Re-peopling history: ‘Dirrayawadha – Rise Up’ by Anita Heiss

I read this book with a sorrowful heart, knowing that the resolution could not be a positive one, even with the strong threads of family, love and strength that are twined throughout.

Historical fiction, it is based on the early conflicts between the Wiradjuri people of the central west of NSW with colonial settlers. These became known as the ‘Bathurst wars’ but were part of a wider, escalating series of violent encounters and retributions that today are more accurately referred to as the ‘Australian wars.’ Yes, folks, Australia has indeed had armed warfare on its soil.

The novel tells the story of Windradyne, a Wiradyuri leader, who refuses to submit to the ‘white ghosts’ who are attempting to take over his country and force his people into subjection. Windradyne is a real figure from history, a freedom fighter, though of course at the time the colonial authorities and many settlers regarded him more as a terrorist.

Along with Windradyne we meet his sister, Miinaa, who is living with some of her family at the property of the Nugents, Irish settlers who arrived free to the colony and have taken up land to farm. Of course the Nugents are part of the colonial mission and therefore part of the problem. However, they are kind people and have some sympathy for the Wiradjuri, and treat their employees, assigned convicts, and Wiradjuri, fairly.

Miinaa misses her extended family and their way of life, as she watches her world rapidly changing, almost beyond recognition. And as the violence surrounding her increases, she worries for her brother and the rest of her family.

Into the picture steps Dan, an Irish political prisoner transported to NSW as a convict. Dan can see the similarities between the British subjugation of the Irish, and the situation faced by the Wiradjuri. As Dan and Miinaa fall in love, he starts to understand more of the Wiradjuri world view, their cultural and spiritual practices and how Country is at the centre of it all. He is not alone but definitely in the minority among his fellow convicts and most white people, in his empathy with the Wiradjuri.

The outcome of this novel is not a happy one. How could it be, knowing how real history played out – and how First Nations people across Australia continue to suffer from generations of inherited trauma and dispossession?

There are some moments of hope and happiness, though. The strong bonds that unite and support Wiradjuri as they face an existential threat. The ability of some characters to reach across the racial divide and find things that connect them with each other.

As I often do, I checked out the historical facts that this story is inspired by, and was heartened to learn that the Nugents were based on a real family who did indeed employ (and shelter) Wiradjuri people, and maintained strong friendships with them across several generations. And Windradyne did not meet his death at the hands of the ‘white ghosts.’

The one aspect of the novel that jarred a little for me was the language used by characters, Wiradjuri and white, especially that of Dan. In his attempts to get his fellow-convicts and local settlers to understand the shared injustices faced by Wiradjuri and Irish, his dialogue includes many terms and expressions that I doubt would have been used by a young man at that time, such as ‘civil liberties’ and ‘plight of the dispossessed.’ Perhaps a well-educated Irish political activist may have done so, but I’m not sure about a man such as Dan.

However, the author uses these for a reason – to put the concepts into a modern-day perspective. In doing so, she blurs the boundaries of historical context a little, but makes the ideas and themes in the novel more accessible to many readers.

One of the many things I enjoyed about the book is the liberal use of Wiradjuri words and phrases throughout. This is a noticeable trend in books by First Nations authors and I love it! There is an extensive glossary provided but after reading through it, I found that simply immersing myself in the story and encountering repeated uses of words allowed me to absorb the meanings without feeling like I was taking part in a language lesson.

Use of Wiradjuri language also allows readers to glimpse some of the important concepts for Wiradjuri people, both in the past and today. It is no coincidence, for example, that the words I ‘learnt’ from reading this book included ones for children, Country, respect, family.

Dirrayawadha – Rise Up is gripping, troubling, and insightful and I recommend it to all who want to understand more about Australia’s colonial past. One of blurb comments about Heiss’ historical fiction is that she is ‘re-peopling history’ and I think that is accurate. Books like this bring to life real events in our nation’s past that most would have only a vague idea of, at best. I guarantee you will never visit Bathurst (one of my favourite country towns) in quite the same way after reading it.

Dirrayawadha – Rise Up was published by Simon & Schuster in July 2024.
My thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for a copy to review.

While reading this I couldn't help but think "It's a tale as old as time"... And by that I mean Colonisation and Occupation.

