WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

frogs – a richer assemblage of frogs than has been found at Prince Regent Nature
Reserve, and the same number as recorded for the Mitchell Plateau. Although the area
has not been well surveyed for birds, it is known to support the rare and threatened
Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae), red goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus),
purple-crowned fairy wren (Malurus coronatus) and partridge pigeon (Geophaps
smithii blaauwi) (ANRA 2007a).
Kimberley coastline: islands and reefs
Sea country
Before the most recent sea level rise in the Holocene, many of the islands off the
Kimberley coast were part of the landmass of mainland mountain ranges, sloping
down to river valleys and floodplains. Aboriginal people lived here, fished in the
rivers and hunted on the land, before rising seas drowned their country, creating what
geologists refer to as a 'ria coastline' (Nix and Kalma 1972). Only the highest altitude
surfaces of the old coast remain, standing above the sea, isolated now from the
landmass of which they were part. Where rivers once swelled with fresh water, there
are now channels in the seafloor – a lost landscape of the Kimberley clearly visible in
the region's underwater topography.
The lives of many Aboriginal people of the west Kimberley were, and continue to be,
intimately connected with the sea. Evidence suggests that people lived along the
coast, using and trading or exchanging marine resources with inland groups almost
30,000 years ago. A well–developed marine economy had developed by 10,550 BP
(O'Connor 1999).
A number of coastal sites in the Kimberley provide evidence of this long history of
Aboriginal occupation or visitation. Archaeological evidence indicates that people
lived on Koolan Island, in the Buccaneer Archipelago, more than 25,000 years ago
during the Pleistocene, with human occupation continuing into the Holocene.
Aboriginal people also visited the High Cliffy islands, near Montgomery Reef, more
than 6,000 years ago, and have continued to use these islands since that time.
Hundreds of stone structures that stand on the largest of the High Cliffy islands,
including circles, pathways, standing stones and cairns provide evidence of the islands
long term use (Hiscock 2008; O'Connor 1987).
Aboriginal people, often in family groups, travelled along the coast between islands
on double log rafts, using the powerful tides and rips to propel them from one place to
another. The craft goes by various Aboriginal names, including [g]kalum (by the
Worrorra), biel biel (by the Jawi) and [g]kalwa (by the Bardi) (Vachon 2009). There
were different sorts of double log rafts: some rafts were specifically designed for
hunting; others were for short trips; while some were made to transport larger groups
of people from island to island. Baler shells were used to carry water on long voyages,
which were planned around the travellers' comprehensive knowledge of the tides, the
currents and the winds. At night people used the stars to navigate. They travelled to
hunt and to maintain important relationships with neighbouring groups (Choo 2001;
Vachon 2009).
The Traditional Owners of the land and sea along the north and west Kimberley coast,
including the Bardi, Jawi and Worrorra continue to utilise fish and marine products for
food, and their linguistic heritage and vocabularies reflect their complex dependence
23