|
ASPECTS OF KIMBERLEY TOURISM
On 7 February 2001, for our first meeting of the year, we heard from Campbell Cornish, who operates Campbell Cornish’s Australian Odyssey, and Liz Terry, co-owner of Kimberley Coastal Camp. Unfortunately our third speaker for the night – Craig Howson, skipper/owner of the True North – had just returned from overseas and had to send his apologies.
Proceedings opened with Campbell Cornish giving some background information on himself. He worked for the Art Gallery of Western Australia for twenty-two years, during which time he oversaw the Aboriginal Art Collection, became curator in 1979, and then moved to exhibition design. Prior to working at the Art Gallery he travelled in the desert regions of Western Australia and fell in love with the Pilbara and Murchison areas. Occasionally he travelled as far north as the Kimberley. After leaving the Gallery in 1995 he travelled to the Kimberley region on a regular basis and also worked with Bob Cooper in the Pilbara region.
Campbell organised tours, first looking at Rock Art in the Pilbara and then eventually the Kimberley. In fact he did 12 trips in 5 months at one stage. After one trip involving repairs to eight tyres he decided on the purchase of an OKA. He had a trailer custom built to provide a pantry on one side, luggage storage on the other and kitchen at the rear. He has a rule of never driving at night if it can be avoided, and his other overriding concern is the safety of his passengers. His tours have a maximum of 12 people and he believes that they want time to enjoy the places visited on his trips. Campbell enjoys cooking and includes such Australian delicacies as kangaroo and emu on his menus. A typical menu would start with pumpkin soup followed by Thai chicken and then the roasting of Quandong seeds by the fire. Some of the slides that accompanied the talk certainly bore witness to the fact that he prides himself on setting a good table! Table cloth, napkins and wine glasses with individual place settings.
This year Campbell is leading tours into the Kimberley and, with the aid of some of Mike Donaldson’ slides, he gave a very interesting talk on the areas he will be visiting. These include the Charnley River and Mitchell Falls, with searches for examples of Bradshaw figures (known as Goyon or Djennaggi paintings by some Aboriginal people) and Wandjina rock art, a topic that Campbell himself is quite knowledgeable about. Another point that Campbell made was that he always applies for permission well in advance from both pastoral property owners and Aboriginal groups before planning trips. He also operates with current licenses from CALM and Department of Transport, together with an up to date Certificate in First Aid.
Liz Terry of Kimberley Coastal Camp was our second speaker for the evening. Liz opened by showing on a map the whereabouts of the Camp. She then outlined the stages she and Rocky, her husband, have been through in their quest to establish their dream. Liz described the ten years it has taken them to establish the Coastal Camp, as it is today, as an evolution. They started off as tourists doing the standard Kimberley tour destinations until the late 1980s when they ventured into the Drysdale and King Edward regions and finally up to the Mitchell Plateau. As Liz described it they “got hooked and besotted” with the region. They felt they had connected with the sea and fell in love with the Admiralty Gulf. Having decided their children were old enough to cope with their parents leaving home they set off for Walsh Point in November and travelled around in a 10-foot dinghy until they settled on the ideal site for their venture and marked their map with an “X”.
The bay they chose was located on vacant crown land and is sheltered from the sea breeze and from the full force of cyclones. In 1994, after gaining a lease from DOLA, they set about planning the camp site. The logistics of the site required much careful planning. There were, and still are, no roads or airstrip available. The land area consists mainly of King Leopold sandstone. The decisions of how, and of what, to construct the buildings, and how to transport the materials to the site, all had to be made.
The only solution was to bring everything in by sea, i.e. by barge. Rocky decided a boat was essential to their enterprise and designed the Warrabee. Initially their only form of communication with the outside world was via HF radio and the RFDS Service, now non-existent. This has now been replaced with a solar powered phone. Power for the camp was also provided by a solar unit and only recently has this been upgraded to provide a 24-hour supply. Liz pointed out that all the buildings at the camp had to have plans drawn up and submitted to the Wyndham-East Kimberley Shire for approval, and that they are also required to pay rates and taxes despite being largely self sufficient. Great care has been taken to ensure minimum impact on their surroundings. All waste is composted or burnt and anything that cannot be disposed of in this way is sent out by barge. The septic tanks and leach drains are all located well away from any water sources.
A swimming pool was also a necessity. The bronze whaler sharks and estuarine crocodiles inhabiting the Gulf make swimming in the ocean inadvisable. Tourists visiting the camp mostly fly in from Broome or Kununurra, although some drive to the Mitchell Plateau and fly in from there. Some arrive by float plane, others by helicopter.
Liz described some very amusing anecdotes on the wildlife found in and around the camp. Rock rats and hermit crabs are constant inhabitants as are Quolls. In fact the quolls had a population explosion which in turn attracted olive pythons, which feed on quolls. It is fairly common to have an olive python literally hanging around the camp buildings, one in particular is around 12 feet long. The area is a rich fishing ground along with much evidence of Aboriginal habitation in the form of many shell middens. The examples of Bradshaw figures include the tasselled, transitional and geometric figures and new finds are still being made. The abundant bird life found around the camp includes osprey whose nests have been monitored for the last 10 years. Scrub fowl with active mounds are also in evidence.
The guest accommodation, for a maximum of 8 guests, consists of open-air gazebos that are fitted with flyscreens, shade cloth blinds, fans and 24-volt power. A large 60 x 30 open air shed constructed of recycled timber from the Fremantle Woolstores serves as dining room, common room etc. All supplies come by barge but food is also gathered during excursions to nearby points of interest such as Steep Head Island and Secret Creek. Such delicacies as oysters, mud crabs and fish are available.
