I am Uluru

by The Uluru Family

It is important for people to understand; to understand Anangu (people of the Central Desert region of Australia), to understand Tjukurpa (our faith). To understand history. This book will be history. If it's read, maybe people will understand. We need to write it all down. We can work together. Otherwise there's a big wall in between us - I can't come across and you can't come across.


- Sammy Wilson (Tjama Uluru) - Head of the Uluru family and Chairperson of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board of Management, 2018

Genres: Australia, Nonfiction, Travel, Indigenous

242 pages, Paperback

Published December 19, 2018

Reviews

[Suvradip Maitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that every settler Australian must read. A humbling experience that must be lived to be learnt.

I am left with an overwhelming sense of conflicting emotional responses. I want to say to the Anangu and the extended Uluru family that we are listening. I want to say to Jen Cowley thank you for showing us how to be an ally. I want to say that anyone reading this review please read this book but only do so with your heart and mind open to its magic.

I am fortunate that I was able to visit Uluru last weekend before I read this book. On one hand it is a book I wish I had read when I was a young boy, but on the other I am grateful I read it at a time when I can engage with it through aspirations of my own life.

The book has left me with a sense of gratitude and awe at the incredible resilience and spirit of human
generosity by those whose stories are discussed in the book. It is an innately human portrayal of stories that defy belief at times; but are so relatable to us at other times.

I will not seek to rephrase what this book has said and what I have learnt. The essence of knowledge sharing which is the project of the book necessitates that knowledge comes from the primary source. It is a book that cannot be reduced. As Cowley notes, it is only by looking at the whole story that one can begin to appreciate what is being communicated in this text.

Palya to the Anangu is all I can say as I put this book down - humbled, inspired and deeply moved to act. To act in accordance with what Sammy Wilson or Tajama Uluru asks - to learn, listen, understand and support the conservation, continuation and flourishing of an incredible culture that has thrived against all odds for over fifty thousand years.

We can only hope that we are able to question our own assumptions and act with respect for what we do not understand. It is only by embracing the limits of our own knowledge and identity can we hope to begin being an ally.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What an amazing historical book and written so respectfully. We had just visited Uluru and I saw this book for sale there. Great to read it while so much was fresh in my mind. There needs to be many more such books to record our indigenous history before it’s lost. We travel the world and respect other indigenous cultures but our own is forgotten and underrated sadly. This book and such should be on the high school curriculum

[Big Z Head · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and enjoyable read. Noteworthy that I purchased the book in Uluru.

[Valerie P · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! This book allowed me to learn so much more about the amazing place we recently visited and the family who lives there: Uluru. I knew the name had changed from Ayer’s Rock to Uluru, but I didn’t know a whole lot more. I didn’t know that the National Park land including Uluru and Kata Tjuta was actually handed back to Uluru family (with an immediate 99 year lease back to the National Park system) in 1985. I didn’t know anything about Anangu culture. I’m so glad I happened to find this very important book at a nearby shop. What a beautiful portrayal of their culture, beliefs, traditions and difficult, speedy assimilation into “white fellas” way of living. Their story is heartbreaking and yet ultimately hopeful and inspirational.

I could go on and on with all the learning packed into this book, but I’ll share just one example of their very different perspective on life and approach to problem solving. Tourists climbing the rock over the course of many years had resulted in spiritual and environmental damage at the beautiful Uluru not to mention loss of life. Once some tourists reached the top, they would relieve themselves, literally leaving their sh*t up there, thereby rendering once pure water in the pools below to become polluted with E-coli and rendering them unusable. The Uluru family wanted to share the beauty of the rock with tourists, but knew they had to stop this worsening damage. But instead of immediately prohibiting the climbing, they chose to attempt to educate tourists on the spiritual and ecological importance of this site and requested tourists politely not to climb. They continued with this approach for decades before ultimately closing it to climbers in 2019. What patience and forbearance!

This was nearly a 5 star book for me… fell just slightly short of that because I felt it could use a little more editing.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many take aways from this book. A huge amount of respect, connection and longing to learn more from Anangu (indigenous groups of the central and western desert of Australia) and Tjukurpa (Anangu faith, dreaming, law, ways.

- 'when x and x grew me up... ' , it's not always about direct lineage.
-Understanding and knowledge in the ancient way of Anangu teaching is learning through listening, by attrition and immersion rather than through instruction or decree.
- Within anangu culture - changes in life, your age, your children , getting grey hair- these are the points that are marked as celebrations, as milestones. Life events are not rushed.
Thank you, a great read!

[Maxine Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Uluru family story told with great empathy and insight.

