Where is the Dark Emu? A New Children’s Book Aims to Revive a Sleeping Language
Townsville, Australia — Braithen Knox, a 24-year-old member of the Gudjala people, has written a children’s book titled Where is the Dark Emu? in the Gudjal language—a tongue now spoken by fewer than ten fluent speakers.
“The trauma has affected the ability of older generations to pass on the language.”
A Personal Project, Not a Publication
The book is not intended for commercial release. Instead, it was created exclusively for Knox’s family—specifically for his two young sons. His goal is to help them learn Gudjal from an early age, reversing a cycle of language loss that began with his grandparents.
Knox’s grandparents were members of the Stolen Generations, and were actively discouraged from speaking their native language. This historical trauma, Knox explains, has made it difficult for older generations to pass on Gudjal.
The Story of the Book
The narrative follows a search for the Dark Emu. Along the way, readers meet other emus with distinct personalities: the Happy Emu, the Angry Emu, and the Big Emu. The emu, known as gundulu in Gudjal, holds special significance as a totem for the Charters Towers region.
Building on Scholarly Work
To write the book, Knox relied on the Yaru! Gudjal Dictionary, compiled by Uncle William Santo. Santo spent more than three years creating the dictionary, working alongside linguists Alex Anderson, Cassy Nancarrow, and University of Sydney associate professor Myfanny Turpin. The dictionary was built by recording six existing speakers of the language to produce accurate translations.
A Broader Revival
Before colonisation, Australia had over 250 Indigenous languages. By 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded just over 150 still spoken.
Santo hopes to see young people speaking Gudjal and creating a second edition of the dictionary.
For his part, Knox plans to write more stories in Gudjal for his sons, continuing his quiet, family-driven mission to keep the language alive.