The Healing Power of Nature Theme Analysis

Annie has a deep connection with nature. She has cherished memories of watching wildlife with her baby sister and hunting with Mum. The first major disruption in her life involves her move from the “outcamp,” located deep in the bush on Boss’s substantial livestock ranch, into domestic service with her Aunty Adie at Boss’s house. After the authorities steal her from her family and place her in a residential school, she finds strength and solace from afternoons spent outside. Nature heals and strengthens Annie and her friends Janey and Tim both emotionally (in the form of the crying tree, where they can work out some of their emotional trauma) and physically—the gilgies they catch and eat augment the school’s meager and unhealthy diet and nurse Tim back to health from a serious respiratory infection. And the quiet and calm of nature at the crying tree—the trees, flowers, and birds, which are so familiar to Annie from her childhood—give her a way to hold on to her past and her Indigenous identity despite Teacher’s efforts to assimilate her to English society. Time in nature strengthens Annie’s body and soul, making her resilient enough to survive the difficult path she finds herself forced to travel. In this way, Sister Heart points to the important place that nature holds in Annie’s Indigenous culture, but also to nature’s power to heal and restore the soul in general.