The kind of people that are attracted to the Kimberley Coastal Camp are generally couples or groups of friends, mostly 40 plus. The Australians tend to be well travelled and well educated and the overseas travellers are people looking for something different. Specialist groups such as artists, photographers, bird watchers, naturalists and Aboriginal rock art enthusiasts and of course those who love good fishing are also attracted. The Camp is open only during the dry season from May to November, by which time Liz and Rocky need a rest from the daily grind! The camp is also an official Meteorological Bureau site and New Year’s Eve this year they recorded 308mm of rain!! Liz gained this information when she phoned to find out how their caretakers were coping during the “wet”.
Daphne Edinger & Susan Clarkson
UNVEILING TROPICAL AUSTRALIA
Our speaker on 7 March 2001 was Professor Leslie Marchant, a scholar and author well known for his work on both William Dampier and the French exploration of the Australian coast. Professor Marchant’s summary of his talk, which was titled ‘Unveiling Tropical Australia: the scientific explorations of William Dampier and his successors’, follows.
Although William Dampier is of prime significance in the history of the scientific exploration of the northern part of Australia and its tropical neighbours, his work and discoveries must not be viewed in isolation. For he was a product and part of the Renaissance which he helped bloom to become the Age of Enlightenment. And the intellectuals in both of those Ages, of which Dampier was one, harked back to classical antiquity when the foundations of science and its methodology were laid, and when scientific explorations of the world began, for the people in antiquity possessed the same intelligence and inquisitiveness as modern man, and did not stay at home, nor confine their interests as geographical-historical books like that written by Herodotus reveals.
In this lecture I would like to draw attention to Dampier's predecessors so as to place him in a correct perspective, which is largely the subject of my forthcoming book that I feel members of this society would like to be informed about.
Historians of Western Australia are more fortunate than those in other parts of the continent, for it lies on the rim of the proper Mediterranean Ocean : not the little bit of water that was named the Middle of the World Sea by Romans and other Latins who were prone to exaggerate. Most of the major civilizations emerged and developed on the rim of the northern Indian Ocean and the seas which extend to China, as historical atlases show.
Peoples living in those early civilizations knew their stars and other heavenly bodies. They could navigate across featureless desert wastes and seas, and had the means and logistics to travel. They built ships and provisioned them and or took seeds and cuttings to plant on the way or at journey's end. My task in my new book is to draw together all of the results of the researches about the explorations conducted in our part of the world, to show where we have got to at present, so these can be built on in the future.
There are many pathways yet to be examined. One of the most important of these stems from Eratosthenes (c 276- 194 or 192 BC) calculating the length of the circumference of the Earth. Suggestions have been made that the skilled and knowledgeable seamen and mathematical geographers could have tried to confirm Eratosthenes calculations by way of a circumnavigation. Evidence for this has been sought for some time, as has the search for early Chinese and other explorations of our region.
That trade formed part of the early contacts made between lands and peoples is not in doubt. Archaeological and literary evidence supports this. For example, the Bible records Solomon and his Phoenician partners trade links with the Land of Ophir, and the foreign goods that were imported.
This brings us back to Dampier. He sought to discover and describe all of the resources in our tropical region, as he had done in the West Indies. And he did this well, laying the foundations for modern resource surveying based on scientific methods. It was this contribution that earned him a place in Napoleon's Gallery of Notables, representing British explorations. For his books were designed to develop the wealth of nations.
THE FUTURE OF THE KIMBERLEY
Our speaker on 4 April 2001 was Ernie Bridge, the former Member of Parliament for the Kimberley. Ernie started by saying that he was not going to make a speech but wanted to have a bit of yarn, sharing his views on the future of the Kimberley region, and then have an exchange of views with the members. This format generated a good response.
Ernie had received the Society’s invitation to speak before the recent State election but had already reached the decision to retire from politics. His decision to retire reflected the fact that he could not generate enough interest from his fellow parliamentarians about his ideas. Hansard records his views as an advocate of the big picture approach to Australia as a nation.
Australia is, in Ernie’s opinion, one of the most over-governed countries in the world. This situation has become worse over the last 10 years and seems irrespective of which political party is in power. The dominance of this process is forcing more and more farmers to leave their properties and is thus leaving Australia in a bad way. Ernie stands by a belief that selling our assets is not in the best interests of our nation and that enough is enough. He also advocates getting rid of the National Economic Policy, arguing that it is counter-productive to our future development.
Ernie divided thinkers into three groups, the first being what he termed ‘big thinkers’. The Kimberley needs people who are big thinkers, ie those who know what’s right, have great belief in themselves, and can see ahead. The second group he termed ‘average thinkers’—those preoccupied with daily events and interested only in short term projects. The third group comprises ‘lesser thinkers’—those preoccupied with people and negative things. Ernie believes that our nation lacks big thinkers, that our political leaders fall into the second group, and that most parliamentarians fall into either the second or the third group.
With regard to the Kimberley he observed that the resources of the region are unlimited but should not be open to exploitation by a few. They should be made to work for all of us and we should all share in the benefits. Water resources are his pet project and he felt that there were no big thinkers in this field. He went on to say Australia was the driest continent in the world and that, consequently, we needed to maximise our water resources. The Ord River development is an example of what can be achieved with a sustainable resource. In other areas, however, the water rates are becoming too expensive for farmers who require orderly supplies at the lowest basic cost in order to continue development of our agricultural industry.
Members of the audience were keen to hear Ernie’s views on the recent proposal to dam the Fitzroy River. While the proposal was, and is, opposed by many, Ernie pointed out that, each year, the Fitzroy pours some 8 million megalitres of water into the sea and thousands of tonnes of topsoil. To put these figures into perspective, he cited Sydney with a population of approximately 5 million people using half a million megalitres of water a year! He also sees tidal power as another resource that should be used.
