Songman: The Story of an Aboriginal Elder of Uluru

This book is part autobiography, part explanation of Aboriginal belief, part history of the Indigenous struggle in Australia. Taken from his family at the age of seven, Bob Randall spent time in an Alice Springs institution for children, Croker Island mission and Sydney, thousands of kilometres from home. After the war he married, moved to Darwin and began the long process of finding his family again and establishing a career as an Aboriginal educator. His song 'My brown skin baby they take him away' is a major rallying cry for the Stolen Generation. With great lucidity and simplicity, Randall explains the Aboriginal principles of belief, linking Aboriginal spirituality with other world religions such as Buddhism. Long practice in speaking and teaching has given him the capacity to speak in a non-confrontational manner about painful aspects of Australia's history, and to suggest directions for the future. --- Includes colour photos, glossary of Aboriginal words in the text, references and notes, and list of abbreviations.