i-Tjuma: Ngaanyatjarra Stories from the Western Desert of Central Australia

Author: Inge Kral, Jennifer Green & Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis (editors)

Publisher: UWA Publishing

Published: 2021

Genre: Non-Fiction

Tagged: digital media, Indigenous, iPad, Ngaanyatjarra, storytelling, Western Desert

i-Tjuma: Ngaanyatjarra Stories from the Western Desert of Central Australia brings us sixteen unrestricted tjuma (stories) from the region that have been captured with digital media. Considered an endangered ephemeral art form, mirlpa (sand storytelling) is illustrated by young female artists using an iPad.

Choosing bright colours, the artists draw symbols to depict features of their everyday lives, rather than telling Tjukurrpa (creation) stories like their grandmothers would have done in mirlpa. Their stories are explained in either Ngaanyatjarra or Aboriginal English while being filmed. The book’s text, written in Ngaanyatjarra and Australian Standard English, is enhanced with QR Codes to enable the reader to watch and listen to the artist at work.

i-Tjuma is an innovative and delightful way to engage with, understand and value Western Desert people’s way of life. A skilfully executed blend of Indigenous and Western practices, the research was both returned to the communities and has been archived for future generations.