In Tennant Creek today people speak many different languages. Warumungu people refer to themselves as Wumpurrarni, ‘black,’ in Warumungu. Warumungu people have extended the meaning of Wumpurrarni to refer to themselves and more broadly to talk about Aboriginal people. The Wumpurrarni involved in this project decided that the text should reflect the way different people speak. Today older people remain full speakers of the language and many of the stories here were recorded in Warumungu. All the Wumpurrarni involved also speak English, though the style of English they speak differs from standard Australian English. In some recordings storytellers spoke in Warumungu, and in other recordings they spoke English and inserted Warumungu words. These Warumungu words are italicized throughout the text. All Warumungu has been rendered in the orthography found in Jane Simpson's Learner's Guide (2002).

Some distinguishing features of the style of English Aboriginal people speak have been left in the transcriptions, and for readability sake they have been incorporated in English orthography as much as possible, joined to English words with a hyphen. These include a Warumungu ending which expresses possession, -kayi, which is commonly used by Warumungu people in Tennant Creek. For example, ‘Penelope-kayi,’ which means Penelope's. Another feature of this style of English in these texts is the ending ‘im’ which occurs joined to verbs. For instance, ‘that boss been go and pick-im up me,’ meaning ‘the boss came and picked me up.’

Throughout the project, Kimberly Christen worked with the men and women whose stories were recorded, compiled, or transcribed to get an approved format. The narratives were recorded and transcribed in several ways. Some were recorded in English and translated to Warumungu, some were recorded in Warumungu and transcribed into English and others have been transcribed exactly as they were spoken. Once the audio and video had been transcribed, they were read or given to the individuals to whom they belonged and from there they made the editorial decisions. As individuals or groups listened to the recordings made at each place, people decided how the stories should be written down. Some stories have been edited heavily from the original audio recordings and some are direct transcriptions. The text is meant to reflect the way Warumungu people speak about themselves, their country, and their history.