Animals on Country

VICTOR STEFFENSEN is an Indigenous writer, filmmaker, musician and consultant, applying traditional knowledge values in a contemporary context through workshops and artistic projects. He is a descendant of the Tagalaka people through his mother’s connections from the Gulf Country of north Queensland. Much of Victor’s work over the past 29 years has been based on the arts and reviving traditional knowledge values - particularly traditional burning - through mentoring, leadership, and on-ground training with Aboriginal communities and many non-Indigenous Australians. He is the co-founder of Firesticks, and has connected with First Nations communities in California, Canada, and the Sámi people of Scandinavia, sharing cultural knowledge practices related to caring for Country. This is Victor’s third children’s book following Looking After Country with Fire and The Trees.

SANDRA STEFFENSEN grew up in the small, tropical rainforest village of Kuranda. After living Sydney for 15 years, Sandra moved back to Far North Queensland, lured by her childhood memories and connections to the local landscape. Sandra’s maternal grandmother is from the Tagalaka people from the Gulf Country of north Queensland. She teaches Visual Arts specialising in the practice of ceramics. Sandra uses the sgraffito technique to adorn her functional pieces with intricate illustrations of local landscapes and the wildlife inhabiting them to remind us of the beauty and the role they play in this world. This is Sandra’s third children’s book with her brother Victor following Looking After Country with Fire and The Trees.