Narelle McRobbie, the youngest of nine children of Elizabeth and Kenneth Stewart, was brought up on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. The Magabala Books website reports that: ' Her maternal grandmother, Lucy Gordon, was a full blood Aborigine from the Atherton Tablelands who met Samwell Lifu (Lucy's future husband) when he came from New Caledonia with six brothers to work in the cane and corn fields around Queensland. Narelle's paternal grandparents, Jack and Nelly Stewart, were full blood Aborigines of the Yidinji tribe. They lived around Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine but their tribal boundaries stretched from the Tablelands, along the Mulgrave River, down to Babinda and up along the coast to Cairns.'
McRobbie's father died when she was a young child so she learnt the basics of the Yidinji language from her mother and other family members. At eight years of age, she was fostered out to an American couple who lived on the Atherton Tableland. Writing was McRobbie's biggest fascination as a child; she was encouraged to write letters to penfriends and family. McRobbie continued to live on the Atherton Tableland with her three children.
