WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

knowledgeable about 'magic' (which is obtained from Kaleru). Certain foods, such as
white-ant larvae, and objects, including pearl shell are tabooed items; they 'belong to
Kaleru' and they were carried inside him until he ejected them. According to Kaberry
(1939) failure to observe these prohibitions results in violent storms and severe
flooding brought on by the wrath of Kaleru. Like Ungud, the powerful water snake of
the Wanjina-Wunggurr people, Kaleru also places spirit children in the water holes.
Geikie Gorge (Danggu) is an exemplar of the Galaroo narrative. Extending north from
the 'Old Crossing' in Fitzroy Crossing to Dimond Gorge (Jijidu), Danggu is the name
given to the gorge by Bunuba people. Danggu is also the name given to the large
limestone boulder (another name is Linyjiya) located in the middle of the gorge. This
boulder is associated with a resident Rainbow Snake that contributes to the status of
Danggu as a place of 'living water' (i.e. a permanent and sentient water source,
traditionally utilised by Aboriginal people: see Pannell 2009, 4). The boulder is also a
malay ('increase') place for fish, and when rubbed with barramundi fat (mingga
balga), the rock produces an abundance of fish. The northern reaches of the gorge are
associated with a permanent spring which is also occupied by Rainbow Snake and is
an important ceremonial place.
The south eastern section of the Fitzroy River system and its tributaries, Christmas
Creek and Cherrabun Creek are traditionally associated with the Pama-Nyungan
speaking Walmajarri people (see Tindale 1974), who together with the desertdwelling
Mangala, Juwaliny, Wangkajungka, Warman, Yulparija, and Manyjilyjarra
people, subscribe to what has been termed the jila-kalpurtu complex, wherein the
term, jila, refers to permanent sub-surface water sources, and kalpurtu are said to be
the rain-giving snakes occupying these sites (Vachon 2006). As Vachon points out,
the defining characteristics of the Rainbow Serpent for these Aboriginal groups
includes the kalpurtu's association with the original human occupants. Group rainmaking
is conducted at kalpurtu-occupied jila. The jila are often many metres
underground and are excavated by people in conjunction with the performance of
rain-making ceremonies. Like other mythic beings, kalpurtu retain benevolent and
malevolent qualities; a kalpurtu can bring misfortune or death if it is disturbed. For
this reason, it is important to approach the kalpurtu singing the correct song for the
particular kalpurtu and his jila (Toussaint et al. 2001). Sacred objects associated with
rain-making are located within the physical confines of the jila. Unlike the Rainbow
Serpent traditions of the upper and central Fitzroy River, there is a complete absence
of material representations of kalpurtu, in the form of rock art images (Pannell 2009).
There also appears to be an absence of 'increase' sites in jila country. Unlike the
traditions associated with Galaroo, Wanjina-Wunggurr and Woonyoomboo-
Yoonggorroonkoo, the people of the northern fringes of the Great Sandy Desert refer
to the kalpurtu as providers of food. Kalpurtu 'give all the tucker' and the only places
of ritual reproduction are the associated jila. Kalpurtu, in its connection with rain,
makes the ground soft and from this the various plant and animal foods appear
(Vachon 2006).
As the Fitzroy River flows south west out of the ranges and gorge country associated
with Galaroo, and adjacent to the jila country of the Great Sandy Desert, it begins its
journey across the wet season flood plains and finally flows into King Sound. It is
here that the river enters the narrative domain of Woonyoomboo -Yoongoorroonkoo.
In the traditional Bookarrarra ('Dreaming') narrative of the Nyikina-Mangala people,
173