We Come With This Place

by Debra Dank

We Come with This Place is a remarkable book, as rich, varied and surprising as the vast landscape in which it is set. Debra Dank has created an extraordinary mosaic of vivid episodes that move about in time and place to tell an unforgettable story of country and people.

Dank calibrates human emotions with honesty and insight, and there is plenty of dry, down-to-earth humour. You can feel and smell and see the puffs of dust under moving feet, the ever-present burning heat, the bright exuberance of a night-time campfire, the emerald flash of a flock of budgerigars, the journeying wind, the harshness of a station shanty, the welcome scent of fresh water.

We Come with This Place is deeply personal, a profound tribute to family and the Gudanji Country to which Debra Dank belongs, but it is much more than that. Here is Australia as it has been for countless generations, land and people in effortless balance, and Australia as it became, but also Australia as it could and should be.

Genres: Nonfiction, Australia, Memoir, Indigenous, Book Club, Audiobook, Female Authors

251 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2022

Reviews

[Tundra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A moving insight into connection with family and place. Dank has attempted to provide insight into what this ‘feels’ like and how ‘country’ attaches and provides comfort and memory for her family despite the past violence. Her stories are generous and varied. The waterhole story and the crocodile egg collection story are fascinating and the story of her father’s flight is truely terrible and traumatic.

[Marles Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Nyamirniji ilinga jaburru ...you listen first and then you will know."

"Listen well when this country is telling you our story. Listen with your feet in the sand and your heart in your hands and give it over to this country."

This is a deeping personal story about Country and people. Debra Danks will take you on such a heartfelt and emotional journey, with some deeply tragic and some funny stops along the way. So many stories and lessons to learn from this book. A tribute to family and to the country that holds us all to account. Debra Dank holds your hand and walks you through her continued life on Gudanji Country with generations of her family: "...someone has walked this way before and as you walk yourself; into their footprints, their story becomes yours."

Debra brings many emotions and events to light and in plain view: there is racism, pain, rape, the impact of the Stolen Generations. There is love, kindness, friendship, kinship, and connection to country. There is such much learning from ancestors, grandparents, from parents and those that have been here before.

"I know that, just as I dance with my long past grannies, at some time in the future my grandchildren will dance with me."

Debra takes us all in hand as witness to the many who have walked this land before us to show us what Australia is meant to be: always was and always will be Aboriginal land. As Debra described, he granny's flesh marks were created and filled with ash: " She spilled her blood into this country while taking this country - the ash - into her body to become with it."

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary, lyrical read. Dank commences and ends on Gudanji country, showing us what connection to Country means to her and her family. In the course of the book, she eases us through tougher material, trauma past and present, and the stories of colonialisation that are part of her life. But this is overwhelmingly a joyful story, with the emphasis on support, joy and the strength that comes through connection. Dank's tales of her mothers' staunch fight to get her educated well is a particular highlight. The book is surprisingly easy to read given the depth of the content.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

We come with this place is one of those books that is tricky to categorise. It’s a sort of multigenerational memoir that is also a guide to her culture and a community history of her people, before and after colonisation ...

We come with this place is a confronting book, from its perfect and defiant title to its chronicling of the atrocities that her people faced. The fear of children being taken away pervades the book. There are stories of massacres, and other appalling brutalities ... There is intergenerational trauma, which Dank exemplifies through her father, Soda. ...

Dank doesn’t hold back; the way she tells it is strong, speaking her truths and segueing between past and present, between brutal history and rejuvenating story, between people and ancestors. Amongst the tough stories are warm-hearted anecdotes about family life. An example is Dank telling of being on country with her grandfather Bimbo and her surprise and joy in learning how to catch fish in arid land. The stories speaking of deep love sit alongside the hard ones, and together convey that the people, their ancestors, and Country are interconnected.

For my complete review, please see my blog: https://whisperinggums.com/2023/07/29...

[Darcy Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the little vignettes of stories on Dank’s and her family’s lives, spanning across Country, generations and so many experiences, exposing the horrors of colonialism and its lasting impacts and the enduring love, kinship and immense connection to Country. I also really loved the nonlinear time structure of the book, which I felt really added to demonstrating the difference in time experienced with Country for Dank

[Saskia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is quite incredible to read a book which uses English prose and storytelling convention to give an idea of what living on country/ with country is like, and the depth of that connection spiritually and practically, while it helps you understand why that relationship is impossible for non indigenous people.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part history, part memoir, part Dreaming - moving across the lands of her ancestor/with the ancestors, sharing stories.

