Father McKelson's Book Launch

Father McKelson, Sue Hanson and Jacqui Wright at Bidyadanga Community

In 2007, Wangka Maya published Father McKelson's book 'Ngarnana Nyangumarta Karajarrimili Ngurranga: We Nyangumarta in the Country of the Karajarri'. The book was launched in Perth and at the Bidyadanga Community.

In the mid 1960s, Father McKelson arrived in Bidyadanga (then La Grange Mission) as a young Catholic priest from Melbourne. There he met Tommy Dodd, a northern Nyangumarta elder from the desert. Together these two kindred spirits from widely different backgrounds met most afternoons on a verandah and became firm friends. Early in their friendship, Father asked Tommy if he would teach him Nyangumarta. Both men came to view their language lessons as more than teaching sessions, but as a way to preserve and maintain the language. Their work progressed from discussion of vocabulary and language structure to the telling of bush stories and the translation of stories from the Bible.

Ngarnana Nyangumarta Karjarrimili Ngurranga contains a wealth of information about life at the mission, the lives of community members and 40 lessons in Nyangumarta. This publication is available for $40.