Riding the Black Cockatoo

I heard about Riding the Black Cockatoo whilst listening to 2BL, Richard Fidler's conversation hour. He was talking to the author John Danalis about the events which overtook his life and resulted in his writing of the book.
I reserved it at my local library and waited, picked it up and was still somewhat reluctant to read it as I knew it would challenge my notions of my own racial prejudices. I eventually picked it up and then couldn't put it down.
The story is essentially about the repatriation of an aboriginal skull which had been one of a miriad of 'collectibles' in the author's housefrom before he was born. He had always just accepted that Mary (as the family named the skull) was there, until one day he told some fellow students about it and their reaction set him on the road to thinking about how to give Mary back to his people.
The journey of self discovery, despair, renewal, reconnection with the natural world and re-evalutaion of his notions of Australian aborignals, which this decision set in motion, is one that was made more poignant as it exposed the ingrained insenitvity of 'white' society to the people who colonisation displaced. It's style is easy to read, and at times quite joyful, but the issues it discusses are not light and will not be quickly forgotten.

Riding the Black Cockatoo