[Parvu Andreea · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most inspiring books I read. Speaks so well about culture and how we perceive it and understand it. In a whitefellas world, everything is about having, but the Anangu people teach us about being and feeling, living in the present, valuing everything that surrounds us. They don’t ask you “what is your country” it is “who is your country”, such a powerful question when you think about our modern world, how we the whitefellas lost our sense of belonging, we lost our tjukurpa.
This book is connected to my trip to Uluru, a spiritual and a connection moment at the base of this millennial rock, sacred but also majestic in all its powers.

[Tamsin Ramone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Reggie, Cassidy, Sammy and all the others sharing their stories. I felt very privileged to be able to listen to their experiences. I did find it a slow, difficult read though which made it difficult to stick to it. I’m glad I finished it though, the stories at the end were wonderful, filled with such important insight.

We can all learn from this book.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I visited Uluṟu for the 2nd time in 2022 and picked up this book from the airport on our way home. Really enjoyed the read and learning about different members of the Uluru family whilst gaining some insight and understanding of Aboriginal culture. A great perspective. Thank you for sharing your stories

[Bronwen Heathfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just visited Uluru this was the time to read this book. It is a little repetitive at times but the story of the connection to land and each other is brilliant. It deepened my understanding of Aboriginal culture. Highly recommend

[Honeypie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I was reminded that reading is an escape. Not so much as escape as running away, but escape as exploring other lands, or other worlds.

While reading this book, I was reminded when I travelled and visited Uluru. When I read at night, I imagine the Anangu (whoever probably is outside) seeing the wonder of the stars where they live. It must be very mesmerizing.

This was quite easy to read, and you do learn about the people, and not just their dreams, their stories. In tour groups then, they tell stories, mostly about creation, how Uluru came about, etc. But in this book, they tell of the people as Uluru during the 20th century. It seems like it's so far away, but it isn't. I was reminded of the Stolen stories, the heartache, the injustice.

And I remember one of the reasons why Australia is not as I imagined it to be. I'm reminded that colonizers suck. Racists suck. I'm reminded what I don't like in people.

But I also read about forgiveness at the center of forgetting. And although a lot of people suck, a lot more people are still inspiring and amazing.

My only complaint is the tendency to repeat the stories. The storyteller JC already told the story, and in the next paragraphs, the Uluru elder quotes the same story. I get that the way the elder told the story may not always be clear, but repeating the same story, albeit not word for word, was a little dragging.

---

Piranpa looked unkindly, to say the least, on what they called "stealing", a term foreign to Anangu who has no concept of ownership beyond sacred traditional knowledge. For Anangu, everything - from the sky to the land and all the people and plants and animals on it - belonged to Tjukurpa, and therefore to everyone. Anangu way was to share.

[Christine Traier · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful, eye-opening introduction to Anangu culture and Australian history.

[Rhondda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uluru is an amazingly spiritual place if you take the time to be quiet and let it "speak" to you.
This book was very interesting to read. The story written directly from the words of two Anangu (people from the Central Desert Region of Australia) men. Especially after spending time in Uluru, this book is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to understand something more of their history and about their Tjukurpa (their faith).

[C.D. Weatherholtz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into Aboriginal culture and the Uluru story. If you have been to the Rock this story opens your heart and your soul to what is happening worldwide in indigenous culture. Compelling and thoughtful Cowley captures a family caught in two worlds and their struggle to maintain Tjukurpa and to teach those who visit their lands the history of Australia.

[Val Robson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting and inspirational book giving a unique insight into the life and ways of Aboriginal people and their successful campaign to have Uluru and Kata Tjuta returned to their ownership after it was claimed by non indigenous people over a hundred years previously and known as Ayers Rock and the Olgas during that time.

The Aṉangu are the Aboriginal people who have lived in this Western Desert region in Australia for thousands, and possibly more, of years. Their way of life was nomadic and they caught or cropped only the food they needed immediately. There was no concept of ownership of land, possessions, planting crops or storing food in their culture.

White men first came to Uluru in the late nineteenth century and started claiming the land for themselves by parcelling it off and erecting fences. This had very detrimental effects on the Anangu people and their lives began to be changed forever as they were unable to roam to hunt and gather and there were many clashes over cultural differences which culminated in the murder of Yukun Uluru, an Aboriginal man, by mounted constable Bill McKinnon in the 1930s. Yukun's family fled in fear of their own lives but eventually came back to 'the rock' in the 1950s as they were concerned that white people were destroying a place that was sacred to the indigenous population.

After years of patience and trying to educate the white population about the tradition ways the ownership of what the white people were then calling Ayers Rock and the Olgas (Uluru and Kata Tjuta) they were finally returned to their traditional owners, the Uluru family, in 1985.

