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Pa la nganduw kedew – I am Dingo Clan

Pa la nganduw kedew – I am Dingo Clan

October 27, 2025

Pa la nganduw kedew, nganduw acknowledge thangk, ancestors who lived for warrék, hundreds of thousands of years evolving under the starlight of the patháliy ngamáyvrr with their place, their walngk, feelings, their story, pínganvm, their lore/law, called bora, yirral. Nganduw acknowledge thangk, ancestors who are buried on country at Pinnarinch, Inkerman Station in Cape York.

Pa la nganduw kedew, ma wanjibung pukun of the white dingo clan of the Kokoberrin People, a knowledge holder and fourth-generation maker of Kokoberrin cultural objects.

Shaun is a multifaceted Kokoberrin artist, creator, philosopher, and emerging Elder undertaking doctoral research at the University of Queensland Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. He has a background in public health and visual anthropology, experiences that shape his capacity to work at the intersection of culture, knowledge, and health.

Through this residency, Shaun’s residency project, Pa la Nganduw Kedew – I am Dingo Clan will transform this traditional story into a bilingual Kokoberrin–English storybook, brought to life with original illustrations inspired by Kokoberrin symbols, landscapes, and design. The project combines language documentation, community collaboration, and artistic storytelling to ensure the white dingo story, and the cultural knowledge it carries, is passed on to future generations. Storytelling sessions and workshops will accompany the storybook’s development, strengthen intergenerational language learning and celebrating Kokoberrin culture.

Shaun Edwards recipient of Indigenous languages creative arts residency 2025. Leif Ekstrom, photographer, State Library of Queensland.

Shaun Edwards recipient of Indigenous languages creative arts residency 2025. Leif Ekstrom, photographer, State Library of Queensland.

Reflecting on the project, Shaun shares:

“Kokoberrin, like many Aboriginal languages, holds within it an entire worldview: a way of understanding Country, kinship, law, spirit, and self. It is not just a mode of communication, but a vessel of philosophy, ecological knowledge, and cultural practice developed over thousands of years on Earths, western Cape York Peninsula.

I am ageing. If I don’t act now to record, revitalise, and reawaken these teachings, we risk losing irreplaceable knowledge forever. At the same time, Kokoberrin youth are seeking reconnection to story, identity, and place. Investing now creates a bridge between generations and ensures that language and culture are not only preserved but lived.”