Keeping the campfires burning

Benang-benang mininy noonook djinang yira kedalak worl-ak wer djinang djinda baalap djinang mokiny kaalak-kaal.

Sometimes when you look up into the night sky and see the stars, they look like campfires.

Alidja kaalak-kaal baalap ngalang nedingar-ak.

These are the campfires of our ancestors.

Koram ngalak bandak marlak-ngat kaalakiny, ngalak djinang kaalak-kaal warma moort-ak miyart-ak.

When we are out in the bush camping, we can see the campfires of other families in the darkness.

Mininy ngalak djinang aliny kaalak-kaal, ngalak barang ngabala-ngoonda wer moorditj djin ngalak kaadatj ali mokiny djinda, noonook bandang dandjoo.

When we see these campfires we feel safe and good, because we know that just like the stars, we are all together.

- From the Djinda Midariny story told by Kerry-Ann Winmar and illustrated by Karen Winmar in the book Moodjar Yok (The Christmas Tree Woman) and Djinda Midariny (Star Dancer) published in 2009 by Batchelor Press.