About Collaboration on the Honey Ant Readers

Trudy Inkamala is a nana, mother, elder, traditional land owner and life member of Yipirinya school council. Trudy worked with Margaret James to tell some of her Central Australian people’s traditional stories. Trudy wished to pass the stories on and to have them used to help Indigenous children to learn to read.

Jennifer Inkamala is a senior language teacher at Yipirinya School, as well as being an accomplished artist, an elder, a traditional landowner and a nana and mother. She advises the author on cultural matters and proofs the illustrations before they go to print. She worked with her students to translate the Honey Ant Readers (HAR) into Western Arrernte and Luritja, two Central Australian languages.

Maria Stewart is an assistant teacher at Yipirinya School, a mother of 3 boys and also foster carer for her nephew. She speaks her Grandmother’s language which is spoken around the APY Lands (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankuntjatjara Lands). Maria grew up in Oodnadatta, SA (her Grandfather’s country). She translated the Honey Ant Readers (HAR) into Pitjantjara and Yankuntkatjara , two Central Australian languages.

Mervyn Rubuntja, a well known Arrernte artist and elder, painted the illustration for the ‘Caterpillar Dreaming’ story in HAR 17, School for Big Sister. He is a keeper of the story. He is very supportive of the HAR, telling his dreamtime story to the author so that it could be included and used to help Aboriginal students to feel good about their culture, and to remember their stories. He has read all the HAR.

Benedict Stevens, elder and chairman of Yipirinya council supports the HAR in every way he can as he feels they offer Indigenous students relevant reading material that they did not have before. This, he feels, will encourage them to start reading and to keep reading.

Marjorie Williams, an elder, early childhood and language teacher, reads the HAR to her very young students. She gave a beautiful painting of nana digging for honey ants and other bush tucker to the author to show her gratitude for the help she is giving Indigenous children in encouraging them to read their own stories, in their own language. The painting is on the cover of the HAR Teacher’s Handbook.

Jungala Kriss was born at Narwietooma Station, NT (Warlpiri Country). He spent his earliest years in the bush and then

attended school in Melbourne. Jungala is the elected Warlpiri representative on Yipirinya School Council and Vice-President of the Committee.  He is also a well known artist and has his own very successful tourism business.

Malcolm Heffernan is a senior Anmatyerre/Arrernte man who serves as a member of Yipirinya School council. He is a language interpreter and Aboriginal liaison officer with the Alice Springs Hospital and Territory Health Services. Malcolm previously worked as an Aboriginal Health Worker.

Alison Furber, mother, nana and Cental Arrernte language teacher, collaborated with the author by telling her many stories about daily living, about traditonal Aboriginal life, and by teaching her all about hunting for bush tucker so that she could include these stories in the HAR.

Matthew Palmer, Central Arrernte elder and council member, told his dreamtime story to the author for it to be included in HAR 17.  He has children who like to read  and sing, who are enjoying reading the HAR.

Amelia Turner, Central Arrernte elder and executive member of the Yipirinya School Council, says: “We like the Honey Ant Readers because they are books our kids can understand. They talk about the way we live, how things are. Kids can read the stories and see them as well. The illustrations are really good and the pictures are clear. It will be good later on to translate them into our languages, just the way they are, same stories and drawings.”

Jennifer Inkamala

Mervyn Rubuntja

Alison Furber

We’d like to thank all our supporters for their generous donations to the Honey Ant project over the years. Their contributions have allowed the Honey Ant Readers to grow from a school-based project to an Australia-wide resource that schools, communities and families around the country can use to learn to read, to promote Indigenous languages and improve education outcomes.
Thank you.
St Marks Anglican School
Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School
Christ Church Grammar
Cannon Hill Anglican College
St Johns Grammar
St Patrick’s College
St Clare’s College
Dianna Exon
Adrian Fini
Andrew McMill
Fugro Survey
Mnt Keira School
JG & EC Oliver
Friends of StJohn’s
Oakwood Services
John Barrington
David Rose
D McKeown
Nora Lewis