With regard to employment and prospects generally, Ernie noted that the pastoral industry is uncertain at present with price fluctuations creating a lot of hardships. He sees tourism as important to the Kimberley, especially in places such as Broome, as it brings about much needed improvements to the infrastructure of the region. In both tourism and the pastoral industry some Aboriginal people have done well but Ernie feels that, overall, very little change has occurred. In fact, even though the Community Employment Development Project (CDEP) has been successful in some areas, recent changes to its administration have resulted in projects now being under threat. Assured opportunity for progress in indigenous programs is needed for continued Aboriginal participation in the pastoral industry.
Ernie concluded by saying the Kimberley region can be developed in an exciting and progressive way providing we all work together. He wants to see the Kimberley region “freed up” rather than “locked up”. After 21 years as a politician representing the Kimberley, Ernie feels that people with bold, visionary strategies are needed if the future of the region is to be a positive one.
Daphne Choules Edinger and Susan Clarkson
ORD RIVER STAGE 2 DEVELOPMENT: WATER ALLOCATION PLANNING
On 2 May 2001, Leon English from the Waters & Rivers Commission spoke to the Kimberley Society about the criteria that will govern the allocation of water in Stage 2 of the Ord River Development. No summary of this talk is available.
THE ART OF PAEDIATRICS IN THE KIMBERLEY
At the June 2001 meeting Dr Jack Vercoe, our President, spoke of his experience as Paediatrician for the Kimberley, based in Derby, from 1988 through to 1991. The position of Paediatric Registrar is a rotation from Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital for experienced trainees in Paediatrics for a minimum of six months.
Jack’s work entailed inpatient and outpatient care, plus visiting remote communities and towns in the Kimberley and transferring sick children via the Royal Flying Doctor Service, usually to Perth. He opened his talk by discussing the large cultural barrier that occurs when a doctor used to working in a large city hospital, with all the attendant facilities, first has to establish rapport with Aboriginal mothers for whom Australian English is not a first language.
A slide listing the most common cause of admissions revealed that respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases were the most common reason for hospitalisation. In the local patois of Aboriginal English, these conditions were referred to as “cold sick” and “runny tummy”. There was also considerable mortality, much higher than the practice which Jack now pursues in metropolitan Perth. Acute medical transfers of sick children, mainly newborn babies, was a major problem in the late 1980s as the Derby RFDS did not have a suitable transport cot to transfer these babies. The Port Hedland RFDS obliged until a cot was obtained for Derby.
The talk was illustrated with numerous slides. Some clinical slides showed kidney stones which were a not uncommon feature in the Kimberley. Another slide showed Perthes Disease of the hip which is common in children but, on this occasion, “magic string” had been inserted into the hip joint to aid the child’s limp. Needless to say this “magic string” did not show up very well on the X-ray! Another series of slides showed a patient from a worst case scenario of acute dehydration complicating a borderline nutritional state. The child was extremely wasted and had intravenous and nasogastric tubes inserted. Fortunately at the end of the series he was without those tubes and looking much chubbier and less miserable.
We next went on a slide-illustrated tour of the Kimberley Clinics to show the actual clinics, patients and general medical conditions associated with those places. In Broome we were reminded that in those days there was still a zoo with an extensive and wonderful wildlife collection. One was also allowed unrestricted access to Streeter’s pearling jetty, which is no longer the case. At Looma a slide showed the three rocks on a small hill which represent the three drowned lizard children from a local Dreamtime story. At Looma it wasn’t always hard work as after Clinics one could go to the dams and billabongs and catch cherrabun in throw nets.
One of the highlights for Jack was a Gibb River Road trip with Sister Chris Brenton who at that time had been servicing the region on a regular basis for about nine years. It would seem that the Gibb River Road is a much busier place now and that one would no longer be the only person having a swim in Manning Gorge at this time of the year. At Gibb River Road Station Jack was able to sample freshly prepared and cooked “prairie oysters”. The trip culminated in a mercy dash from Imintji with a seriously ill infant in the cabin of the utility. The mother and a sibling rode in the back travelling down the Gibb River Road at night to Derby Hospital.
Then followed a series of Clinics which were visited in those days by the courtesy of the RFDS which had five pilots, three planes, and four or five flight nurses, who were employed at that stage by the Victorian Section of the RFDS. These days, as we learned from a talk last year, the WA section has taken over the running and coordination of the Kimberley RFDS services. Now most clinics are accessed by charter plane, which obviously frees up the RFDS planes for emergency work.
Visitors to the remote desert clinics are allowed visits to people in their home country where they will obviously feel much more comfortable. It also provided for contact with the local healers or maban men. One of these was Dominic Martin who apart from being a well utilised local health resource was also quite a renowned desert artist. Although he was mute and communicated orally with grunting inflections he did have the use of the desert sign language to convey his thoughts and treatments. Unfortunately more detailed discussions of health and health problems were obviously precluded but Dominic was always ready to offer his opinion. Another member of the community at Balgo was said to practice mainly as a paediatrician but he was too shy to impart any of his knowledge or opinions.
In Kalumburu the scenery was vastly different. As well as being able to swim in a local creek, which was mildly crocodile infested there was also occasion to dine with the monks and brothers at the Benedictine Monastery and taste their home brew. Hookworm was endemic at Kalumburu at the time, and presumably is still, but it was usually kept in check when one of the local Catholic sisters organised regular worming of the community. At one stage, when this sister was in Perth in hospital, many of her community including several young children became severely anaemic.
Finally, it would have been remiss of Dr Vercoe not to have mentioned the fact that he met his wife at the Cable Beach Club, hence adding another strong association with the Kimberley.
