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Namitja
Aboriginal boy Namitja breaks his leg whilst testing his new spear and is taken by a drover to a homestead to receive medical help.
32 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1956
1 person want to read
About the author
Margaret Paice
24 books1 followerAustralian children's author Margaret Paice, born Margaret D. Cantle in 1920, in Brisbane, Queensland, was the daughter of engineer Sydney Cantle. Raised in central Queensland, Paice attended Moreton Bay High School in Wynnum, Brisbane, for at least one year. She moved to Brisbane full-time at the outbreak of WWII, working for the Women’s National Emergency League, and was married to Herbert Paice, Supervisor of the Telegraph Section of the Post Office, in 1942. The couple had two children.
Following the death of her husband in 1955, Paice moved her family to Sydney, where she pursued her longtime dream of becoming an artist, studying illustration at the East Sydney Technical College and the National Art School Sydney, and painting at the Royal Art Society. Paice was married again, in 1960, this time to schoolteacher Wilfred Harris, with whom she had one child. The Paice-Harris family lived in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.
The author of over twenty children's novels - including the Depression-era trilogy, Colour In the Creek, which was made into a television mini-series - Paice published her first book, Mirram, in 1955.
-from: Bonza Schooldays
Following the death of her husband in 1955, Paice moved her family to Sydney, where she pursued her longtime dream of becoming an artist, studying illustration at the East Sydney Technical College and the National Art School Sydney, and painting at the Royal Art Society. Paice was married again, in 1960, this time to schoolteacher Wilfred Harris, with whom she had one child. The Paice-Harris family lived in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.
The author of over twenty children's novels - including the Depression-era trilogy, Colour In the Creek, which was made into a television mini-series - Paice published her first book, Mirram, in 1955.
-from: Bonza Schooldays
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 6, 2021
Very much a white saviour story, "wild black" Namitja creates a spear, and whilst testing it far from his people's camp, breaks his leg in a ravine. He is rescued by a drover called Bluey and taken back to a homestead to be treated by someone from the Flying Doctor service.
In general the story is quite nice, boy gets hurt, goes with stranger to be fixed, finds a home where he can settle in. But using an Australian historical context, this story is an excellent example of the white saviour trope common in stories about Aboriginal peoples from the era.
I don't believe this should be read by younger readers today, but the story would make an excellent case study on what Australian stories of the 1950s were like.
The drawings are quite beautiful though, quite simple depictions of the outback, but pretty accurate with no European trees to ruin things.
In general the story is quite nice, boy gets hurt, goes with stranger to be fixed, finds a home where he can settle in. But using an Australian historical context, this story is an excellent example of the white saviour trope common in stories about Aboriginal peoples from the era.
I don't believe this should be read by younger readers today, but the story would make an excellent case study on what Australian stories of the 1950s were like.
The drawings are quite beautiful though, quite simple depictions of the outback, but pretty accurate with no European trees to ruin things.
Displaying 1 of 1 review