A bilingual children’s book by Tiwi author Mavis Kerinaiua is shining a light on the role of Tiwi people in defending northern Australia during World War 2.
Tiwi war kwampini: Mwarlapwara kangi tingati (Tiwi War Hero: Footprints in the Sand), published by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, tells the story of Louie Purraputimali Munkara, Ms Kerinaiua’s grandfather, who played a central role in protecting Northern Australia during the war.
Written, translated and illustrated by Ms Kerinaiua with support from historian Dr Laura Rademaker of the Australian National University, the book is presented in both Tiwi and English. It documents the bombing of Nguiu Mission and Darwin, coastal shipwrecks and the active defence of Country by Tiwi communities.
Ms Kerinaiua said the book was about “bravery, courage and how we worked together to look after Country”. The story had long been preserved within Tiwi oral history. Publishing it was an act of truth-telling and healing.
Dr Rademaker said it had been an honour to support Ms Kerinaiua and that the work was about “using history for healing”, from the level of individual healing through to healing of the nation.
The book sheds light on the role of Tiwi people, including those known as Black Diggers, in patrolling and protecting Australia’s northern coastline during the war. The bombing of Darwin began on 19 February 1942. The Tiwi Islands were among the first parts of the country to come under Japanese attack.
The project was supported through Dr Rademaker’s Australian Research Council project Beyond Reconciliation: Truth-Telling for Indigenous Wellbeing, run through ANU. Ms Kerinaiua is creator of the Turtuni Framework for culturally responsive research and has worked as a researcher for ANU and Flinders University. She has also worked in cultural liaison for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and in education on Bathurst Island.
The book is aimed at children aged seven and over and features illustrations by Ms Kerinaiua based on her family’s connection to Country. A statue at the Old Church precinct on Bathurst Island, dedicated to Matthias Ullungura and Tiwi Islanders for their wartime contribution, sits at the heart of the family’s remembrance.
The book closes with a Tiwi proverb about ancestors leaving footprints for descendants to follow. The story has been preserved as oral history for 83 years. Ms Kerinaiua’s grandfather Louie Purraputimali Munkara died in 1963.
The book has been profiled in the latest edition of the Koori Mail published on Wednesday, 6 May 2026.
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