TALES OF OLD FITZROY CROSSING
At our meeting of 4 July 2001 Dr Cathie Clement spoke about some of the people and incidents that feature in the history of Old Fitzroy Crossing. The accompanying visual material and readings provided glimpses, both serious and frivolous, of what life was like in the area.
The country surrounding Fitzroy Crossing is home to the Bunuba, Gooniyandi and Walmajarri people. Their first encounters with Europeans probably occurred in 1879 when Alex Forrest’s exploration expedition crossed the Kimberley. Forrest described Aboriginal people he saw near Mt Pierre as ‘the most miserable lot we have seen as yet’. His lot was miserable too—after failing to find a passage through the King Leopold Range—and several were too weak to walk. They were living off horse meat, game and fish, and at least one horse had been lost with symptoms indicative of what would later be termed Kimberley Horse Disease. Forrest was nonetheless wildly enthusiastic about the Fitzroy River valley and its pastoral potential.
The government allocated Kimberley pastoral leases during and after 1881. The early lease applications, including those lodged by Donald MacDonald & Co. for Fossil Downs Station, were based solely on the scant information recorded by Forrest. The MacDonald brothers built a rudimentary homestead east-north-east of the Fitzroy Crossing in 1886 and for a few more years the Aboriginal people enjoyed unfettered access to adjacent land. The other early West Kimberley stations were much nearer Derby. Some were on the Fitzroy, and James Munro and his associates had a stone homestead (now Lillmaloora Police Station ruin) on the Lennard.
In 1886 thousands of prospectors travelled up the Fitzroy River track to the Halls Creek gold rush. Makeshift stores opened at the crossings on the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers but, when the short-lived rush ended, the storekeepers followed the disillusioned prospectors back to the port. The MacDonalds were then in the position that would become normal for the inland stations—they faced days of travel over rough tracks to buy any commodities they needed.
In 1890 the Emanuel brothers engaged Joseph Blythe to establish Noonkanbah sheep station on land downstream from the Fitzroy Crossing. The government built a telegraph station at Blue Bush Swamp near Fossil Downs. Edwin Rose put sheep on Quanbun and John Collins put cattle and horses on Beef Acres (later known as Oscar Range Station) thus filling up the land west and north-west of the crossing. The Blythes ran stock on Brooking Creek Station, between Fossil Downs and Oscar Range Stations. The Bunuba people fought against this expansion and there were killings on both sides. Police stations opened at Fitzroy Crossing and elsewhere during this period. The Bunuba resistance continued until 1897 when a police patrol killed the young leader, Jandamarra (Pigeon).
A few European women had come to the Fitzroy Crossing area by this time. Eliza Annear, wife of the first telegraph master, was possibly the first to do so. Hannah Nicholson and Maria (“Dolly”) Pilmer lived at the police station where their husbands served as constables in 1896. Pauline and Mary Blythe were on Brooking Creek Station by 1901.
By 1897 the Emanuels had established Margaret Downs (Gogo) Station on the south-east side of the Fitzroy Crossing, and Hutton and Rose were ready to establish Leopold Downs Station to the north. Jubilee Downs Station also came into existence, replacing Plumb’s Plain Station, which the MacDonalds had managed for absentee owners. With wages around and big thirsts building up in the Kimberley heat, there was now money to be made from the provision of amenities. Charles Blythe opened the Crossing Inn, which later included a store, in 1897.
The small population that lived in and around Fitzroy Crossing included many others now part of the district’s fascinating history—names like Bell, Bent, Bird, Bohemia, Cox, Cunninghame, Fallon, Flinders, Gardiner, Henwood, Jones, Lawford, Le Lievre, Millard, Orr, Piper, Poole, Ross, Sadler, Scott, Scrivener, Shandley, Skuthorp, Webb and Wells. Those people and others will be in Cathie’s book on Old Fitzroy Crossing, which is due to be published later this year.
THE ABORIGINAL HERITAGE ACT 1972
On 1 August 2001 Kevin Shaw and Amanda Cattermole, both from the Western Australian Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA), spoke on the topic ‘Application of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 in the Kimberley’. Kevin is an anthropologist. Amanda is a lawyer.
The Act was developed as part of a worldwide movement to protect Indigenous Heritage. Attitudes to the management of Indigenous affairs were undergoing major change at the time. It is an offence punishable under the Act to knowingly damage an Aboriginal site. There is also a requirement, under Section 15, for any person who becomes aware of an unrecorded site to report the existence of that site to the Registrar of Aboriginal Sites at DIA.
The Act is administered on behalf of the community (both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal). Its purpose is to protect and preserve Aboriginal heritage, including any site or object which is of significance to Aboriginal people. The significance can be sacred, ritual or ceremonial, and it can be either traditional or current. Sites and objects can include burial grounds, symbols, paintings and engravings (in caves or on rock faces), stone structures or arrangements, carved trees and specific tracts of country and/or water.
Responsibility for administration of the Act rests with the Minister for Indigenous Affairs who is assisted by both the Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee (ACMC) and the Registrar of Aboriginal Sites. The ACMC exists to provide informed advice to the Minister regarding any project, which involves possible disturbance of an Aboriginal site. The Registrar is responsible for maintaining the Register of Aboriginal Sites. He/she also attends ACMC meetings.
The Register, which contains information on some 17,000 Aboriginal sites throughout Western Australia, is maintained under Section 38 of the Act. It can be accessed through the site http://www.aad.wa.gov.au/index.html on the Internet. Appointments are necessary to view actual files. The DIA holds a range of information about recorded sites. It has a strict policy about access because some of the information may have high cultural sensitivity. Unrestricted access would breach the confidence of the people who gave the information. Unregulated access has the potential to interfere with longstanding cultural practices and beliefs.