Colonisers come to a land, claim it as their own, take what they want, impose their laws, murder anyone who gets in their way, and then get surprised and outraged when there is resistance or people who don't agree with them. Sound familiar?

This is the story of Miinaa, a young Wiradyuri woman who was a child when white men first came to her land. She now works for a family who have settled on her land and named it Cloverdale. It is almost part "outback romance" with the entry of Irishman Dan, but the whole story is happening against a backdrop of colonisation and based on the true history of Windradyne (Miinaa's brother), a resistance leader and his role in the Frontier Wars.

I think Dr Anita Heiss does a great job of using a story to educate people and bring to light the horrific past of this country. I think people with little to no knowledge of this time will get a lot out of it. 'Enjoyed' is the wrong word, but I thought it was really well done and I read it over 48 hours. I think this is my 7th written by Heiss and won't be my last.

I read and absolutely adored Anita’s book of three years ago, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams). It was groundbreaking and so memorable that I was therefore eager to read her latest, Dirrayawadha (Rise Up). This is a work of fiction, an interpretation of life for Wiradyuri people and others on the land in the 1820s.

‘You can’t discover a country that has people in it, Jack - that’s not discovery. That’s invasion.’

Anita is doing a wonderful job of (rather sadly it has to be so) introducing history through the eyes of the Indigenous. So much of the past and what we learned at school was solely through the eyes of the colonisers. Anita states that, ‘My goal here was/is to give not just a broad understanding of the overall impact of the invasion and settlement of Bathurst but, importantly, the blatant disregard it entailed for Wiradyuri life and sovereignty’. What is not only unique but very clever with this story is how Anita made the link between her Irish characters and what had been their desire for autonomy to that of Wiradyuri sovereignty. It makes it relatable to so many.

‘Then how can we agree to fighting for our own sovereignty and rights back home but deny the rights of the people here? What about their sovereignty?’

There is much to love about this book. I love that Anita used traditional language, not only in the title, but throughout the entire book. I love that it is the perfect melding of fact and fiction. I love the characters and how each has a role to play in making this story the captivating sensation that it is. I love how much I learnt about Australian indigenous people and their great affinity with this incredible land.

‘We must be prepared.’ Windradyne stops and takes Dan by the arm firmly. ‘For what?’ ‘Dirrayawadha. To rise up and fight.’

This book … it will make you angry, it will make you sad but overall you will be a better person for having read it. Such a wonderful book for not only all Australians but anyone interested in Indigenous cultures and their rich yet often tragic tale.





This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Anita has done it again! This is her best work yet and I can’t wait until the next one!
I loved learning about what happened in Bathurst (Wiradyuri country) in the 1820s as I wasn’t aware of this. Anita’s work really tells the side of the story that we don’t know, obviously this is a work of fiction but it still has plenty of facts about what occurred.
I always enjoy stories told from the perspective of women as we are often the ones forgotten in history and our stories deserve to be told.
I learnt so much and really loved Minaa’s story. If you loved Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray then you’ll love this too. I highly recommend this book.

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.

The story focus is on the war that erupts between the new settlers and the original owners of the land.

The main characters give an insight into their life on how they work for the new land owners and still follow their beliefs and ways.

Miinaa loves her family and wants to continue to follow her culture and beliefs. But when a new worker, who is Irish comes along, life becomes very different. Daniel O’Dwyer believes in his own beliefs of the Irish. He begins to notice Miinaa and it seems a future between them may be possible.

But an uprising causes problems and the need to protect becomes more apparent as the story continues.

The emotions that the characters show and how it affected their lives are extremely well written about. It affected me and had me in tears at times.

I received a free copy from #netgalley for an honest review of this book.

I know a bit about the Wiradjuri history and community (as I teach on Wiradjuri land) and I found this book to be so educational. I flew through this quite easily and loved the incorporation of language throughout (I also appreciated the definition glossary at the beginning of the book).
If you want to know more about First Nations Australian history, I would definitely recommend this book! While this is a fictional book, there are people and events based on history.

‘There will be no peace without justice’

Dirrayawadha (rise up) is the most recent novel from the hands and heart of indigenous author and proud Wiradyuri woman Dr Anita Heiss. Close on the heels of her acclaimed Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (river of dreams) from 2021, we are gifted with another richly written, historical novel about our past, our present and most definitely, our futures. Releasing on the 31st of July, 2024.

