GEORGIA Nanscawen doesn't have all the answers.

And neither does her family.

But together they're on a journey of discovery about their Indigenous heritage, which has so far been a 30-year investigation into family trees, stories and connection.

The Essendon veteran's great-grandfather, William Thomas Kirby, passed away in 1996, and from then the extended family has gradually uncovered layers of history, driven by William's daughter Barbara Greeves (née Kirby), Nanscawen's maternal grandmother.

"It wasn't until then that we uncovered we had Indigenous heritage through him. His wife didn't know, and it was only after he passed away that my family began to discover little bits and pieces and understanding, and starting to piece them together," Nanscawen told AFL.com.au.

"Part of that has been through family members, some have been quite active in the research space, going down those ancestry website paths to find a bit more.

"But what connected it all was through the Essendon football club and their own connections. There's obviously been a very strong Indigenous history at Essendon, so to lean on those contacts – I was connected to one of the elders and presented with basically my whole family tree and detail on family members going back generations. It was given to me in a massive folder, and it was really cool to see. Even now, we're still making connections.

"It impacts me, but seeing the impact it has on my grandmother – it's her dad that she didn't even know had that history. For her to have all these pieces start falling into place has been really powerful for her. She corrected some of the other research we had, because she's found birth and death certificates, marriage certificates, dates, lining it up and piecing it together."

Also linked to the family and Indigenous heritage is Hawthorn rookie Ollie Greeves, who is Nanscawen's younger cousin.

Nanscawen has been aware of her Indigenous heritage for many years but has only just felt she had enough knowledge and connection to the Waywurra mob (based in north-east Victoria, around Wangaratta) to be public about her family history.

At her heart was a fear of not having a strong enough connection, of causing mistakes or disrespect by being ill-informed, or not having the knowledge base to answer questions about her background.

"One of the first forms we got from the AFLPA on joining Essendon, I was like, 'do I tick the box (of Indigenous heritage)?'" Nanscawen said.

"You start to question it and wonder if it's the right thing to do. I said yes initially, someone came back to double-check and I said it was correct, but I didn't have enough information. This is the first year I've felt comfortable enough to be on the AFLPA's Indigenous players map.

"At our community camp in Shepparton this year, we had a smoking ceremony. They asked if anyone with Indigenous heritage would like to step forward first and walk through the smoke, and this was the first year I stepped forward.

"A few of my closer friends and teammates knew, but for the most part everyone didn't. For a while, it was 'what's the right way to go about this? What's the respectful way?' You don't want to say the wrong things, or if you get asked questions you don't know the answer to, what do you say?

"That's where it's been really great leaning on people like Mel (Phillips, Essendon's First Nations engagement and development manager) and other Indigenous PDMs (player development managers) we've had through the club. The more I've spoken to them it's been 'this is your journey, and everyone has a different way of discovering, there's no right or wrong way'."

Nanscawen is eager to be part of the upcoming two-week AFLW Indigenous Round celebrations, including Essendon's AFLW Dreamtime match against Richmond in Darwin on Sunday night.

"It feels like it's been a bit of a whirlwind since addressing the playing group as my first step to being a bit more open and public about it," she said.

"Our second physio Ebru (Efe) has been doing work with the Opals, and it was coming up to NAIDOC week (last month). She messaged me and said the Opals wanted someone to come and talk to them about NAIDOC week, and would I be open to doing it? And I was like yeah, as long as they know it's going to come from a bit of a different lens than someone who has known the history of the culture and is really ingrained in the identity, it'll be more around 'this is really new, and a journey'.

"So my first outward discussion about it was with the Opals, which was really cool. I think that gave me some confidence that I'm not an imposter, that it's my story. It might not be exactly the same as others, but that's what's special about it.

"Even having this conversation is taking the next step, so when we do get to Indigenous Round it's not 'why is Georgia stepping up and talking about this?', or 'why is she involved in the Dreamtime (pre-match) gift exchange?' I now feel comfortable to do these things, and being proud of my story and journey."

As to what's next for the extended Nanscawen-Greeves-Kirby family? More research, more discovery and more connections.

"The really big piece was getting that breakdown of all the family tree and history. Now it's trying to find other people who are connected to Waywurru. It's a real challenge, and there's no rulebook as to how you go about it, because for whatever reason, things are hidden or it can be hard to find that information," Nanscawen said.

"I'm fortunate I do have resources to lean into, because so many don't have that and are completely in the dark. The fact we know the land and the mob is now a really great start to keep discovering. A couple of my mum's family members, her cousins, are really active in that research space. Even having conversations with them, we're piecing together more pieces of the family tree. It's been really interesting and has connected me with family members I wouldn't have previously.

"Ideally, we'd love to at one stage get those family members together and head out to Wangaratta and see the land, and try and connect with other members of the Waywurru group. What time frame that's in, I'm not sure, but that would be a great thing to get to do."