Bittersweet Journey

by Ruth Hegarty

The long-awaited sequel to the award-winning memoir, ‘Is That You, Ruthie?’.After twenty-two years under Government control as an inmate of Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission, Ruth journeys towards freedom by marrying Joe Hegarty and moving to a nearby settlement. However, the settlement — with its origins as a camp for displaced Aboriginal families, its system of food rations and shortage of housing and jobs — is a difficult start for the young couple. Humour, a supportive circle of family and friends, and Ruth’s own resourcefulness prevail, and eventually the Hegartys achieve the basics of a house for their growing family.The invasive powers of the Native Affairs Department continue to affect their lives even when, years later, they move to the city. Ruth’s determination and irrepressible sense of fairness characterise a life vigorously committed to social justice and community causes.

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stain on Australia's recent past is highlighted in this memoir as the author tells her story of "escape" from the Aboriginal mission dormitory where she had been an inmate of 22 years. Unfortunately she escaped into a marriage of violence and instead of being owned by the Government she was owned by her husband.
The rest of the book relates her strength, resilience and skills in bringing up a large family, getting them educated and then working in the community in various roles and social justice projects.
When I read this type of book I feel how simple, easy and privileged it is to be a white male.
Hegarty's writing style is like listening to your old friend tell a story. It's a suitably humble style to an outstanding Australian.

[Maree Kimberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruth Hegarty's Is That You Ruthie? was one of the first books published giving a personal account of growing up as one of Australia's Stolen Generations. Bittersweet Journey is the sequel to that book, and cover's the years of Ruth's life from her early twenties, when she married and left Cherbourg dormitory, to her late sixties.

Hegarty's writing style is simple and straightforward, which highlights many of the harsh realities of her life in a direct, no nonsense manner. Walk a few miles with your suitcase to the hospital while you're in labour? She did it, so did most of the women who lived in Cherbourg mission. She bore beatings from her husband in silence. She worked and scrimped and saved to get the basic household necessities, looking after the household budget with an eagle eye. Later in life she stepped in to care for her grandchildren when their mother wasn't able. She was instrumental in starting the first kindy for Aboriginal children in Brisbane. She achieved all this and more with a quiet dignity.

This is a story of strength and resilience told without fanfare. I read through it in a few days, picking it up whenever I had a spare moment and finding it hard to put down again. I find there are more than a few memoirs out there where the writers are making a lot of drama out of very little. In contrast, Hegarty downplays the drama, and her straightforward storytelling lets the events speak for themselves. She is a remarkable woman, and this is a great story. Highly recommended.

[Ruth Garlick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bittersweet Journey, by Aunty Ruth Hegarty, tells the story of her life after she left the Dormitory when she married Joe Hegarty. Her life is still far from easy, as she faces beatings by her husband, such extreme poverty that she had to save for months to buy something as basic as a fridge, and needing to care for six children.
The hardships that she went through because she’s Aboriginal, are horrific, and the discrimination from the Government is terrible.
In the 60’s, Aunty Ruth moves her family to Brisbane from Cherbourg, and there she starts to fight for the justice of her people, working as a Chairperson for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kindy, as an Indigenous teacher aide at a primary school, participating in numerous board meetings, and always protesting against the Government for proper rights and fairer treatment.
Aunty Ruth’s strength and spirit shines through her powerful books. And our Government really needs to read her books, as the abuse and discriminatory treatment of our First Nation peoples has still not stopped.
Bittersweet Journey is an eye-opener, will make you angry, but will encourage you to see that there are still things you can do, ways you can fight for justice.
I loved it.

[Moira Gibbons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sequal to "Is That You, Ruthie?" and another incredible story. A shocking tale of the horrendous treatment of Indigenous Australians in the early half of last century right up to the completion of the memoir in the early 21st century. From the seperation from her family in a Government encampment through enduring horrific domestic abuse to fighting for the rights of her people this book opens the eyes of the reader who may be unfamiliar to this shameful history and the fight continues.

[Shannon Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful for an American to learn about indigenous abuse that was happening in another part of the world. I will never forget the things that I learned about government control and assimilation of Australian Aboriginal peoples.