'My grandchildren are asking me about The Old People - but I don't know anything to tell them'. This was a Nundle Aboriginal woman's comment to the author, which sparked the detective work that led over forty years to Granny Duval. She Must Have Come From Somewhere.
This is a family history of several Aboriginal families, centring on Granny Duval, who live in the southern part of the New England tableland in New South Wales. They were part of the Anaiwan Nation. Some women married white men during the 1800s and navigated the clash of cultures. Many strong grandmothers emerge as the heroes who kept their heritage alive.
It also has a fictional story about a young Aboriginal man called Bidja, interwoven to bring their stories alive with incidents that are remembered in the oral history passed down through the generations.
The author has spent countless hours carefully listening to and recording the history of Anaiwan. She hopes this volume will illuminate some of the relationships and provide a balanced account of the traumas and triumphs that came to this part of Australia with the arrival of people from other countries.