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Growing up Aboriginal in Australia

By: Anita Heiss
Narrated by: Gregory J Fryer,Hunter Page-Lochard,Lisa Maza,Shari Sebbens,Tamala Shelton,Tony Briggs
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Publisher's Summary

What is it like to grow up Aboriginal in Australia? This anthology, compiled by award-winning author Anita Heiss, showcases many diverse voices, experiences and stories in order to answer that question. Accounts from well-known authors and high-profile identities sit alongside those from newly discovered writers of all ages. All of the contributors speak from the heart - sometimes calling for empathy, oftentimes challenging stereotypes, always demanding respect.

©2018 Anita Heiss and Black Inc. (P)2018 W. F. Howes Ltd

What listeners say about Growing up Aboriginal in Australia

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Great honest storytelling

It’s writing like this that helps me understand an upbringing and perspective so different from my own.

Thank you Dr Heiss for collecting these stories and making them available to hear. Thank you for having the courage to tell your story for me to hear.

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6 people found this helpful

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I couldn't really get into this.

i think I would have preferred a longer story of someone's life and it could have talked about varying perspectives from different Indigenous Australians around them to get the insight into different experiences but I didn't really like this topic in such short story format as some stories seemed really surface level and didn't draw me in or give me the insight into the life of an Indigenous Australian that I wanted. I didn't read the whole thing so i can't review that but It wasn't really what I was hoping for.

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5 people found this helpful

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Such a diverse range of voices!

I loved this book - hearing the diverse stories and voices of indigenous Australians from across the last century. It brought to life just how our appalling public policies and attitudes have impacted individuals and communities through generations. And demonstrates the amazing resilience of the Aboriginal people. It was both heart breaking and inspiring. So much to learn and reflect on as a white Australian.

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2 people found this helpful

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A powerful collection of stories

These personal stories of Australian Aboriginals bring to light what many have always known - that the resilience and grace that lives within the black community is awe inspiring. Many common threads weave throughout these diverse accounts of life, presented in a way that will make you laugh and cry and question everything you thought you knew. Thanks Dr Anita Heiss for this terrific read.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • CJT
  • 23-02-2023

Brilliantly narrated and written

Absolutely amazing
Don’t miss this one
Fabulous learnings and interesting stories. You will not be disappointed

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Amazing.

Enlightening, heartbreaking, funny, interesting. A must listen, particularly beneficial for non Indigenous Australians as if give you alot to reflect on.

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Kaartdijin

Knowledge. These first-hand accounts from First Nations people give a real insight into the work that needs to be done to celebrate indigenous culture and remedy past mistakes with our First Nations people.

Very insightful.

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  • mj
  • 08-08-2022

Required Listening of First Nation’s People’s Experiences

Thanks for the opportunity to gain some more insights into worlds I could never hope to understand without the truth telling of some of our brightest lights

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  • Bo
  • 18-07-2022

a must read for all Australians.

a really valuable piece of work and a huge thank you to all the contributors. for anyone that lives in Australia, no matter what your heritage it's worth a read. Real storytelling and eye opening for those of us who have been shielded from the truth. We all only lived on one side of history. If this wasn't the side you lived on, it's about time you opened your ears, eyes and mind.

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Brilliant

Important listening for all Australians! Wonderful readers and a real representation of our diverse community.

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  • Friend
  • 23-03-2021

Every non-Indigenous Australian should read this

Speaking as a white Australian woman, I am grateful for the opportunity to read this collection of stories from a wide range of Aboriginal voices.

I believe it is the responsibility of every non-Indigenous Australian to take the time to educate themselves on the true history of this country and the ongoing traumas experienced by Indigenous Australians.

If you take the opportunity to read these accounts, and to learn from them, it will open your eyes to the living realities of what it is to be Aboriginal in Australia. It may even go some of the way towards healing the damage that has been done.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • A. Rabe
  • 01-05-2019

Fantastic Book; illuminating personal stories

This collection of essays presents a range of life experiences of growing up aboriginal in Australia. Truly wonderful.

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  • Jonah Applebee
  • 10-08-2021

important read

full of hope, joy, and sorrow, an eye opening read that is well worth the time

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  • Anne F.
  • 22-11-2019

A must read.

My ignorance as an Australian is astounding. This book needs to be required reading for everyone.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 26-06-2021

More voice actors

Overall I really liked this book I felt that it had good insights into what its like to grow up aboriginal in Australia however I would have liked more different voice actors.

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  • sue
  • 28-01-2023

I learned so much

Listening to this collection of people’s voiced experiences of what it means to grow up Aboriginal has been an education. I knew really almost nothing about this subject prior to listening. It’s made me realise how complex the question of identity is for each of these people. So many voices and rich individual narratives. But the almost compulsive stereotyping of them by non indigenous people comes up again and again as a major cause of hurt and anger. It’s given me a lot to think about as the voices here speak with admirable openness about their individual vulnerabilities, strengths and achievements. I whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in learning about the lives of people who have inherited ways of being which reach back many thousands of years as they navigate their lives in a country where colonisation has inflicted so much harm in so many ways. Above all I think it’s about finding ways of moving forward and staying real.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 24-07-2020

beautiful

Beautiful to listen to, well read, so many interesting stories. at times heartbreaking, but taught me so much and absolutely loved it!

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  • Timothy
  • 29-01-2020

A repository of many backgrounds

I'm new and ignorant to the story behind aboriginal people living in Australia. The personal accounts put together here are a good start for me to become more aware of my behaviour not just towards the natives, but practically anyone I meet out there on the streets.

The female narration were clear and crisp, however, some of the recordings of the narration by men lack clarity and volume. Many times I had to adjust the volume when the male voices came on.

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  • Arlene Finnigan
  • 01-08-2019

Good enlightening read

This is a good read about a culture I have to admit I knew very little about. Some essays are more interesting/better written than others. One recurring point was that a lot of the contributors spoke about being mixed race and having to deal both with racism and with being told they weren't 'really' Aboriginal. It also give several painful personal insights into the scandal if the stolen generation.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.