Old Nana Quokka by Rhonda Collard-Spratt & Jacki Ferro
A wonderful Dreaming story set on Wadjemup, Rottnest Island, in modern times when the animals find they must do something about the tourists who come to the island.
The quokkas are expected to pose for the many cameras and some quokkas eat the food offered by these people. Koboorl Koon, the fat quokka becomes sick and asks Old Nana Quokka for help. She goes into the bush and finds some leaves, grasses and seeds for him, with the words, ‘eat only what your ancestors ate’. Then an osprey lands nearby, obviously in peril with a plastic ring around her neck. She asks Old Nana Quokka for help and she enlists the aid of the crabs who with their nippers, cut the ring from the bird’s neck. A snake asks for her help. He was lying on the road in the sun, when he was hit by a child on a bicycle. Since then, he has been unable to shed his skin. Old Nana Quokka blows onto her paws and helps the snake’s skin come away.
Old Nana Quokka has had enough. The next day when the tourists flock to the island to take their pictures, the quokkas turn their backs and fart causing the tourists to run away. When they sat on their rugs to have a picnic, the seabirds dropped plastic bottles on their heads, forcing them to leave.
Aunty Osprey flies to the mainland and talks to Mother Nyingarn, the echidna, and she hears the same complaints. The people are ruining the land, digging it up, chopping down trees and polluting the land and the air. Back on Rottnest, the animals are called for a gathering and follow Dreaming tracks to come together. They produce a letter to all the people of Australian and the visitors to Wadjemup. It is written at the end of the story and outlines a statement for the future of this country.
A charming tale to encourage people to have more consideration for the land and animals they live amongst, children will take heart that the aims are guidelines we should all share.
The third in the series, Spirit of the Dreaming, Old Nana Quokka is subtitled Caring for country and promotes a singular message that we should all follow.
A YouTube clip can be found here, in which Aunty Rhonda talks about the book and what prompted its theme.
A song can be found at the end of the book, along with a glossary of Noongar words found in the text and an explanation of the six seasons recognised by the Nyoongar people.
Themes: Noongar, Western Australia, Rottnest Island, Sharing, Community, Aboriginal beliefs, Dreaming Story, Pollution, Spirit of the Dreaming series.
Fran Knight