The key sections of the Act that affect the management of Aboriginal sites are Sections 16, 17 and 18. Under section 17, it is an offence to disturb any Aboriginal site. There are, however, two ways in which, given appropriate circumstances, people can obtain permission to disturb sites.
Under Section 16 the Registrar can authorise excavation and removal of anything from an Aboriginal site or of an Aboriginal site. Section 16 is generally used for research purposes after consultation with Indigenous people. Section 16 applications often relate to proposed archaeological work. All such applications go before the ACMC.
Under Section 18 the Minister can consent to disturbance if development is likely to impact a site. Before granting consent, the Minister receives a recommendation from the ACMC. The recommendation can be accompanied by suggested conditions for the consent. The Minister considers the ACMC recommendation and the general interests of the community when making a decision.
When the ACMC is making its decisions, the Committee members determine whether the place in question is a site under Sections 5 and 39 of the Act. In doing so they generally draw on heritage assessments prepared by or with substantial input from relevant Aboriginal individuals and communities. The members ensure that the input is from appropriate people and, further, that the level of consultation and the submission of data are adequate.
DIA Regional Offices can assist development proponents by offering advice and consultation, organising register searches and helping to contact the relevant Aboriginal individuals and communities. Kevin Shaw fulfils this role, and others, in the DIA office in Derby. He pointed out that, in the Kimberley region, Aboriginal attachments to land have generally been continual, making it comparatively simple to identify the people who have a right to speak for certain country.
Some of Kevin’s recent work has involved looking at the extent of surface skeletal remains in one Kimberley area. Such remains are protected by the Act. Forensic anthropologists are looking at the material with the aim of determining its ethnic origin. With skeletal material, it is necessary to determine whether the Act applies, ie whether the skeletal material is of Aboriginal origin. If the material is Aboriginal in origin, it is an offence under the Act to disturb it without the consent under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. In one recent case where skeletal material had been disturbed in the Kimberley a Section 16 approach was implemented so that the site could be managed in accordance with Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. DIA prefers where possible to negotiate rehabilitation of unauthorised disturbance to sites where appropriate. Litigation is usually the line of last resort.
In discussing Aboriginal sites more generally, Kevin noted that song lines, art and stories about country, when taken together, form the equivalent, for Aboriginal people, of the Certificates of Title that spell out ownership in European society. Religious significance of sites is often difficult for non-Aboriginal people to grasp and/or accept because some places of religious significance look very ordinary. Kevin also noted that a very experienced eye is usually required to see the more subtle sites, eg stone arrangements.
There was some discussion of how the Aboriginal Heritage Act, the Native Title Act and the Heritage Act of Western Australia (for the built environment) relate to one another and, in places, overlap. The presence of Aboriginal heritage sites, for example, can be evidence for native title. It was also acknowledged that some sites have dual heritage significance. The Boab Prison Tree outside Derby is one such site. It has longstanding mythological significance as well as being of interest to tourists because it is said to have held Aboriginal prisoners who were on their way to Derby.
Dual significance can cause problems if action that one interest group desires is not acceptable to another. The huge controversy over the redevelopment of the Old Swan Brewery in Perth illustrates this area of conflict. A much smaller controversy arose over development at the Boab Prison Tree. Shire staff installed a metal walkway to protect the roots of the tree from compaction and, whilst trying to do the right thing in environmental terms, caused great offence to the local Aboriginal people. Parts of the metal decking touched the tree and, after much discussion, it was removed. A comprise achieved through consultation subsequently resulted in a bush timber fence being built to enclose the tree, at a distance, with a sign that requests visitors to respect the cultural significance of the tree and to avoid walking up to it and climbing on or into it. Both the cultural and environmental aspects have now been catered for, and information panels in a nearby shelter provide information about the tree from both an Aboriginal and a non-Aboriginal perspective.
Animated discussion followed the talk, indicating that both the subject and its ramifications were of considerable interest to quite a few people in the audience.
Cathie Clement
20 YEARS OF PLANT COLLECTING IN THE KIMBERLEY
On 5 September 2001, Kevin Kenneally and I (Daphne Edinger) spoke to Kimberley Society about our botanical work in the Kimberley. The saga begins at the Walcott Inlet in May 1983. I had recently retired from teaching biology (in December 1982) and already belonged to ANZSES (Australia & New Zealand Scientific Exploration Society) who were organising this trip to the Kimberley. I had never been to the Kimberley before and it was the beginning of a long association, visiting every year but one for 18 years.
Kevin Kenneally, a specialist researching the Kimberley flora, arrived at Walcott Inlet as the botanical adviser. We met and felt an instant rapport and I became his assistant helping him to collect, press and describe the hundreds of specimens from a new area.
Kevin and I shared the telling of this story as we showed slides of the first five years of this fruitful association, botanically speaking, of course! Some of these early expeditions involved the Naturalists’ Club and many of the audience were able to identify themselves and friends in the historical photographs.
The Walcott Inlet expedition in 1983 involved a four-week stay at a base camp on Neville Creek, a tributary of the Calder River, which is one of the three rivers emptying into this vast tidal inlet. We took many trips in dinghies to cover as much of the area as possible and climbed Mt Daglish in the Harding Range, stumbling back to camp in the dark. The results of this expedition were written up in the journal of the Western Australian Naturalists’ Club in 1993.
