Papunya School Book of Country and History

A celebratory edition of this groundbreaking, multi-award-winning, collaborative history of Western Desert communities from a First Nations perspective.

• WINNER: CBCA Book of the Year, Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
• WINNER: Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing
• WINNER: NSW Premier's Young People's History Prize 

This multi-award-winning book tells the story of how Anangu from five different language groups came to live together in the Northern Territory community of Papunya. From the first contacts with explorers, missionaries and pastoralists and the start of the Western Desert art movement and the Warumpi Band, this richly layered text leads us to the development of the Papunya Model of Education, which places Country at the centre of learning. 

Combining many voices and many hands, this collaboration between the staff and students of Papunya School, working with writer Nadia Wheatley and artist Ken Searle, set a new benchmark in First Nations publishing. Twenty-five years on, this unique example of 'two way' learning remains a profound metaphor for reconciliation.