The book gives the story of many of the key characters in the Uluru family and helps explain their culture and way of life which is so very different from modern life for most. Having visited the area I found the book really helpful and wish that everyone would read this book to gain a better understanding and hopefully a genuine respect for the culture and way of life of the Aborigines. I'm sorry I didn't read this book before my visit as I would have loved to meet some of the Uluru family and also do some of the tours they offer. I was a little cautious about doing them while there but now regret not having more interaction with the Anangu people while in the area which is truly breath-taking and has an immense spiritual feel to it. I will never forgot my visit or this book.

[Rebecca Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I picked this book up at the cultural centre while visiting the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park this past weekend. It has been an enormously insightful post script to a deeply moving and educative cultural experience. This book looks into the history of the Uluru family and more broadly the experiences of the Anangu people since the time of first contact. I was struck while I was listening to one of the elders at the cultural centre about how difficult it must be to preserve culture when so much of it must remain secret (until the time is right to be shared with the right people). This book is an excellent read for all Australians wishing to better understand some of these key aspects of Tjukurpa. It’s so important that we give proper care and resources to the preservation of Indigenous culture all around Australia, and this book is an excellent resource.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting exploration of indigenous history, culture and family, centred around one of Australia's most iconic sites. It was a slow read as after each chapter I needed time to think about what I had read and absorb the information. There is much in the story that shocks and saddens but also some valuable cultural insights that help with the process of understanding connections with family, the land and a very different way of thinking. While I was interested in what I read, I also felt frustrated that Cowley teased readers with small glimpses that left you wanting to know more, but with no path to follow to that knowledge. Perhaps that was her intention. It is a thought provoking book, but one that left me feeling it was an incomplete, and therefore unsatisfying, read.

[Vincent Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a pretty easy read. Quite enjoyable, but not my initial choice. This was a gift so I decided to read it. The fact it was written by a white woman made it slightly conflicting for me. It was very interesting to learn more about the indigenous culture and struggle. White people have been SO evil it’s really intense to read and accept.

How do we measure Culture and success and life? The European way has set the standard and there are so many other ways of life that were beautiful and peaceful and cohesive. It’s all a trip.

[Damien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leading up to the referendum, you just know there’d be an emphatic Yes vote if more people read books like this. I saw the book ‘I Am Uluṟu’ in the art gallery on a recent trip to Yulara, and found it in the library back home. Excellent stuff - stories both heart warming and horrific, with lots of valuable explanations of the complexities around why the sharing of cultural knowledge is so tricky. It’s really taking me back there. Read it.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

My father was a strong man. I think he was strong like the rock.

Bought this when visiting the Northern Territory and feeling deeply humbled by the presence of Uluru. This was a wonderfully and empathetically told story of the Uluru family, with a wider discussion of Anangu traditions and First Nations experiences in Australia. Very enlightening and often emotional, but educational above all else.

[Júlia AG · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Because the minga will all say they’ve come to see Uluru but if they were to pause a moment and ask these brothers, Reggie and Cassidy, “Who are you?” each of the men would tell them: I AM ULURU’
❤️‍🩹
A cornerstone book to understand Australian indigenous history and the impact of the European colonization in the past, present and emerging generations of Anangu.
Devastating and hopeful at the same time.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic look into the lives of the traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Their stories and their lives need to be listened to. Learn their history, and how they worked slowly and methodically to keep their culture alive and get back their land. Heavy at times, but absolutely lovely.

[Eugene Kala · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book offers some insight into the history of Aboriginal Australian society and beliefs. However, I found it quite limited in terms of coverage. The author repeats the same story throughout the first half of the book. She mentions she interviewed a large number of the tribe, but in essence it's minimal content from just a couple of folks. Easy read, but don't expect much.

[Ben Milstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

everything in this book is interesting except the style and formatting of the writing. The direct quotes are fine but I found myself often confused on who was speaking and what the point of certain sentences were. Felt as though the author was unsure how to construct the actual structure of the book itself.

2.5

[Bethany-Lauren Robins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives an incredible insight into Aboriginal culture & the battles that they have faced with reference to Uluru. Written with explanation & respect for the culture this education, thought provoking book it is well worth a read.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting read that deepened my respect, admiration and understanding of the culture and history of Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. I would recommend to anyone living in or visiting the area, or anyone interested in learning more about the area and the people who live here.

[Melinda Charlesworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of us, Australians particularly, should take the time to read this book. Take time to consider and understand. Take time to commit to learning. And accept the generous offer to share land, culture and knowledge.

[William Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting and useful book. The book describes about three generations of the Uluru family and along the way touches on many of the issues. Also a hopeful book. Written about the time that climbing Uluru was forbidden and before the Voice was proposed.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is an amazing book. Deep mix of first person testimony, narrative reconstructions, and commentary on a family's abiding belong to the land of central Australia.

[Janine De paiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who is thinking of visiting Uluru or has been to Uluru. Enlightening. Informative.