Bidhi galing: Big rain by Anita Heiss

This inspiring picture book tells the story of the great flood of Gundagai in 1852, when many European settlers had taken the plains for themselves, unaware that the local people, the Wiradyuri had stories about the floods on these plains. Near Gundagai, the floods of 1852 are legendary, and Anita Heiss has written a book, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, which documents this event. Now available as a picture book, the story will appeal to younger readers as they see what the local people did to save so many.

Wagadhaany grew up near the Marrambidya Bila. She loved to dance in the rain, and loved hearing stories about the Bila  from her father, Yarri.  Seeing the white people building on the plains, Yarri tried to warn them but to no avail.

Years later, the big rains came. This flood is considered Australia’s most deadly flood, as 98 people were killed. But the toll would have been much higher had it not been for the efforts of a group of Wiradyuri men using their bark canoes to navigate the flood waters and bringing people to safety. Yarri and Jacky Jacky were the only two named.

Through the book, Heiss gives readers a sense of the culture, stories and lifestyle of the Wiradyuri people.

Heiss was learning her language, Wiradyuri when she came across the story of Bila and Jacky Jacky. She felt that their story would be a way of presenting the Wiradyuri culture to a wider audience. Illustrations by Samantha Campbell are majestic as they sweep across each page, the usually harmless river rising to a monumentally devastating flood, trapping all in its path.

This wonderful story epitomises Wiradyuri words for respect and caring for each other: (yindyamarra (respect), and winhangagigilanha (caring for each other)), and these are used in the text along with several others which give the readers a wider perspective. A glossary at the end of the book gives information about the words used, and an afterword by Heiss details her involvement in writing about this amazing event.

More can be found out about the Gundagai Floods in 1852 from the National Museum.

Themes: Bravery, Floods, Great flood of 1852, Gundagai, Wagga Wagga, Wiradyuri (Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales).

Fran Knight