A book by and about the traditional healers of Central Australia and their healing knowledge has won a national accolade. 

At the 2013 Deadly Awards in Sydney on September 10, the NPY Women's Council Aboriginal Corporation took out the Published Book of the Year  award with their impressive publication Traditional Healers of Central Australia: Ngangkari, published by Magabala Books.

Using life stories, spectacular photography and artwork, the Ngangkari -the traditional healers of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Lands in the remote western desert - have shared their wisdom, natural healing techniques and cultural history in a large-format publication.

The Ngankari have already received national and international awards for their efforts to increase understanding and encourage collaboration with mainstream health services and the wider community, and the rare partnership they forged with health professionals and practitioners of Western medicine to nurture the physical, emotional and social well-being of their people.

Magabala Books CEO Michelle Broun said the national award reinforced the high standard of its publishing programme. 

“Our books – written by Indigenous authors and published by Australia’s only exclusively Indigenous publisher – have been on the national stage against books by nationally-recognised authors and much larger publishers and have won,” said Michelle.

“That is an amazing achievement for a small Indigenous-owned organization based in the remote Kimberley region of northwestern Australia.”

She said a significant number of other books had this year either won literary awards or been shortlisted. 

“These awards not only deservedly reward the efforts of Indigenous authors and illustrators to tell their stories, but confirm the importance of our quest to encourage, foster and support Indigenous talent and culture.”