The stories of the Mimis’ with knowledge handed down across generations, a voice to call across space too.

A husband, born of surfer’s with a love of water, but through sharing of knowledge and stories learns to see within shadows.

Children and grandchildren who dance, some with feet who know this country.

Soda’s stories of working as a mechanic and working on stations were the ones who moved me most. Soda, and his mother, Lucy.

Thank you, Debra Dank.

Well deserved winner of several prizes and awards, including the 2023 NSW Premier’s Literary Prize.

[Linda Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the story but I did not enjoying the storytelling for me the way it jumped around made it hard to follow. Some parts really resonated with me particularly around the death of her mother. There are some truly shocking parts of history described but in such a well written way. The sad thing is this was not so long ago! The great respect for country was at the forefront for me. Well worth a read I’m glad it was part of my reading group as I may not have had the privilege to read this book otherwise.

[Christina D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been in a reading slump for the last few months and this book shook me out of it. Another reviewer called it lyrical and I think that’s the most beautiful and fitting description.

We Come With This Place is a story about stories: traditional stories, family histories, and the history of Australia as a whole. There’s horrors. There’s anger and sadness. But there’s joy. There’s love. There’s connections to land and to people.

It’s a beautiful book

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly moving, a reminder to self to tread more softly

[Will Mallett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learnt a lot from this

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, heartwarming. Australia has a painful history that is still very much tangled in the present.

[deborah joan hocart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Sad, soulful, informative and straight up. And I love that words are not translated in the book. Thank you So glad I heard this woman speak at the Auckland Writers Festival 2024 and bought her book there.

[Mila Simkus · Rating 4 out of 5]

really beautiful and vivid descriptions of an incredible life, but at times it was a little difficult to follow the narrative and it wasn't as gripping as i'd hoped

[Jillwilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In an interview with Debra, I heard her say that she hoped that readers would come to some understanding of the ways in which Aboriginal people are connected with Country. She says that this connection is beyond language – but this book takes us in the right direction. Dank calls the book “a strange kind of letter, written to my place”.

In that same interview, she talked about how she went on Country for 6 months with her partner and wrote the book there. It is a series of connected stories of her family. They bounce round in time and in focus. Sometimes up close for a few chapters on a particular [person, sometimes drawing back and looking at place through the eyes of distant ancestors, or through her grandparents. It means that sometimes the focus is up close, personal, intimate and at other times a little more abstracted as she described the journey of the first women through the countryside and the creation of landscape through their movements. They created Gudanji country, the gravel and dust country, part of the south-west Gulf of Carpentaria.

The book reflects a non-linear way of telling a story and grew out of her PhD on “the ways narrative exists in Gudanji community beyond vocabulary”. “Other cycles occur within this structure, so there is a continuous sense of moving forwards and back in time, as experiences and stories build on each other to create “Gudanji memory” – for us, and for her people to whom she is writing. This idea of building “memory” from stories, from lines between places and the things that have happened there, is strange to western ways of thinking, but Dank makes it make sense. She shows us how stories are made and passed on through Country.” (https://whisperinggums.com/2023/07/29...)

Dank’s childhood was spent moving around to different cattle stations with her parents and siblings. There are some very funny moments in this recount including the time that she is cast as a princess in a school play, as well as stories about being an outsider. She says of her mother’s family that they “had a tough life, and mostly it was like everybody else’s life, but they cultivated a level of mediocrity that gave them some invisibility.” I love that phrase. So telling. I also loved the story of Dank’s grandfather Bimbo pulling five perch from a secret hole in the desert, where she discovers “how we could take fish from cold water in arid places”.

Through the book, the invasive nature of white colonisation is evoked through the sound of horses hooves moving through the landscape. “…it would invade the ears of those near enough to hear and stay there safe within the body of its carrier like a small insistent parasite, living covertly, protected. It would be difficult to ever cut the terror out and it would continue in the bodies of those who came after.” Her father’s family suffered very much through the brutality of white people. But this is not a memoir that is loaded down by the brutality – it simply sits there as something that has cast a shadow – but does not define how or what Danks is as a person.