1984 was a busy year when we spent nine weeks in the Kimberley, combining three different trips. First was a boat trip with the Naturalists’ Club from Broome around the coast north-eastwards, following the route of HMC ‘Mermaid’ in 1820 of Phillip Parker King and botanist Alan Cunningham, ending up in the Hunter River. This involved a camp on the beach at Naturalist Island in Prince Frederick Harbour. It was here that we had a visit from Dick Smith who spotted us and landed his helicopter to see what we were doing on such an isolated beach. We called in to Careening Bay where King had careened and repaired his deteriorating cutter, and the carpenter had inscribed the famous graffiti “HMC Mermaid 1820” on the huge boab behind the beach. Then up to King Cascade where King’s crew had refilled their barecas with fresh water and very thankful to get it. We found the fresh water spring at the confluence of fresh and salt water in Hunter River described in Cunningham’s diary, which I had transcribed especially for this trip and read excerpts to the members each night.
Back to Broome to start an expedition by vehicle to the Dampier Peninsula, ending up as far south as the Edgar Ranges. A new mulla-mulla collected from here was described by a German botanist as Ptilotus kenneallyanus – irreverently referred to as “Kevin’s bum plant” – and of a beautiful black-headed python, a road kill, which our feral companions threw on the fire and proceeded to eat. I was offered a piece and found it delicious.
The last leg of this trip was to Kununurra and the Bungle Bungles to join the large party discussing with the local Aboriginals how the area was to be managed as a national park, now called Purnululu. This involved a whole day collecting deep in Piccaninny Creek and on top of the vast dissected plateau by helicopter. This also resulted in a scientific report taking up an issue of the Naturalists journal in 1986.
Our 1985 trip was concentrated solely on the Dampier Peninsula when we found a new marshwort near Beagle Bay, subsequently named Nymphoides beaglensis. This trip involved a flight in a light plane from Broome up the coast to Cape Leveque and back, checking out the coastal vine thickets occupying the lee side of the vast white beach sand dunes.
1986 was a boat trip from Broome to the Sale River and back. Many of the rivers have no road access so the only way in is by sea.
1987 was also a boat trip to Camden Sound, again with the W A Naturalists’ Club. This was an area settled in 1865 by sheep farmers but was a disaster, ending in the death of the sheep and some of the colonists before they withdrew, defeated by heat, lack of water, suitable grasses for the animals, flies, mosquitos and disease.
1987 continued with the first of the Rainforest Surveys. We again assembled in Broome and travelled to a huge base camp on the King Edward River, including a helicopter pad. The groups of scientists were ferried in and out of their rainforest patches every three or four days. I remained behind doing all the chores in camp, such as assisting the entomologists with their collecting and attending to the plant presses and even washing people’s “smalls” when they were in a waterless site! This resulted, after three years work, in a book called “Kimberley Rainforests”.
After at least 10 years’ work on the Dampier Peninsula, Kevin, Tim Willing (from CALM Broome) and myself wrote the book Broome and Beyond for which we were awarded, in 1996, the CSIRO Medal for outstanding scientific research achievement. A fitting reward, but still the research and our association continues stronger than ever for who knows how many more happy years.
Daphne Choules Edinger
NATIVE TITLE AND LAND ACCESS IMPLICATIONS IN THE KIMBERLEY
On 3 October 2001, Steve White treated us to a detailed account of many aspects of Native Title, particularly that relating to the access of miners to land, for the purpose of mining or mining exploration, where the land is the subject of Native Title or under Native Title claim. This is a subject that we were keen to hear about from “the horse's mouth” as most of us only see or hear what appears in the media.
Steve is Manager, Aboriginal Affairs Land Access branch of the Dept of Minerals and Petroleum Resources. He is a geologist and he knows the Kimberley well from his work and knows every inch of one part having jogged the Gibb River Road in 8 days to raise money for the RFDS.
An early significant judicial decision in regard to land rights in the Kimberley was made in 1998. In a Claim brought by Ben Ward on behalf of the Miriuwong Gajerrong people (Kununurra area), Justice J Lee found that they had extensive rights to land and water, to control access and to trade in resources, eg arguably to collect royalties in respect of petroleum and minerals. This decision was appealed before the Full Bench of the Federal Court and in March 2000 it was found that Native Title was extinguished on enclosed and improved pastoral leases, certain mineral tenements, State Agreement Acts (e.g. Argyle Diamond Mine), and Large public works e.g. Ord Stage 1. This decision was in turn appealed to the High Court and a decision is expected late this year. The decision naturally has huge implications. One of the significant outcomes could be an answer to the question “Do enclosed and improved leases extinguish Native Title?” and, if so, what is the definition of enclosure and improvements.
Steve first outlined the current position in the Kimberley in regard to Native Title claims. Initially there were many overlapping claims but now there are proposed boundaries in which representative Aboriginal bodies operate. This change will facilitate consideration of claims. There are seven representative Aboriginal bodies, with the Kimberley extending into the Great Sandy Desert, the Tanami and part of the Pilbara.
There are around 130 Native Title Claims on the books at present covering 85% of the land in WA including huge areas of Vacant Crown Land. Curiously there is a lesser density of claims in the Kimberley than elsewhere in the State. Smaller claims (called “Polygon Claims”) have been raised in response to future Act applications. Many such small claims on the books at present have been made, which define the same areas as mineral tenement claims, in order to protect Aboriginal interests when the mining claims are processed. Other claims are either yet to be listed in the Federal Court, have been listed, or have been settled by consent determination. Examples of consent determination include 200 hectares by the Rubibi people at Broome, land in Noonkanbah Station and the area around Lake Gregory near Balgo for the Jurabalan people. There are 20 to 25 pastoral leases held by Aboriginal interests at present which cover a high percentage of the Kimberley. Obviously these have a strong claim to Native Title. It can be argued that Vacant Crown Land is likely to be determined in favour of Native Title.