In this novel we are introduced to Miina, a young girl working for a white Irish family at ‘Cloverdale’ who have settled on Wiradyuri land, her brother Windradyne a Wiradyuri leader (a figure of historical importance in the Bathurst wars), Daniel O’Dwyer an Irish convict and the Nugents, the owners of Cloverdale, a seemingly forward thinking, respectful and religious Irish family. The story traces the lines of unrest, resistance, revenge, and the massacres of the Bathurst Wars, threaded with the complexities of a burgeoning interracial romance between Miina and a white man.

Miina and Daniel are inextricably drawn to each other from first sight, taking to the Bila to talk, connect and grow their understanding and love for each other. Dan, a convicted Irish convict is compassionate, understanding and wants to do what is right. Miina is young but astute, she is worried for her brother, for her safety, for her miyagan (family) and the decimation of their way of life. Will Miina and Dan find a way to survive? What will come of their love?

Dirrayawadha dissects the relations between the ‘white ghosts’ (the settlers) and the indigenous, viewed from the young, innocent but perceptive eyes of Miina. A story of love, fear, loss, and tragedy, we are placed in a time of assimilation, of belief, of ownership, a time of lore versus law, a time of culture and of morals, a time of war and invasion. Dirrayawadha allows us to see firsthand the impact of colonisers, and though this is a fictional account, the truth of colonisation lays heavily in this plot. Like Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, Dirrayawadha is an important retelling of our histories as a nation, giving voice and life to the past, it ensures that the reader considers their beliefs, their voice, and their own impact on our first nations people then, now and into the future.


With thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Dirrayawadha by Anita Heiss is a great book, I really enjoyed reading it and will certainly recommend it for people who are interested in both Aboriginal and colonial history in Australia.

Late last year I watched a documentary on ABC Australia called The Frontier Wars, also known as the Secret Wars. It looked at the early colonial history of Australia and proved that there are two sides to every story. In this case, one side were the peoples who had lived here for thousands of years, and the other were the British who just decided the land was theirs for the taking.

While the history taught in schools back in the 1970s (when I attended) told us about the hardships experienced by the early settlers, the establishment of properties, towns, roads and “civilisation”. Very little is told about the indigenous peoples who already lived here, and had done for thousands of years. Nothing was said about how the Indigenous nation groups resisted the invasion of their lands. Nothing was said about the violent history of colonisation, and how the resistance from various indigenous peoples actually resulted in Australia’s first wars, and included organised battles between both sides and open massacres, mostly from the British side. These wars went on for over a hundred years, and it is estimated that at least 10,000 Indigenous people were killed in 416 massacres between 1780 and 1930!

It is against this background that author, Anita Heiss, has set her story, in Bathurst NSW. Dirrayawadha is a story of interracial love set while these Frontier Wars raged. While her main characters are fictional for the most part, there are truths told. It is a work of fiction set against truths that are now coming out - is Heiss’s interpretation of what might have happened, what might have been said, how people might have reacted and what consequences may have really been behind the often biased historical written versions.

The story follows a young Aboriginal girl, Miinaa, who remembers when the ‘white ghosts’ first arrived. She remembers watching the ghosts raise a piece of cloth on a pole and rename her homeland ‘Bathurst’. Now she lives on a property called Cloverdale working for the Nugents who are very kind and supportive of the local indigenous people. Enter convict, Daniel O’Dwyer, an Irish man who Miinaa is immediately drawn too. He understands what it is to be displaced and relates to how Miinaa and her people are feeling.

Miinaa’s brother Windradyne (a true historic figure, and key resistant fighter in the Bathurst war - look him up) is a leader of her people and when he visits he tells her of the battles in other places. She worries the turmoil will come to Cloverdale and hurt the Nugents and her people, she knows her brother will fight for their country if he has too. Of course the war does arrive and the reader sees how Miinaa and Daniel’s relationship grows against this background of danger and violence.

Anita Heiss is a proud Indigenous author and in recent years has been learning the language of her people. The prologue is written totally in her people’s language, which I understand the reasoning behind but I found I skipped through it, as I grew tired of flicking to the glossary for a translation. To be fair, I would have felt the same if the prologue had been written in Spanish, French or German. Other than that little gripe I was grabbed by the story, learnt so much and cried buckets before I got to the end!

With thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for my copy to review