, portraits (chiefly colour), genealogical tables ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Canberra, A.C.T. : Aboriginal Studies Press, 2021.

Summary:

Kanakiya Myra Ah Chee was born at Oodnadatta in remote South Australia in 1932. When her mother tragically died Myra was only eight. Her grieving father gathered up the remaining family and walked north - away from her childhood home. They spent years as nomads, travelling with the camels that were her father's livelihood, up and down the Finke River. Her father sought work where and when he could, while he looked after his children, teaching them about the bush, their culture and life. It was a childhood of freedom, bush tucker, bush games, fires, stories at night and sleeping under the stars - at times idyllic but, at other times, terrifying and tragic. Myra's father was a safe and reassuring presence, but when he decided education was the key to his children's future, Myra's life was changed forever. There are so many stories to tell of my life, and sometimes I think they are not of importance, but they are, because often it is the little details that are the most important. I still remember every detail. [Like] Oodnadatta Country -- I can still see it, in my mind's eye, exactly as it was back in my time. The Country still calls me back to where I was born, a very exposed and stony land, but I still love it. That's where my spirit is. Kanakiya Myra Ah Chee was born at Oodnadatta in remote South Australia in 1932. When her mother tragically died Myra was only eight. Her grieving father gathered up the remaining family and walked north -- away from her childhood home. They spent years as nomads, travelling with the camels that were her father's livelihood, up and down the Finke River. Her father sought work where and when he could, while he looked after his children, teaching them about the bush, their culture and life. It was a childhood of freedom, bush tucker, bush games, fires, stories at night and sleeping under the stars -- at times idyllic but, at other times, terrifying and tragic. Myra's father was a safe and reassuring presence, but when he decided education was the key to his children's future, Myra's life was changed forever.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: My Desert Rivers People

Map Of Places In This Book

Growing Up In Stone Country

Everything Changes

Walking With Camels

Big Country, Big Family

Colebrook Home Days

Getting Out Into The World

Return To The Centre

It Is All Tjukur

Last Words

Notes

Our languages

Manimani

My name

Grandmother Nguntiwalata

Uncle Peter Tjutatja

Sites of significance along the Finke River, Lhere Pirnte

Grandmother Ruulta

Grandfather Apma

European-Aboriginal liaisons

The Bob Arnold interviews

Jack O'Donnell

Jack Malley

Harry Taylor

Willy Taylor

Sam Taylor

Peter Tjutjatja Taylor

Mavis Taylor

Janet Forrester

My wedding

Paul Ah Chee

Deaths in the family

My Clever And Sporty Grandchildren

My Family.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9781922059833

1922059838

OCLC:

1263662640

Publisher Number:

99989607825