Steve then went on to talk about the mining industry. There are a number of significant existing mining operations which probably won't be affected such as Argyle Diamonds (largest in the world), Pillara lead and zinc and lesser projects nearing the end such as Blina oilfield. Other mining operations about to commence or exploration projects such as the large Coyote Gold project in the Tanami, Ellendale Diamonds near Fitzroy Crossing, Sally Malay (nickel, copper and cobalt) and Panton Hill (platinum) both north of Halls Creek and Ashmore Diamonds in the north Kimberley. Some of the leases for these projects were either granted before Native Title or the land concerned is not the subject of Native Title.
The big impact of Native Title is on explorers and developers. A map presented by Steve showed the applications forming a wide almost continuous strip surrounding Great Northern Highway from Willare to Kununurra and another large area in central Kimberley. Following standard procedures it takes 15 to 22 months for an application to be considered. This is a real problem for small projects. They simply haven't the financial resources to wait so long for resolution of their applications.
The mining and Aboriginal interests agreed that the cumbersome standard procedures were not usually necessary and as a result drew up a Kimberley Model Agreement for explorers to use to negotiate with the Kimberley Land Council (KLC) to obtain Heritage clearance for their proposed mineral tenements. The KLC first consults with the Native Title claimants to determine the type of survey required and advises the explorer. It may be determined that the impact of the proposed work is minimal in which case the explorer can proceed without further consultation, the procedure taking only 4 weeks. Otherwise it may be determined that either a joint field inspection is carried out or a professional work clearance survey be carried out, a written report being prepared in each case. If the reports are favourable the explorer may proceed. These procedures have the potential to reduce the time to about 2½ months.
The Agreement is not operating as adequately or as smoothly as hoped however. One difficulty, which is not uncommon, involves Native Title Claimants requesting quite large sums of money for access to the land. If the standard procedure is followed, such payments are not required. Nevertheless access in the Kimberley has the potential to be lot easier than elsewhere as a result of the Agreement.
Steve's talk was followed by lively discussion, which had to be drawn to a premature end as time was getting on. Supper followed.
Daphne Choules Edinger and Gilbert Marsh
ORCHIDS OF THE KIMBERLEY
At the November 2001 meeting of the Society, Kingsley Dixon from Kings Park (now formally known as Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority) spoke about his many years of work on Kimberley orchids. He started by acknowledging Joe Smith who brought these orchids into prominence when he worked on the Mitchell Plateau and mentioned that Pat Dundas and Maurice O’Connor had also helped in this regard. Many of these tropical orchids have been grown at Kings Park in Perth.
Using a sequence of maps of the earth during geological time Kingsley showed the separation of Australia from Gondwana (and still moving north at 5 cm a year) and went on to indicate that the Kimberley flora is a borrowed flora. It has ancient elements through Cycas lanepoolei and the even earlier life of the Devonian reef. There are links with Madagascar and Africa through the boabs and with Asia through Amorphophallis glabra and Proiphys sp on the Mitchell Plateau and with SW Australia through the yam Dioscorea and also the resurrection plant, Borya sp.
Eighteen species of orchids, in several genera, have been found so far in the Kimberley but not all of them have been named. Most of the genera are also found in other tropical parts of northern Australia and in SE Asia but with few exceptions (e.g. Calochilus) not in the South West of the State. In general terms the ‘tree’ orchids, Dendrobium and Cymbidium, occur in the rainforest patches and flower in the dry season while the ground orchids flower at various times during the wet in a variety of habitats and are not so easy to locate.
Kingsley spoke first about the terrestrial orchids, many of which have underground tubers and are associated with special fungi which act as a major nutrient transfer site; pilot roots go up to the surface of the soil to collect the fungus.
On the higher and wetter habitat of the Mitchell Plateau the most common and widespread orchid is an unnamed species of Harbenaria. This genus is butterfly or moth pollinated with the lip extended into a modified spur and sac to form a nectary. Flowering occurs from late December to February and there is 100% seed set. The Daddy Long Legs Orchid, H. triplonema, has the lip modified into long elegant tails. All the Harbenaria spp have a basal rosette of leaves and underground there is a parent tuber and a replacement tuber ready for the next season.
The Beard Orchid, Calochilus holtzei, and the undescribed Lady Beard Orchid belonging to the genus Calochilus occur on Mitchell Plateau and have also been found at Beverley Springs and Prince Regent River in the seepage areas off sandstone. Kingsley has also hunted on the Plateau in November for Nervillia with its pink flowers that appear before its mass of pleated leaves. The orchid has been grown but won't flower at Kings Park.
The ‘grass orchid’, Eulophia bicallosa, with its 60 cm inflorescence is widespread in the Kimberley but does not flower well although Robin Marr found it did flower better after a burn. This species has large bulbous ‘corms’ to survive over the dry season. Another widespread species is the ‘bent orchid’ a species of Geodorum which flowers upside down; this species has been grown from seed at Kings Park and does flower reliably.
Hyacinth orchids, 80 cm tall, are found at Theda Station and also at the Prince Regent River growing on the sandstone scree slopes. These so far undescribed Dipodium sp lure small beetles as pollinators and underground there is a fungus, not yet cultured freely, associated with the fattened roots which act as nutrient reserves.
A species of Liparis was found near Bachsten Creek three years ago and the most recent find, in January 2000, was the ‘spinifex orchid’ a species of Arthrochilus with its hinged hairy labellum. It was found in spinifex clumps at the eastern end of the Prince Regent River. This orchid grows well at Kings Park and is known to be pollinated by wasps; it produces mimic pheromones, which attract the wasps.
The tiniest orchid is Didymoplexus pallens found at Edkins Range and at Mitchell Plateau. It has a small white flower but the flowering stalk extends up into the air after pollination and it survives the dry by means of a string of tubers.
