No Longer A Wandering Spirit : Family and kin reclaiming the memory of Minang woman Bessy Flowers

In June 1867, Bessy Flowers was sent away from Minang Country, never to return. She was a young woman, educated, musical, confident and

hopeful. Bessy was educated at Annesfield in Albany, showing strong aptitude in writing, reading and the piano. She became a teacher herself.

But like generations of Aboriginal children to follow, Bessy was separated from those she cared for and often longed for home. Often and often my thoughts fly to Albany she wrote from a Mission in Victoria on August 16 1867.

More than ten years in the making No Longer a Wandering Spirit is a remarkable story that offers a unique insight into Aboriginal

connections between family and country and the harm when this contact is lost.

Readers are invited to follow Bessy's family from both sides of the country as they unite and fulfil on their own terms Bessy's spiritual

return home.

Bessy Flowers is a hero of mine, and I'm very glad she's at the centre of a book that features her images and writing, along with the remarkable journey to situate her in family and Country - Kim Scott

This is a story told through the experience and emotions of my family.

It's our journey of reconnecting and of discovering a stronger sense of who we are - Ezzard Flowers