mulaka makalina: Hunting Stingray by Dave mangenner Gough, illustrated by Samantha Campbell

Title: mulaka makalina: Hunting Stingray

Author: Dave mangenner Gough, illustrated by Samantha Campbell

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: AITSIS publishing/Aboriginal Studies Press

Published: 5th November 2026

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $17.95

Synopsis: The story of nupiri and riyawina and their epic encounter with a rogue stingray. From the creators of luwa tara luwa waypa.

riyawina’s grandmother warns her: ‘Look out for makalina, stingray! Don’t go swimming or diving when you’re sad or crying or else makalina will sense you are vulnerable and may attack you as prey.’ But when riyawina discovers that nupiri has broken his promise to her, she is angry and upset. She heads out alone to dive for shellfish and forgets her grandmother’s warning. In the deep, the stingray makalina senses her tears and comes for her…

As nupiri races to save riyawina, he calls on moinee, the great creator, and the ancestral warriors in the Milky Way to hunt down makalina, the rogue stingray. mulaka makalina is a dramatic Tasmanian Aboriginal story, with evocative illustrations from the team that created luwa tara luwa waypa.

~*~

nupiri has made a promise to riyawina to spend time with her instead of going off hunting with the rest of the other young men. Yet, when he tells them of his plans, they jeer at him and mock him, so he agrees to head off with them. He wants to prove his masculinity, yet he also wants to spend time with the woman he loves.

Yet, when riyawina sees he is missing, she goes swimming, and is stung by a renegade stingray! nupiri races to save her, calling upon moinee and ancestral warriors for help.

This new title from AITSIS uses palapa words which are written in lower case, and translated at the end of the book to help people learn some of this language. And like with many books that have different languages or accessibility features built in, there is a QR code to hear a recording of the author reading the book which makes for a very rich reading experience.

Dave mangenner Gough has taken an old story that would have been told orally and adapted it for a new audience. This makes it accessible to many and allows the author to use the story to tell a universal, cultural and relevant story that I think anyone will be able to relate to.

In a world where women are always at risk from domestic violence, this book embraces what it means to care about and respect women. To be there for them, and to help them. It’s aimed at readers aged seven and over, to explore the themes and have discussions, as well as sharing culture and what being a good man means for Tasmanian Indigenous People.

I enjoyed this book, hoping that things would be resolved nicely and that everything would work out. Dave’s lovely story is accompanied by the joyful, gentle and magical illustrations from Samantha Campbell. Stories of love, friendship, and family are timeless and connect us across cultures, and this is a great example of what it looks like for the Tasmanian Aboriginals, which is delightful and everything about it captured my imagination.

This book marks the second collaboration of this team, and it’s another important book that helps share language, culture, and knowledge. That helps keep it alive for future generations and shows all kids where these stories come from, as well as the specific and universal themes in them. Think of all the fables and fairytales, myths and old stories you know. Every culture has their own version of a man saving a woman, or of Cinderella, lost children and so many others. It’s truly amazing to think how all these stories evolved across the world at times when connecting in the way we do now was not as easy or as common.

Finally, it is always a privilege and honour to read these stories. To learn something new and be able to do my best at recognising languages I’m not familiar with. I hope my review gets this book to the right people, to the schools and libraries across Australia so everyone can share this story and knowledge.