Finally there are the ‘tree’ orchids that are widespread, epiphytic and flower mid‑year in the dry season. Cymbidium canaliculatum with as many as 100 flowers in its inflorescence has red to chocolate brown flowers and grows in the clefts of trees. It is very widespread extending to north of the Wolfe Creek crater. It is not a true ‘epiphytic’ orchid as it needs composted materials for growth; it has a special absorbing layer on the outside and is the most xerophytic of any orchid on earth with thick leaves that resist desiccation. There is also an apple green color morph. Dendrobium affine with only 10 flowers in the inflorescence, the first two of which may self‑pollinate, is a ‘true’ tree orchid. It stores water in the stems and has long roots that are very absorbent and can rehydrate instantly. Fungi are not readily associated with the nutrition of the tree orchids. They are imperilled ony by fire.
There are many missing species such as the Spotted Hyacinth and the Nun Orchid that might be expected to occur in the Kimberley providing further evidence that the Kimberley has a borrowed flora. All the orchids are protected but sadly all the tree orchids have been pilfered from the major tourist roads.
Kingsley handed round some specimens including a Dendrobium growing on a log and in the discussion that followed mentioned that the Cymbidium was growing in regular Kangaroo Paw potting mix! The fungi associated with the terrestrial orchids are cryptic i.e. they don't produce fruiting bodies.
Kingsley has worked on these Kimberley orchids, now numbering 18 species, for about 20 years and apparently he is not deterred by the need to hunt for his specimens during the torrid wet season. Judging by the audience response, some of Kingsley's enthusiasm for the subject was caught by members and guests.
Daphne Choules Edinger and Dorothy Perret
PYTHONS IN KIMBERLEY VINE THICKETS
On 5 December 2001 David Pearson, a Senior Research Scientist in CALM, addressed a keen audience of about 50 members and visitors. He first showed slides from two trips he made to the Kimberley to survey fauna including his special interest—pythons. Of principal interest was a search for the rare Rough-scaled Python. David followed this with a viewing of a video made for Yorkshire Television by British naturalist Mark O’Shea with the aid of a film crew.
Pythons, except the Rough-scaled Python, have smooth scales. The latter has keeled scales and one enormous scale on its head. At the time only six had been recorded, all from a restricted area in the north Kimberley.
On the first trip David and Mark Cowan set off from Wyndham in March soon after cyclone Vance in a flat bottomed water jet craft with Customs; the Andrew Fisher. The shallow draft enabled it to navigate shallow water in the rivers. They were to meet with John Weigel. John runs the Reptile Park in Gosford NSW and he had recently obtained a CALM permit, which, up to this time, they had refused, to collect the Rough-scaled Python. He wanted to breed them in captivity to learn about its ecology and provide hatchlings to zoological institutions for display.
David showed slides of the rugged coastline taken as they made their way westwards and into the mouth of the King George River. They set Elliot traps without much success and then headed south to Prince Frederick Harbour. Unfortunately at this stage, before they met up with John, they had to head back to Darwin because there was a possibility that they were carrying introduced zebra mussels on the hull. Customs cancelled the rest of the trip. John waited in vain for two weeks at Prince Frederick Harbour.
The second trip involved a large party including a doctor equipped with anti-venom. They set up camp on an arm of the Hunter River near Donkins Falls. This involved many helicopter flights. David showed some breathtaking views of the rugged country with vertical red cliffs and water falls and with patches of green rain forest seemingly inaccessible deep in the gorges. This was followed by a close up shot of Mertens Water Monitor and shots of the common frog, Litoria coplandii, a Quoll in a trap (a number of which were caught) and a shot of a Bower Bird bower in mint condition. They made their way down the Hunter River and we were impressed by the damage caused by the recent flooding—mangroves laid flat with the water probably 50 feet deep. No one could identify a photogenic orchid for David. They climbed Donkins Hill and we were shown views of the rugged country. Only a small amount of Aboriginal art was evident. We were shown a green Superb Dragon with its curious long limbs and toes and the large Geckoe, Oedura gracilis. However no pythons were caught until the sixth day and another on the final morning. This individual was saved from an Olive Python attempting to swallow it!
The video commenced with a bit of sensationalism with Mark O’Shea handling a Banded tree snake a bit roughly to make it bite him. This was followed by shots of the Rough-scaled Python. This was one of the captured ones. Then the film jumped to the Kimberley with Mark, John and film crew. On traversing the gorge where the python had been discovered they were distressed to find the patch of rain forest concerned had been completely devastated by the flood. Day after day they went out, searching other remnant patches without success, but the video was livened by the catching of a Mertens water monitor from under an overhanging rock in the stream and a Varanus glauertii or Rock Monitor from high in a tree. Mark climbed athletically up a smooth nearby sapling carrying a long pole which he used to coax the animal down. But only so far until it suddenly leapt into space over John’s head. John, who had been waiting near the tree, leapt into the air and brought down the animal with a mark that would have done justice to an Australian Rules champion.
A lengthy question time followed. Pythons are different from other snakes in that the former have a pelvic girdle, different skulls, and, along the lower jaw, rows of pits which are heat sensitive. They are comparatively large and heavy with 30 plus rows of mid-body scales compared with less than 28 in other snakes. Pythons are hard to find but are not necessarily rare. Pythons can go 8–10 months without food while reproducing. The Rough-scaled Python is the rarest of the Australian pythons, probably due to the rugged nature of its habitat. They grow to about 2 metres in length. The Australian Reptile Park has now bred the Rough-scaled Python for the first time in captivity and two of the progeny have recently been sent to the Perth Zoo. They will be held in quarantine for 6 months before going on display to the public. The quarantine period is very long due to their slow metabolic rate so it takes time for any disease to show.
Daphne Choules Edinger and Gilbert Marsh
|
