John Bradley John Bradley i(A122119 works by) (a.k.a. John James Bradley)
Born: Established: 1959 ;
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 Ripples of Impact : Two New Books on the Tiwi Islands John Bradley , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 458 2023; (p. 35-36)

— Review of Tiwi Story : Turning History Downside Up 2023 anthology essay ; The Old Songs Are Always New : Singing Traditions of the Tiwi Islands Genevieve Campbell , 2023 multi chapter work criticism lyric/song

'Just to north of Darwin is the country of the Tiwi people, spread over Bathurst and Melville Islands. These two new books give voice to Tiwi oral traditions and to the power and resonance within that tradition of orality that encompasses song, narrative, and the ways in which they sustain family and relationships to ancestors and to kin.' (Introduction)

1 y separately published work icon Jakarda Wuka (Too Many Stories) Liam M. Brady , John Bradley , Amanda Kearney , Yanyuwa Elders , Sydney : Sydney University Press , 2023 26415884 2023 single work prose Indigenous story

'…ngabaya painted all this, you know when we were kids we would come here and look and sometimes the paintings would change, they were always changing.” Annie a-Karrakayny

'Fully illustrated, Jakarda Wuka (Too Many Stories) draws on a combined 70+ years of collaborative research involving Yanyuwa Elders, anthropologists, and an archaeologist to tell a unique story about the rock art from Yanyuwa Country in northern Australia’s southwest Gulf of Carpentaria.  

'Australia’s rock art is recognised globally for its antiquity, abundance, distinctive motifs and the deep and abiding knowledge Indigenous people continue to hold for these powerful symbols. However, books about Australian rock art jointly written by Indigenous communities, anthropologists, and archaeologists are extremely rare.

'Combining Yanyuwa and western knowledge, the authors embark on a journey to reveal the true meaning of Yanyuwa rock art. At the heart of this book is the understanding that a painting is not just a painting, nor is it an isolated phenomenon or a static representation. What underpins Yanyuwa perceptions of their rock art is kinship, because people are kin to everything and everywhere on Country.

'Jakarda Wuka highlights the multidimensional nature of Yanyuwa rock art: it is an active social agent in the landscape, capable of changing according to different circumstances and events, connected to the epic travels and songs of Ancestral Beings (Dreamings), and related to various aspects of Yanyuwa life such as ceremony, health and wellbeing, identity, and narratives concerning past and present-day events.

'In a time where Indigenous communities, archaeologists, and anthropologists are seeking new ways to work together and better engage with Indigenous knowledges to interpret the “archaeological record”, Jakarda Wuka delivers a masterful and profound narrative of Yanyuwa Country and its rock art.' (Publication summary)

1 The Singer i "our mother sits opposite me fearful and frail", John Bradley , 2018 single work poetry
— Appears in: Empathy : Poems from the 2018 ACU Prize for Poetry 2018; (p. 7-8)
1 1 Can My Country Hear English? : Reflections on the Relationship of Language to Country John Bradley , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: PAN , no. 13 2018;

'In July 2015 I sat with a senior Yanyuwa woman named Dinah Norman a-Marrngawi, who has been my teacher of Yanyuwa language and of Yanyuwa ways of knowing the land and sea she calls home, and of her family both human and non-human, for the last 35 years. On this particular day we were proofing a very long text for inclusion into the soon to be published encyclopedia of her language. We were resting, and in the silence she asked in Yanyuwa "Can my country hear English?" To which I responded, "What do you think?" Dinah sat for a while and then quietly said, "I do not think it does, it can only hear Yanyuwa". She left the conversation there and yet it stayed with me, there was in this conversation a deeper understanding of an existential crisis for Dinah. At 85 she is the oldest speaker of her language; there are two other women speakers, who are 76 and 65.'  (Introduction)

1 y separately published work icon What's That There? Ros Moriarty , Balarinji (illustrator), John Bradley (translator), Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2018 12914966 2018 single work picture book children's

'A lyrical story for the very young about birds featuring Indigenous artwork by Balarinji and aerial views of Australia's distinctive landscape.

'What's that there? That's the rushing river's curly bend, cried the sea eagle perched on a knotted branch, swaying. There, look! What's that there? That's the cliff face sharp with sun-scorched stones, glinting, shrilled the hawk, gliding on summer winds. There, look!

'An exhilarating celebration of the Australian landscape as seen from the sky featuring vibrant illustrations by Balarinji, Australia's leading Indigenous design studio.' (Publication Summary)

1 Spin i "After sixty years,", John Bradley , 2015 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Mozzie , December vol. 23 no. 10 2015;
1 Strange Weather John Bradley , 2015 single work essay
— Appears in: The Best Australian Essays 2015 2015;
1 "We Sing Our Law, Is That Still TEK?" : Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Can the West Come to Know? John Bradley , Stephen Johnson , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: PAN , no. 11 2014-2015; (p. 19-26)

'Throughout history, anthropologists have confronted a number of uncomfortable truths around the supposed nature of reality. The anthropological maxim, "through the study of others we learn more about ourselves" has been sorely tested en route. Arguably, this challenge reached culmination during the 1970s and 80s, with several prominent social commentators from Geertz to Clifford suggesting that anthropologists had, in both past and present, been much more concerned with the study of 'others' than of 'ourselves' (Nader 1964:289). In essence, this reflexive critique suggested that ethnographers were in the business of writing fiction and more insidiously came to the field equipped with a set of assumptions and presuppositions about the world in all its variety. These universal verities functioned to reduce all subjects of study into conformity with the observer's sense of what was real and of import and what was not and inconsequential.' (Publication summary)