She evokes the feeling of being on Country very sensually and concretely. Her 5-year-old son is so eager to remove his shoes, for his feet to breathe on the bank; as he puts it, “my feet have felt all those things here before”. He was not afraid of bindi eyes or of not knowing where to go. Her young son feels that he is literally stepping in the footprints of his ancestors and walking the same tracks that haver been there for thousands of years. He has that knowledge inside him. It is released by being open to it, and being quiet and by listening to what Country is saying. Danks talks about what our eyes are open to with the example of her husband, who can’t see the bush turkeys in the shadows – his eyes are not attuned to the gradations in colour (she is good at seeing patterns in the surf however, as this is where he grew up). We mostly get good at seeing things we want to see.

It has a beautiful cover, created by her daughter.

[Sylvie Frog · Rating 5 out of 5]

So thankful for being able to get some knowledge about their ways and stories… would have loved some more with an index …

[Caren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Dank's highly personal, descriptive stories, I understand more clearly what being part of "Country" means to an indigenous woman in a world that has not respected that connection or honoured the traditions that give meaning to that association. Her pride in her ancestry, her connection to the physical landscape and to the spiritual presence of her ancestors, her dedication to her family, their stories, and the preservation of her culture - these are at the core of her identity and what she is devoted to sharing with the non-indigenous reader. "Listen well when this country is telling you our story. Listen with your feet in the sand and your heart in your hands and give it over to this country. She deserves it most."

Most prominent in her narrative is her tribute to the love and resilience of her people, their survival through the horrors of racism and its accompanying violence and attempted genocide. This is not a political portrait, rather one of strength and pride in the beauty and richness of a culture that has existed for over 60,000 years. Dank's stunning descriptions of the landscape bring its sights, textures, sounds, and smells to the reader so that we feel a part of her experiences on Country from an indigenous perspective. In this regard, the book is nothing short of enlightening.

My only regret is that Dank did not include a glossary of Gudanji vocabulary so that I could perhaps retain the language intrinsic to her telling the stories of her people and, most significantly, of herself. "We are our stories. Spending time with this book is like spending time with Debra Dank herself." (Foreword)

[Jane Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to follow until the end. Interesting attempt to put into words what living on country actually means.

[Christine Yunn-Yu Sun · Rating 5 out of 5]

In July 2022, Debra Dank’s We Come With This Place was praised as “a jewel of a book, one Australians in particular ought to read and refer to”.

In May 2023, the “part memoir, part bush guide and customs manual” won a record four out of fourteen NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, including the prestigious Book of the Year. It also received the Indigenous Writers’ Prize, as well as the awards for Non-Fiction and New Writing.

It is a beautifully written account of Dank’s life as a Gudanji and Wakaja woman, as a daughter, mother and grandmother, and as a lifelong educator. It tells the stories of her parents and grandparents, her ancestors, and the stretch of land from far-west Queensland to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

But it is not an ordinary memoir, as the narrative interweaves the past and the present, the real and the imagined, and the personal and the collective. Those who are accustomed to linear or chronological storytelling will find it refreshing and full of surprises.

Neither is the book a stereotypical reflection on survival and resilience. Instead of dwelling on pain – which cannot be denied, diminished or forgotten – the author “shows a powerful path forward from colonial trauma towards a space of mutual respect and self-determining futures” as described by the judging panel of the aforementioned awards.

With vivid, poetic prose, Dank demonstrates how stories live in the land and are to be experienced and expressed. Stories transcend through time and space, and are “always telling new stories alongside and with the old ones”.

Dank further illustrates how to be respectful, not just to the land, but those who have breathed and shaped its beauty and etched their stories into it. This is why we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live and work, and pay respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

In the author’s words: “Talk to the country, talk to old people, talk, talk, talk. Talk your story into this place to sit there with the ancestors.”

To tell our own stories, we need to understand who we are and where we have come from. In order for our stories to sit comfortably and befittingly in the land with those of our ancestors, we need to take only enough and be grateful for what we are given.

Do we truly know how to do that?

Dank encourages us to learn from the stories of our land, not just because our ancestors have belonged and made contributions here, but because our children and their descendants are to be born in this place far into the future. Surely we can acknowledge this profound lesson.

In the author’s language, “mankujba” is the “way of knowing, listening, seeing, thinking, believing and feeling” our land. In this sense, We Come With This Place is “a book to lean to and take time with”, as it shows us not just what our country has become, but what it could and should be.

