The book Minah is a retelling of Percy Mumbulla’s well-known poem ‘Uncle Abraham whose Blackfeller’s Name was Minah’. 

Originally told to Ronald Robinson, who was a great admirer of Percy’s stories, this traditional poem is told in four gentle parts.  Minah  is the story of a young boy learning to let go of a special person in his life, Uncle Abraham.  This old man was a source of inspiration for this young boy.  He taught him many things during his life of the traditional way of their people.  Not everyone has someone to look up to and learn from in his or her life.  For this little boy, Uncle Abraham is that special person.  This heart-warming poem shows how the passing down of knowledge can help keep memories and culture alive.

The poem is told through the voice of a young Aboriginal boy as he reflects on the time he had with his Uncle Abraham, Minah.  He reminisces on the good times they shared and all the things he taught him, like fishing with spears for example.  This picture book contains many layers saturated with postcolonial desires and themes.  It is more than a young boy remembering the sacred times he had with his Uncle Minah and all they shared together.  It is about being trapped between two different cultures with different ideas and influences.  It illustrates how ones identify can become blurred and deciding what is the acceptable choice can be complex and not always defined as black or white.  The reader can clearly see that the little boy telling the story is torn between the European authority that now controls his fading Aboriginal heritage, which he can only be reminded of its strength through remembering his great Uncle Minah.

Throughout the poem the reader is also torn between two cultures like the young boy. We can see the European influences that now have become dominant in his Aboriginal heritage.  The major influence in the picture book is where the boy, his Uncle and the rest of his family go to Bermagui to play a game of cricket.  A game that is very popular in Australia but originates from England and is often considered a ‘gentleman’s’ game.  A sport associated with class, pride and etiquette and a result of Australia’s forming identity based on European colonisation. This could be a symbol of the superior educating the uncivilised, which is highly connected to colonial and postcolonial themes.  If analysed deep enough, a reader may interpret the cricket game as a metaphor for European influences slowly killing the Aboriginal culture.

The boy telling the story clearly informs the reader that it is after the game back at Wallaga Lake that Uncle Abraham gets sick.  One could argue that this is a subtle hint from Percy Mumbulla that the differences between European and Aboriginal people are too great.  European authority and power are slowly weeding out the Aboriginal heritage and culture by forcing the minority to conform to a lifestyle that is, in the long term, too great a difference to survive.  Uncle Abraham, perhaps could not deal with his life and culture being dictated to and decided to leave with what he knew best, trying fort, to educate the young boy about his people before he could not remember.

Another unusual European influence the reader is able to see in cultures is Uncle Minah’s encounter with the ‘Muleemah’ on his way to the cricket game.  The notion of a man dressed in woman’s clothes is a modern one associated with sexual themes of the late 20thand early 21st century rather than a traditional cultural marker.  Aboriginal heritage and culture often do believe in a bad sprit that will come and get you, (as illustrated in Meme McDonald and Boori Prior’s My Girragundji or Dianna Kidd’s The Fat and the Juicy Place for example) but in this story, the Muleemah does not appear to fit traditional Aboriginal beliefs of the Hairyman.  In part four the ‘Doonats’ appear to be more of the spirits found in traditional Aboriginal culture.  Not much is said about the encounter with the Muleemah, except that the man was dressed in woman’s clothes.  The idea of clothes in itself, is a European influence, demonstrating to the reader another of the many influences brought to Aboriginal Australia from colonisation ideas and themes.

Besides these two obvious influences in the story there are also other literary elements that show the reader both cultures merging together, creating a blurred identify for the young boy telling the story.  Such elements include traditional Aboriginal language, like the names of places and people, combined with the interpretation of the English language. Even the recreational actions, like fishing, are done two ways.  The young boy is forced to choose between the traditional fishing methods taught to him by his uncle Minah or by using the modern European concept of fishing line.  This subtle option clearly demonstrates to the reader how the young boy is torn between two cultures. He must choose between his traditional culture or conform to the colonised way of life.

The beautiful illustrations add to the layered meaning of this picture book.  When analysed European elements are evident, but also traditional Aboriginal markers.  The colours are bright and cover the entire page. The writing of the story is displayed in a typical European layout, being framed with a title and placed on white background over the vibrant illustrations.  Common Aboriginal elements in the illustrations can be found with Bancroft’s interpretation of traditional artwork.  She uses the manipulation of dots and lines in the illustrations to give an Aboriginal feel to the pictures.  The way the people are drawn lack detail and at times appear like ghosts with little definition. This in itself could be interpreted as the way Aboriginal people are perceived by the higher, more powerful ideas in post colonialism.  That they are only part of the background therefore does not need to be emphasised or have great detail placed upon them.

Minah is a gently picture book from the first glance.  It looks at a young boys yearning to understand and remember his traditional culture through his Uncle Minah.  Under the layers however, the reader is exposed to deeper ideas of power, alienation and conformity.  It is a subtle reminder of how European colonisation has slowly clouded the minds of the young Aboriginal generation and is slowly killing their culture and heritage.

Review by Becky Morton

© 2005 Becky Morton

This piece was originally submitted as part of the course work in Post-colonial Literature for Children.