The winner of the prestigious 2016 Chief Minister’s Northern Territory History Book Award is The Pearl Frontier: Indonesian Labor and Indigenous Encounters in Australia's Northern Trading Network by Julia Martinez and Adrian Vickers.

Department of Arts and Museums Chief Executive Hugo Leschen congratulated the authors for their work in producing such a wonderful piece of work.

“A lot of work goes into producing quality research such as this and I am pleased we can recognise this significant work.

“This year, the Northern Territory Library received 13 entries in the Chief Minister’s Northern Territory History Book Award, which was more than double entries from last year.

“This just goes to show the level of interest into the history of the Northern Territory.”

Associate Professor Julia Martinez is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts at the University of Wollongong, while Adrian Vickers is a Professor of Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Sydney.

The judges complimented the work and stated: “This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how the pearling industry in northern Australia forged unique cultural relationships across Southeast Asian region.

“A meticulously researched, cross-disciplinary body of work, The Pearling Frontier illustrates the personal struggle of hard-working, entrepreneurial people, who took enormous risks, to forge an industry that shaped communities across northern Australia.”

This year for the first time, the judges awarded an Honourable Mention to Gulf Country Songbook: Yanyuwa, Marra, Garrwa and Gudanji Songs by Yanyuwa, Marra, Garrwa and Gudanji families with Karin Riederer and Waralungku Arts.

The judges described the Gulf Country Songbook as a beautiful, immersive experience that represents the importance of oral history and song to Indigenous culture.

They stated: “This multimedia songbook presents Indigenous cultural knowledge and history in a highly innovative way.

The winner book was selected from four shortlisted entries:

• Silent pearls: old Japanese graves in Darwin and the history of pearling by John Lamb
• The Pearl Frontier: Indonesian Labor and Indigenous Encounters in Australia's Northern Trading Network by Julia Martinez and Adrian Vickers
• Different White People: Radical Activism For Aboriginal Rights 1946 – 1972 by Deborah Wilson
• Gulf Country Songbook: Yanyuwa, Marra, Garrwa and Gudanji Songs by Yanyuwa, Marra, Garrwa and Gudanji families with Karin Riederer

 The winner was announced today at a ceremony at Northern Territory Library in Parliament House.