Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies

"Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies" by K. Langloh Parker is a collection of Aboriginal folktales compiled in the late 19th century. This anthology gathers various legends from the Noongahburrahs, an Aboriginal tribe from Australia, offering insights into their culture, nature, and beliefs through storytelling. The tales feature a variety of characters including animals and humans, exploring themes like wisdom, cunning, and the natural world. The opening of the work introduces the author’s dedication to Peter Hippi, the king of the Noongahburrahs, and sets the context for the collection's significance as an attempt to preserve the legends of a culture that is rapidly diminishing. In her preface, K. Langloh Parker explains her motivation for gathering these myths, highlighting both the delight these stories can bring to children and the importance of keeping Aboriginal folklore alive. The introduction suggests that the stories feature a mix of whimsical and mythical elements, showcasing various characters like emus and lizards engaged in moral lessons and explaining the origins of natural phenomena. The collection appears to be not just an entertaining read but a crucial historical document preserving the voice of the Noongahburrah tribe. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Catherine Eliza Somerville Stow, who wrote as K. Langloh Parker, was a South Australian born writer who lived in northern New South Wales in the late nineteenth century. She is best known for recording the stories of the Ualarai around her. Her testimony is one of the best accounts of the beliefs and stories of an Aboriginal people in north-west New South Wales at that time. However, her accounts reflect European attitudes of the time.