Nana Ruth’s Books
For more information on how to purchase these books please contact Bev Hickey at: info@binambi.com.au
“Is that you Ruthie?” Matron’s voice would ring out across the dormitory. In that pause sixty little girls would stop in their tracks, waiting to hear who was in trouble. All too often the name called out would be that of the high spirited dormitory girl Ruthie.
In the Depression years Queensland’s notorious Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission become home to four-year-old Ruth until her late teens when she was sent out to serve as a domestic on a station homestead. Ruthie is the central character in this lively and candid memoir of institutional life. Her milestones and memories reflect the experiences of many dormitory girls. The strong and lasting bonds that developed between them helped to compensate for family love and support denied them by the disruptive removal policy of the day. An inspiring lifestory, this remarkable memoir won the prestigious David Unaipon Award in 1998. In her recently released sequel Bittersweet Journey Ruth recounts, with characteristic humour and honesty, a dormitory girl’s life after the Mission.
The long-awaited sequel to the award-winning memoir Is That You, Ruthie?
After twenty-two years under Government control as an inmate of Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission, Ruth journeys towards freedom by marrying Joe Hegarty and moving to a nearby settlement. However, the settlement ‘with its origins as a camp for displaced Aboriginal families, its system of food rations and shortage of housing and jobs’ is a difficult start for the young couple. Humour, a supportive circle of family and friends, and Ruth’s own resourcefulness prevail, and eventually the Hegartys achieve the basics of a house for their growing family. The invasive powers of the Native Affairs Department continue to affect their lives even when, years later, they move to the city. Ruth’s determination and irrepressible sense of fairness characterise a life vigorously committed to social justice and community causes.
PO Box 118 Taigum, QLD 4018 
