Authenticity and authority: Country as co-author

itha murra¹

The word “author” arose in Middle English to describe “a person who invents or causes something.” The term derives from Old French and is related to the words “authentic” and “authority.” This article is co-authored by three people. We all equally shared the role of “inventing” or “causing” it: it is equally the result of the contributions of all three of us – drawn out orally, textually and through the medium of drawing, over time. Co-authoring is not merely writing.

First Nations people talk about Country in the same way they would talk about a person: they speak to Country, sing to Country, visit Country, worry about Country, feel sorry for Country, and long for Country.²

Non-Indigenous practitioners