I usually read over 100 books a year, but have found myself picking up a book to read less and less this year. Instead of finding a quiet time and place to get lost in the world of a book, I've been captivated by my never ending To Do list. Even at night, I'll find myself putting on a TV show (recently it's been The Bold Type or Back To Nature), while working away at my scheduled recurring "Life Admin" task in my calendar.
When I saw Dr Anita Heiss was releasing a new book, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to turn off all the screens, reacquaint myself with my love of reading, and dive into Anita's latest work. As someone who has always been drawn to authors who weave important social issues into their work, Anita has for a long time been one of my favourite authors.
I started to read Dirrayawadha on my kindle, but within reading the first chapter, I felt compelled to order a paperback copy of the book as well. I later realised that I had been so keen to read the book that I'd forgotten I had also already reserved a copy at my local library. Before I knew it, I had three copies of Dirrayawadha sitting on my bedside table. Now that was a sign that it was definitely time to turn off the screens and start reading.
In the author's note at the beginning of Dirrayawadha, Anita reminds readers (p.vii): "Let's not forget that much of the history of the world has been recorded by the colonisers. And the way in which the colonisers remember and record history is significantly different to the way in which colonised peoples remember and record history." She goes on to explain (p.viii): "Dirrayawadha is a work of fiction, an interpretation of life for Wiradyuri people and others on the land in the 1820s, and what I have imagined the people may have experienced, thought and felt at the time, particularly those who were part of the resistance."
Dirrayawadha follows the story of a young Wiradyuri woman, Miinaa, who remembers when British colonisers arrived and renamed her homeland 'Bathurst'. We are also introduced to Miinaa's brother, a Wiradyuri leader, Windradyne, and through their stories, conversations, and internal dialogue, we learn of their love for each other, their people, and their country. We also witness their experiences of devastating violence at the hands of the British, as well as their reflections on being part of the resistance.
Miinaa works for a white Irish family, Susanna and Andrew Nugent, who were granted land ownership by the British for property that they called 'Cloverdale'. Miinaa describes the Nugents as treating her and the Wiradyuri people with kindness, to which Windradyne rightly points out (p.14): "They treat us kindly, ngawa, but Miinaa, they treat us like we're human, how we should be treated. We shouldn't think of it as special. It's how everyone should act toward each other. With kindness, with ngurrbul, and ngawa, always with yindyamarra. But that's not the case with the other white ghosts."
The Nugents aspire to live in alignment with their Catholic faith and highlight how the violence of the British is in contradiction to Christian values. Their faith, paired with the history of colonisation in Ireland, enables their awareness of the injustice experienced by the Wiradyuri people. In the early pages (p.45), whilst looking at Miinaa, Susanna reminds her husband that "This is not our land, Andrew. We have a permit that gives us permission to be here, but only from the government. It is not our land." Despite this awareness and the support we observe the Nugents have for Miinaa, her family, and the Wiradyuri people, throughout the story we also witness the Nugents' privilege, power, and contribution to the maintenance of the injustice happening around them.
When Irish convict and political prisoner, Dan O'Dwyer, arrives to serve the remainder of his time at Cloverdale, Miinaa and Dan are drawn to each other. We witness their love blossom as they learn more about each other, their cultures, and the injustices their people have faced from the British. We watch Dan grapple with a sense of hopelessness in wanting to help Miinaa and her people, his experiences of speaking up about the injustice, and his frustrations at other Irish settlers who refuse to acknowledge this injustice despite the parallels to their own experience in Ireland.
Dan also recognises that despite the Nugent's being kind to Miinaa and himself, that they hold "all the power". His inner thoughts at one point in the novel (p.154) reveal, for example, that "he is still a convict, under the control of the Nugents and all the Irish nationalism they share cannot change the power dynamics he lives within. He is forced to swallow his anger and stay silent. The same silence his beloved must embrace daily, because she too understands that even though the Nugents have Christian values and treat her miyagan well, they hold all the power - over the land, and now, to a degree, over those who are born of it." Despite this recognition, and Dan's desire to help Miinaa and the Wiradyuri people, we also witness the emotional labour Miinaa invests in educating Dan, in explaining the actions of the resistance, and his lack of understanding in this regard at times.
Through each of these characters, who with Anita's usual brilliance I quickly began to deeply care and root for, we witness their stories and conversations, getting a glimpse into what it might have been like to live in the country now known as Australia in the early years of colonisation. I have always admired how Anita drives a story through dialogue within and between characters. It feels especially generous that in doing so within Dirrayawadha, Anita has used Wiradyuri language and included a glossary for the reader that assists with following along.
Dirrayawadha feels like a generous, courageous and thoughtful gift to the reader. I couldn't help but reflect on how emotionally laboursome and traumatic it must have been for Anita, a Wiradyuri woman herself, to write a book capturing personal and historical experiences and consequences of colonisation. In watching an Instagram Live of Anita's book launch at Avid Reader, where she was filmed in conversation with Lauren Appo, she was asked about this, and spoke of the retraumatising that happens when researching for and writing such work, particularly while watching news of similar violence and oppression in Gaza, and then submitting the book the day before 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice Referendum. As always, I found myself in awe of the courage, love, generousity, labour and truth-telling Anita invests in her writing, stories and speaking.
Dirrayawadha is the best book I have read in 2024, in fact, it is perhaps the best book I have ever read to date. I know that I will likely read this book again and again, and will also be reading and discussing it with my child as part of their homeschool curriculum. I beg of you to get a copy and read it for yourself.
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