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Dulaybam Dunggiirr: Grey-faced Wallaby and Koala

by Phillip Shannon

40 pages; Saddle stitched; catalogue #06-2205; ISBN 1-4251-0448-7; US$18.26, C$21.00, EUR14.24, £9.44

Long ago in the Dreamtime, the greyfaced wallaby had no tail and the koala was always thirsty. How these animals helped each other is the subject of this traditional Gumbaynggirr children's story.

About the Book

Long ago in the Dreamtime, the Greyfaced Wallaby had no tail and the Koala was always thirsty. How these animals helped each other is the subject of this Gumbaynggirr children's story. Phillip Shannon was a Gumbaynggirr man from the Nymboida area of Gumbaynggirr country in coastal New South Wales, Australia. This is one of the stories the Phillip Shannon told researcher Gerhardt Laves in 1929.

Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-op began in 1986 when Gumbaynggirr elders got to together to revive their language and hand it down. Muurrbay's language research and language revival activities are based on the great work of elders such as Phillip Shannnon.

About the Author

Phillip Shannon (now deceased) was a Gumbaynggirr man from the nymboida area of Gumbaynggirr country in coastal New South Wales, Australia. In 1929, Phillip Shannon told around fifteen storeis to the researcher Gerhardt Laves (now deceased) who wrote them down.

Phillip Shannon told the story as a kind of play, that is, in the direct speech of the characters, Grey-faced Wallaby and Koala. It is a children's story that contains a positive message about sharing and looking after each other. This version has been slightly shortened.

This story can be read as a play in Gumbaynggirr with different people taking the parts of Grey-faced Wallaby and Koala. It can also be read in English as a story.