Kia Kia, Noogiting Wirren, Minang Yorga, Minang Boodja

No Longer a Wandering Spirit acknowledges the sleeping spirit of Bessy Flowers, a Minang ancestor belonging to the Great Southern of Western Australia.

Bessy moved away from her Minang homeland in June 1867, never to return. She was a young Aboriginal woman, educated, musical, confident and hopeful.

On Thursday I wished I was going to Church instead of rocking about in the steamer…Often & often my thoughts fly to dear Albany.

Admired for a time, Bessy’s esteemed qualities could not shield her from the injustices of colonial society.

I hope you will allow us to stay on this station it comes hard on the children and myself wandering about without a home…Please listen to my prayer for it is a prayer for a home.

No Longer a Wandering Spirit is Bessy’s story told through archival letters and photos dating from the 1860s. Bessy’s spiritual return home to the resting place of her ancestors is encapsulated by unifying expressions of family, kin and country.