The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
'Not long ago, Archie Roach thought his career, and perhaps his life, had come to an end. He talks to Iain Shedden about those dark days and his inspirational comeback' (p.4)
'Five years ago, with his native title claim on 20,000sq km of central Queensland perched on a legal knife edge, Col McLennan presented Federal Court judge Steven Rares with a copy of celebrated novelist Alex Miller's 2003 Miles Franklin Award-winning novel, Journey to the Stone Country.
"Read it," encouraged Mr McLennan, the 60-year-old patriarch to 3000 Jangga people from the bendy scrub and sacred stone country an hour west of Mackay.
The book was the literary equivalent of a native title connection report, with a lead character, the enigmatic and unforgettable Bo Rennie, drawn entirely from Mr McLennan's life and deep love of country. And it proved to be a deciding factor in the realisation of a 20-year native title dream beset by bureaucracy, clan differences and endless negotiations.' Trent Dalton.
