Seven Seasons in Aurukun: My Unforgettable Time at a Remote Aboriginal School

by Paula Shaw

Paula Shaw recounts her experiences of two years teaching at the school at Aurukun in Cape York. She paints a colorful picture of life in a remote Aboriginal community in the sweltering tropics. With the place itself as much of a character as her colleagues, the traditional owners and the eccentric whitefellas who congregate in faraway places, it is a taste of the intensity of relationships in a small community. Seven Seasons in Aurukun also offers an insight into the everyday realities of alcoholism, violence, and welfare dependency in Aboriginal communities, and the struggle to make a difference in the face of such chronic problems. Yet we also see the persistence efforts of community leaders to improve their circumstances and maintain culture, and the small achievements that make the difference between survival and going under.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Nathan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read for anybody interested in contemporary life in an Aboriginal community in Australia.

I read this book because I am planning on becoming a teacher and also being Aboriginal myself I wanted to see what gubba's thought of aboriginal community. It fits many of the cliches of a foreigner abroad stories and their experience of other cultures but is saved by the fact that it is a rare topic in modern Australian literature although often done by previous writers in previous decades.

Well what did I learn? Not much that I did not already know about remote life as I grew up in that type of environment. I don't wish to paint the lady as bleeding liberal who gives up in the end but the book has a heart of darkness vibe. Nice personal life touches added that show her as a modern woman although I think the sometimes odd writing of the sexual encounters could have been better written. And I really felt it was still condescending to the locals but at least she bothered to go there and write a book about which is more than most Aussies including myself could be bothered doing.

Overall has a slight depressing tone and meanders from event to event and introduces new people often without any background but this makes it fairly real in my opinion without dwelling to much on the bleakness of the experience in one of Australia's most disadvantaged areas.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very readable and interesting. I could relate to some of what the author said, but having never lived in such a remote community, I was intrigued by her descriptions of living and working there. I didn't feel as though I gained any deep insight into indigenous culture, and the author asks many of the same questions that teachers all over the Top End are asking, without having answers, but that made it all the more realistic. I noticed that some other reviewers found the author to be too negative, and to complain too much, but I think she did a pretty good job, staying for two years. I'm not sure I would last as long.

[Jessie Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

A really really enjoyable read. A friend living in Weipa lent it to me to read and it's an evocative, heartfelt book that does a good job of treading the line of elucidation and record keeping. I visited Lockhart River and Aurukun in 2007 (the best! definitely go!) and can say that this book does a good job of trying to capture a sliver of what life is like there. If you don't know anything about why education in remote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities is so hard this book would help.

[Lesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book would be really interesting and offer a rare glimpse into a community I know little about. But, I got fed up with the author's constant moan-fest. '!'m so tired. It's so hot. Everything's so hard.' it was a relief to finish the book. There's a perception in mainstream Australian society that all Aboriginal communities are dysfunctional and hopeless and I hoped this book would dispel some of that. It didn't. The author focused too much on the negatives.

[Scott Lines · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, some insight into what it's like to teach and live in an isolated community.

[Mary Mckennalong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and I thought the author was brave with what she revealed of herself. It was honest and raw. The book didn't give me any insight into the issues in remote Aboriginal communities which is what I wanted so it was misrepresented by the publisher and the blurb. However it was an honest account of a teacher's whole experience in the community. Probably could have done with less of the detail around her romances because she did sound whiney with regard to that and also a bit deluded as to what she expected to do, find or achieve professionally but I guess that's a true reflection of teachers' experiences. Enjoyed it but will search for a book to meet the interest I originally had because this was not it.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend anyone who sees Samson and Delilah might read this. An inspiring memoir of one teacher's efforts to try and make a difference to the lives of the kids in the community of Arakun, and also some lovely stories of her loves, her friendships with aboriginal community teachers,her dog and her sister who came to live with her.
The observations she makes about the education system will hopefully be read by the relevant governments.

[Jessie Persse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I loved this book so much because I could have written it. I think you have to have kind of experienced something similar to this to get the most out of the book... but a good read nonetheless.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of that was scarily familiar...and I didn't even live there!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully honest.