released October 2023
Näku Dhäruk
The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy
In 1963—a year of agitation for civil rights worldwide—the Yolŋu of northeast Arnhem Land created the Yirrkala Bark Petitions: Näku Dhäruk. ‘The land grew a tongue’ and the land-rights movement was born.
Näku Dhäruk is the story of a founding document in Australian democracy and the trailblazers who made it. It is also a pulsating picture of the ancient and enduring culture of Australia’s first peoples.
And it is a masterful, groundbreaking history.
Clare Wright’s Democracy Trilogy began with The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka and continued with You Daughters of Freedom. It concludes with this compulsively readable account of a momentous episode in our shared story.
In an extraordinary feat of scholarship and creativity, Clare Wright shows how an act of brave and dignified resistance by the Yolŋu people in 1963 helped remake Australian democracy. Their story should be as well known as Eureka and Gallipoli. Here, we have a historian of unusual originality tell it with skill, sensitivity and insight. Wright has produced a history that combines a stunningly beautiful lyricism with formidable intellectual power. I am in awe of this book. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read.
Prof Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU
Winner, Queensland Literary Awards: University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award, 2025
Winner, Northern Territory History Award, 2025
Shortlisted, Prime Minister’s LIterary Award, Australian History, 2025
Shortlisted, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, Non-Fiction, 2025
Shortlisted, Age Book of the Year, Non-fiction, 2025
Shortlisted, NSW History Awards, Australian History Prize, 2025
Shortlisted, The Australian Political Book of the Year, 2025
Shortlisted, ABIA Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year, Non-Fiction, 2025
Longlisted, Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award., 2025
Longlisted, Walkley Book Award, 2025.
“A major contribution…This is Australian political history in its most urgent form.”
A remarkable, once in a lifetime achievement. A landmark history. - Mark McKenna
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A remarkable, once in a lifetime achievement. A landmark history. - Mark McKenna 〰️
“Get the third in this trilogy. Get all of them…They’re fantastic, they’re gripping, and beautifully presented and written.”
