WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

life and works of Phillip Parker King, a person of importance in Australia's cultural
history. These places however do not have National Heritage value because they do
not demonstrate in a comprehensive or other critical way his significance as an
important figure in Australian history.
George Grey
George Grey is listed in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. His biographical
entry outlines his historical legacy as a governor. He acted for periods as the
Governor of South Australia, Cape Colony (in South Africa) and New Zealand.
Grey explored parts of the Kimberley coast in 1837–1839. He explored areas around
Hanover Bay, Glenelg River and the Prince Regent River. During his expedition, in
the Glenelg River region, he recorded painted Wandjina figures which he saw in rock
shelters (Ryan Akerman 2003). He was the first European to record and publish the
Wandjina image. His interpretations of these painted images led to many speculative
theories about their origin. It was not until the 1930s that the significance of these
figures to Aboriginal people began to be better understood by the wider Australian
community through the work of Rev. J R B Love and A P Elkin (McNiven and
Russell 2005). Elkin (1930) noted that 'there do not seem to be any features of the
wandjina and associated paintings that might be supposed foreign to the ideas and
practices of the natives.'
On the basis of current research it is unlikely that Grey's expedition will be shown to
have a more substantial or special impact on the life or historical legacy of George
Grey than other places outside the study area associated with his work as a governor.
George Grey's interpretation of the painted Wandjina figures is one of many
interpretations of the region's rock art and its associated traditions.
The William Dampier (Cygnet) 1688 landing place has outstanding heritage
value to the nation under criterion (h) for its special association with the life and
work of William Dampier.
Careening Bay and the Mermaid tree do not have outstanding heritage value to
the nation under criterion (h) for their special association with the life and works
of Phillip Parker King, a person of importance in Australia's cultural history.
The west Kimberley does not have outstanding heritage value to the nation
under criterion (h) for its special association with the life and works of George
Grey, a person of importance in Australia's cultural history.
Jandamarra - a 'magic man' and clever military strategist
Throughout Australia, Aboriginal people resisted European occupation. Competition
for land and water, increased population pressures, European brutality and
encroachment on, or violation of, significant sites were all catalysts that contributed to
the onset of hostilities between Aboriginal people and European settlers. Jandamarra
(aka Pigeon) led the last great campaign of what some call the Hundred Years War –
the defence of the Australian continent (Lowe 1994). In the west Kimberley, the
Bunuba people successfully resisted the expansion of European pastoralist activities
from 1884 until 1897. For 13 years the Bunuba blocked the rolling advance of
European settlement by using the natural fortress-like qualities of the Napier and
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