1 A Year of Reading Kerry Greenwood , Chris Wallace-Crabbe , Emily Maguire , Robert Adamson , Brenda Niall , A. P. Riemer , Helen Garner , Peter Carey , Lisa Gorton , John Bradley , Clare Wright , Alexis Wright , Geraldine Brooks , Hannah Kent , Dennis Altman , Andrea Goldsmith , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14-15 December 2013; (p. 28-28) The Age , 14 December 2013; (p. 22)
'Australian authors and critics sift through the piles of books they read in 2013 to highlight the treasures they found.'
1 form Wundanyuka kulu Jujuju (The Sea Turtle and the Osprey) Wurdaliya Clan of the Yanyuwa & Marra People , John Bradley , Brent D. McKee , 2011 single work film/TV dreaming story
— Appears in: Country Lines Archives 2008-;
The Osprey lands at Rrawali and leaves for Mindarra on West Island, where he encounters the Sea Turtle Dreaming. He chases the Sea Turtles from island to island, killing many of them along the way. His pursuit of the Sea Turtles sculpts the form of the landscapes from West Island to Watson Island to the tip of the North Island.
1 Language and Politics in Indigenous Writing Arnold Zable , John Bradley , Kim Scott , Marie Munkara , 2011 sequence essay
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 205 2011; (p. 55-60)
1 John Bradley John Bradley , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 205 2011; (p. 56-57)
1 form Narnu-Yuwa ki Anthaa (The Dreamings from the Saltwater Country) John Bradley , Yanyuwa members of the Manankurra Rhumburriya clan , 2010 single work film/TV dreaming story
— Appears in: Country Lines Archives 2008-;

This story is the second part of the Tiger Shark Dreaming song line of kujika. Out on the open sea from the Wearyan River mouth, the Tiger Shark sing dolphins, dugongs, whales and other creatures that live in Yanyuwa country.

1 15 y separately published work icon Singing Saltwater Country : Journey to the Songlines of Carpentaria John Bradley , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2010 Z1714613 2010 single work autobiography

This is 'John Bradley's compelling account of three decades living with the Yanyuwa people of the Gulf of Carpentaria and of how the elders revealed to him the ancient songlines of their Dreaming.


At twenty John Bradley was sent to teach Aboriginal children in a school at remote Borroloola, on the Gulf of Carpentaria in far north Australia. But it is the teacher who is educated by the Yanyuwa elders and their families. Over three decades he learns their language and their country, becoming intimately drawn into other ways of being, both practical and spiritual. With passion and pride they teach him their songlines, relating what they know and value - ancestors, kin, allegiances; places, plants, animals; seasons, ceremonies, stories - and the spirit that sustains all.


As we follow John Bradley on his journey, we begin to see that the songlines are keys to the authority and continuity held by Aboriginal Law. We begin to understand why, when country can no longer be sung, the Yanyuwa feel it so deeply. And what such loss means to us all' (publisher website, sighted 7/08/2010).

1 form Ngabaya (Spirit People) Wurdaliya Clan of the Yanyuwa & Marra People , John Bradley , 2009 single work film/TV dreaming story
— Appears in: Country Lines Archives 2008-;

The Spirit People have travelled a long way and they are exhausted. They blame their weariness onto their leader, an old Spirit Man. They growl and swear at him and eventually he grows weary of their complaints and he destroys then in a most unexpected fashion.

1 form Malrrkarrka kula a-Wangka (The Chicken Hawk and the Crow) Mambaliya clan , John Bradley , Wuyaliya clan , 2009 single work film/TV dreaming story
— Appears in: Country Lines Archives 2008-;

The Crow and Chicken Hawk Dreamings argue and fight over who should possess the fire and the water.

1 Not to Generalise : The 'Sacred' in Yanyuwa Country John Bradley , 2009 single work essay
— Appears in: Sacred Australia : Post-Secular Considerations 2009; (p. 65-84)
1 What's in a Name? Placenames and Emotional Geographies John Bradley , Amanda Kearney , 2009 single work non-fiction
— Appears in: Aboriginal Placenames : Naming and Re-Naming the Australian Landscape 2009; (p. 463-480)
1 form a-Kuridi (The Groper) Yanyuwa Wuyaliya Clan , 2012 single work film/TV dreaming story
— Appears in: Country Lines Archives 2008-;

'This animation is told in the form of classic Yanyuwa Dreaming narration. The animation details the journey of the Groper (a-Kuridi) around South West Island. It describes the various other Ancestral Dreaming beings that she meets and her responses to them as well as showing acts of creation that are still highly significant today. The animation details the significance of place names, kinship and the role of song lines in story telling and their relationship to country. This animation is an outside, public, telling of a story that is very important to the Yanyuwa Wuyaliya clan.'

Source: Monash Country Lines Archive.

1 form Wangilatha Wangu nga Kiyawatha (Singing Songs and Telling Stories) Brendan Kennedy , 2017 single work film/TV dreaming story
— Appears in: Country Lines Archives 2008-;

Wangilatha Wangu nga Kiyawatha (Singing Songs and Telling Stories) is based on a book of  songs and stories written and illustrated by Brendan Kennedy in Tati Tati, Mutti Mutti, Latji Latji and Wadi Wadi languages of North Western Victoria around Robinvale, 2014.

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