A book about Marra elder Maureen Marrangulu Thompson with artworks, photographs & stories from the Roper River Region and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Artist and author Simon Normand first met Maureen Marrangulu Thompson when he visited Ngukurr, South –East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory in 1996. Intoxicated by the art and surrounding landscape, he was invited to visit Maureen’s ‘backyard’ with her. So began a twelve year journey as he developed a lasting relationship with this remote community, where he lived with his family between 2003 – 2006.

His popular first book “Stonecountry to Saltwater” documented for the first time, the diverse artwork, stories and landscapes of the Roper River region.
In this his second publication “Marranbala Country” he has compiled stories about Maureen’s extraordinary life growing up in the Roper Mission in the 1930’s, and travelling around the Gulf Country by canoe as a young girl.

Accompanied by 40 paintings depicting Maureen’s Ancestral home around Limmen Bight are over 150 photographs of the region, as well as maps examining Marra country from an Indigenous perspective.

The book documents the “discovery of the Roper region” from the arrival of the cattle industry, the missionaries, to the current struggle to keep traditional culture alive. Maureen tells and paints stories, maintaining that traditional and Christian beliefs can be held “side by side”.

As the finishing touches are put on the huge new “Limmen National Park” the residents of Ngukurr face an uncertain future. The park is situated across the riverbank from the township, and the custodians of the land are keen for their connection to country to be recognised. Through these stories, paintings, and photographs gathered, an engrossing and complex relationship is shown of Marranbala Country - “Country for all the Marra people.”