The Black Words subset aims to be as inclusive as possible in order to represent a wide variety of cultural and creative fields and genres in which Indigenous writers and storytellers in Australia are working.

Authors and organisations

At a minimum, Black Words will include biographical information (where known) about Australian writers identifying with particular Indigenous heritages and descriptive information about their works. AustLit never records heritage unless authors have claimed these heritages themselves publicly. Please note that the heritage terms in this subset are used with permission and conform as far as possible to those used by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies thesaurus. Spellings are fluid and may change over time.

I don't use the terms 'tribe', 'tribes' or 'tribal'. They are archaic and very colonial. Those days are over and the sooner people realise that the better it will be for the Indigenous people in Australia. When one says 'tribe', 'tribes' and 'tribal', I believe it is derogatory because Aboriginal people no longer live under colonial or post-colonial rule. There is no place for these terms in the 21st century. There are other alternatives people can use, like group, people or where a person originally comes from, like Nyoongar, Wongki or Yamitji, or Koori, as many Aboriginal people from the eastern states are known. These terms don't categorise Aboriginal people from the 19th and 20th centuries and are more identity-friendly to the Indigenous people.
Dr Rosemary van den Berg, author of No Options No Choice! The Moore River Experience

Works

Black Words includes descriptive records on both published and (where possible) unpublished writing in the forms of drama, poetry, fiction, life writing and critical literature. Information on screenplays and films relating to Indigenous writers and storytellers are also included as appropriate. Library holdings of published works and, when available, details of manuscripts or literary papers, are provided through links to the National Library of Australia's national bibliographical database Libraries Australia and the Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts (RAAM).

Black Words will also include, as appropriate, records and information about stories from oral traditions that are not published in the formal sense of the word but are a part of Indigenous storytelling cultures.

Contributors

Records about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers are created by all AustLit contributors and research assistants. During 2007 most records relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers will be reviewed by one or more of the Indigenous researchers working on the Black Words subset redevelopment project.

Sources

Information included in the Black Words subset is sourced from Indigenous writers and storytellers and from communities nationally via research assistants working in country. Biographical and bibliographical details are gathered from published and unpublished works accessed from the full range of AustLit information sources and through normal indexing practices. AustLit describes and indexes all contemporary publications as soon as possible after they appear, regularly scanning newspapers and journals for information about new Australian works and writers. The Black Words team uses the full range of source material available to AustLit, including Libraries Australia, and a number of specialist works, including:

• Anita Heiss's, Dhuuluu Yala (Talk Straight): Publishing Indigenous Literature
• Penny van Toorn's, Writing Never Arrives Naked: Early Aboriginal Cultures of Writing in Australia
• Mudrooroo's Writing from the Fringe: A Study of Modern Aboriginal Literature
• Adam Shoemaker's Black Words, White Page: Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988
• Paperbark: A Collection of Black Australian Writings, edited by Jack Davis, Mudrooroo, Stephen Muecke, and Adam Shoemaker
• Indigenous Australian Voices: A Reader, edited by Jennifer Sabbioni, Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith.

For the purposes of Black Words, 'Black' means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers. 'Black' has historically been used negatively against the Indigenous peoples of Australia, but in recent times it has been reclaimed by Indigenous communities and opted for rather than the colonisers' terminology, that is, Aboriginal and Indigenous.

For the purpose of Black Words, Indigenous literature is material created by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers.

Works of general study relating to Indigenous matters and produced by non-Indigenous writers, academics, anthropologists and historians are included selectively in AustLit. These works are not included in the Black Words subset. Relevant material in this field can be found by searching AustLit, using the subject terms 'Aboriginal' or 'Torres Strait Islander' and the form types criticism, review, non-fiction, etc. Works written by non-Indigenous writers about Indigenous writers or subjects, e.g. biographies or reviews of published works, are also linked by subject to the AustLit author records or work records.

Indigenous storytellers are often keepers of ancient and contemporary stories. They weave their stories in eloquent ways. When the storytellers speak, their words will inextricably tie Indigenous peoples to their land and to their mob.

Storytelling continues to play an important role in maintaining and passing on knowledge, values and historical information in Indigenous communities. As a form of cultural transmission, it remains an important tool for educating young community members about their roles and responsibilities.

Black Words creates records for recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers whether or not they have published works. As a work in progress, Black Words is constantly seeking information on storytellers to include. Feel free to contact us with information about storytellers working in your community. Use the feedback form or email us at: info-austlit@austlit.edu.au

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are the traditional keepers of their oral history, we are the custodians presiding over Indigenous Australian literature, each time we translate black words onto white paper we are reclaiming an integral piece of our heritage, culture and language. We canvass an essential and significant position on the vast Australian literary landscape, infusing contemporary and ancestral values through all genres including but not restricted to: Fiction, Non-fiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry, Academic, Short stories.
Yvette Holt, poet

To show all the Storytellers currently listed in Black Words, click here.