For 60,000 years by Marlee Jade Silva. Illus. by Rhys Paddick

Thriving and surviving for 60,000 years is an impressive number by any standard, and Gamilaroi and Dunghutti woman, Marlee Silva presents her community and its continuous ties to the land we call Australia. With strength and endurance, they survived. When the ghosts arrived two hundred years ago, they saw the land as a treasure trove, not as the beautiful land revered by the ancestors. They took the land, the plants, the soil. They took language, song, and the children. All of this did little to keep these people down, instead they came straight up again, rising to the top. They are in the classrooms, the boardrooms, on the football field and running tracks. They are seen on stage and in art galleries and on the screen. They have survived.

A wonderful acclamation of the survival of the First Nations, reading this book will encourage younger readers to embrace the people as they see them in all sorts of places. No longer kept in the background, they are seen everywhere. Each sentence will provoke questions and discussion. Why was the land taken, how was it taken, where were they living, why was the language stolen, amongst others. A myriad of questions will be asked by the astute reader and listener, providing a basis of understanding of how these people were treated.

But now strong and proud, they will be here for another 60,000 years.

Illustrations by Yamatji man, Rhys Paddick mark every tribulation mentioned in the text. Through Rhys’ eyes, we see the arrival of the ghosts and their appropriation of the land, their subjugation, the stolen generations.

And he makes it clear that today Aboriginal people are standing tall, taking their place in every facet of society, strengthening their First Nations community, as we see images of recognisable people, which again will encourage involvement from the listeners, offering suggestions about who some of the images are and recall the events which mark them out as worthy of note.

Themes: Aboriginal history, First Nations, Australian history, Colonization.

Fran Knight