Note: This book review was published under the title “Welcome to this land” by Ranges Trader Star Mail, July 11, 2023, P.10.

[everything golden mims · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 Book Review: “We Come With the Country” by Debra Danks

Debra Danks’ “We Come With the Country” is a lyrical masterpiece, weaving a spellbinding narrative that resonates deeply with the reader. Despite the challenges of articulating the stories in her native language, Danks’ prose effortlessly draws readers into the heart of her tales.

Through her poignant storytelling, Danks captures the profound fear of losing one’s children and the heartbreaking reality of stolen children in Australia. She skillfully portrays the enduring divide between black and white communities, highlighting the ongoing struggle for justice and equality.

While the narrative is challenging at times, it is a necessary journey that sheds light on the treatment of one of the oldest races on their own land. Danks’ portrayal of the Aboriginal connection to their country is both enlightening and profound, highlighting the significance and damage caused by the Stolen Generation.

The chapter ‘Leaving Special’ is particularly poignant, offering a glimpse into vibrant celebrations filled with the deep sounds of the didgeridoo and the singing in their native tongue. Witnessing Lucy’s strength in standing up to injustices is truly admirable, yet it is a stark reminder of the harsh realities faced by Indigenous communities throughout history.

“We Come With the Country” is a powerful and thought-provoking read that educates, inspires, and challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths. Danks’ writing is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of understanding and honoring diverse cultures. Highly recommended for those seeking a profound and moving literary experience. 🌟

Happy reading x

#BookReview #WeComeWiththeCountry #DebraDanks

[Natasha (jouljet) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you look carefully, it's possible to see the pain as it lies in the landscape. Can you hear the wail in the wind and see the blood running with the dust? There is danger, too, in the stories that have come out of the bodies of our ancestors and are sitting there, waiting for us to look and to hear them, and they cut with sharp edges honed by the awful things done in this country."

A memoir and family history story of family lines and ties to country, spanning many generations, and thousands of years.

Intertwining present day, with Dreaming stories, with grandmother's stories, and knowledge of land and it's plentiful offering. But also it's damage, destruction and dispossession since colonisation.

The gems of language sprinkled within, seamlessly, and without overt definition, is beautiful. The story is told such that context allows each word to show its meaning as the story goes. The preface explains that these are from several language groups, as used by the family.

A generous, confronting record of the history of a family line, a connection to each other and country, and to those who were here before and who's spirits remain as guides. A book all Australians can learn from, and develop a greater appreciation of our lands and it's people.

[Jacob Langham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book via audiobook and wasn’t disappointed. The author’s narration was soothing and also heartbreaking, with her raw emotions relaying the trauma of growing up as a First Nations person in Australia in regional Queensland.

The examples of blatant racism were quite shocking and paint a different picture of the Australia I was taught about at school. I was so intrigued in learning about the author’s people, the Gudanji of the Eastern Northern Territory. I was especially fascinated by her stories relating to the women who came from the water and her story about the crocodile eggs.

It was heartbreaking listening to her experiences with her grandmother growing up and being separate from the family at outings, which would have been traumatic for a young child. I found the concluding chapter relating to her son fascinating and his ability to practice cultural knowledge from such a young age inspiring.

This would have been very difficult to write, let alone narrate so I thank the author for the vulnerability she showed in sharing her story in such a public way. This is necessary for anybody looking to understand the true uncomfortable history of Australia and its relationship with its First peoples.

[Hil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book poignant and wise. The book is composed of a series of short stories or vignettes tracing the author's personal family history and learning.
As she traces historic tribe and family devastation at the hands of lawless European colonisers, Dank describes the heartbreak of too many murders and betrayals. There is counterpoint in her joy and uplift born of her own deep, rich inherited knowledge of country. Dank's story about hunting for crocodile eggs is particularly illustrative of the remarkable way she is able to draw on ancestral knowledge.
There is a part of me that felt a sense of loss because when I walk on the land where I live in metropolitan Melbourne/Naarm, I lack the deep knowledge Indigenous Aboriginal people acquired here over so many thousands of generations of habitation and care. Layer by layer, a story by story, this book builds a sense of the value of Aboriginal knowledge and awareness of country. We can't afford to lose such a precious resource.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Debra Dank lives and breathes the story of her country, her being, her past present and future, her life entwined with the life of others, and the big story that is the life of this country.
Books, story, school learning, and simply being in country, were all combined and encouraged by her parents. Debra knew that capturing story with words, in books, does not allow for the fluidity and essence of what Life, Story and Country is. Her father rarely read books, but “...he read stories in a landscape that was full of them.” Her own writing is from hard-won experience and insights, telling a life story that enlightens us - ‘I come from a culture that has never existed in the story of individuals’.
Debra's parents had a wisdom within themselves, which also reached way back to the ancestors.
And yet nothing could protect them from the tragedies, horrors and ongoing trauma inflicted on them for generations, under colonization and the Aboriginal Protection Act.

[Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

" We walked with country..."
This is such a beautiful and heartbreaking love letter to Ms Dank's ancestors, the land "country", the stories that the families have been passing from generation to generation, to us the readers. It is about the profound connection, respect and knowledge Aboriginal people have about nature - being one and the same (hence the title).
It is not only lyrical reminiscence of course. There is all the pain caused by the "white man", the stealing of children, killings, raping, the land grab and its destruction.
What I absolutely loved about this book was the original Aboriginal voice and cadence. With this book Ms Dank is giving us the privilege to sit around the fire with her people and hear their stories, to begin to understand their unique perception of time and space.
A truly astonishing window into the life and rhythm of the longest continuously surviving civilization on Earth. We should certainly listen.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful memoir that pulls together different elements of family, country and culture in a story told through snapshots in time. I really liked the lyrical prose that helped me as a reader experience the sensations of being in the environment, among people past and present, and looking positively into the future. Some sections of the story were confronting, such as her family's experiences of oppression, violence and dispossession. Remarkably, these painful and difficult aspect of the story never felt like a diatribe of blame, rather it was a sharing of both the good and bad of past lives that moulded present lives and perspectives. At times I struggled with the non-linear form of storytelling and connecting the different branches of family and timeframes, however it was part of a carefully constructed journey of bringing the reader to an understanding of the importance of place and history. Overall I found that book to be a positive, uplifting and generous sharing of a life journey, connection to country and the concept of past, present and future all co-existing in the indigenous consciousness. A very worthwhile read.

[Gretchen Bernet-Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taken from the back cover of this book “Debra Dank faces head-on the ingrained racism that lies always under the skin of Australia, the racism that makes it possible to beat and rape and disenfranchise the Indigenous population.” Also written in “We Come With This Place is a profound tribute to family and to Gudanji Country to which Debra Dank belongs, but it is much more than that. Here is Australia as it has been for countless generations, people and place always in balance; and now Australia as it has become, but also Australia as it could and should be.” It would appear that those who voted “No” in the recent Australian Government Referendum did not read this book. Neither did thousands of Australian citizens who believe mining corporation duplicity and those who perpetuate our white colonial past. There is still time to read this heartfelt book and reflect on change.

[James Whitmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kujiga, goodalu, mankujba — this book opens with these Gudanji words. Kujiga and goodalu are related to the European idea of soul, Debra Dank shows, but indelibly bound to place; at a beach away from her country Dank writes that the sand feels “discordant with the rhythm of my goodalu and of my kujiga”. Mankujba is the “way of knowing, listening, seeing, thinking, believing and feeling” country, and in We Come With This Place Dank recounts some of the history of her family and country while demonstrating what it means to know, listen, see, think, believe and feel the land. Read more on my blog.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Come With This Place evokes many emotions - wonder, horror, delight and empathy. It is an extraordinary mix of Aboriginal myth, family storytelling, history and memoir. On the one hand it brings shame to white Australians as we read yet again of European colonists' appalling treatment of our Indigenous peoples - within living memory of the author - and on the other hand it brings delight as we walk with Debra Dank in her original lands and share her joy in the passing on of her culture over the generations, past, present and future.

We are talking about this remarkable book in our online book group at present. I'd say it's a perfect discussion book - structure, genre(s) - and above all, humanity.

[Ruby Lay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an incredible insight to Australia’s Traditional Owners’ experiences. What a privilege to read about the experiences of Debra Dank and her family & community, and to hear stories of Indigenous Australians being passed on for more people to understand and further respect the land we are on. Some chapters are heavy, as is the history of the genocide of the Aboriginal people, and it is important reading for all. Dank’s writing flows brilliantly, I struggled to put this book down, wanting to absorb all she was sharing. I am so grateful that I was able to read this, and for the opportunity to learn more about Gudanji history and stories!