WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

striata), above a layer of ribbon grass (Chrysopogon) (Sutton 1998). The boab has
significant cultural value and utility for many Kimberley Aboriginal people. Some
trees are also historic memorials to confronting events in early contact history and
record the visits of explorers like King (the 'Mermaid Tree'), Hann and Brockman
(Jebb 2009). Like other animals and plants, the boab tree is inextricably linked to
Kimberley Aboriginal people's social and spiritual world. Kimberley Aboriginal
people carry the boab 'totem'; some are born into the boab tree or boab flower 'section'
(Von Brandenstein 1982 cited in Jebb 2009).
Boabs have uses ranging from the mundane to the sacred. They are important as a
source of water, and also as a material manifestation of the powerful forces of the
cosmological world across the whole Kimberley region (von Brandenstein 1982 cited
in Jebb 2009). Boab trees provide twine, food, medicines and shelter, and may be
increase sites for particular resources. Boabs are 'a valuable resource for traditional
Aboriginal healthcare practices, both in terms of the provision of medicines and as a
resource for health-related rituals' (Heaver 2007). Boab nuts are carved in traditional
and contemporary designs by Aboriginal people.
Some trees are believed to harbour extremely severe and potent powers, like Jilapur, a
boab on the outskirts of Derby, more commonly known as the Derby Prison Tree.
This tree is believed to be about 1,500 years old, and it has an opening into its hollow
trunk large enough for a man to enter. There is speculation that prisoners were locked
inside, and other accounts recall prisoners being chained around the outside of the
tree. This tree is also a camping place for the Nyikina Creation Being Woonynoomboo
(Akerman 2008).
Another distinguishing feature of the south-west Kimberley is the bright red soil of
the pindan country. 'Pindan' describes both the vivid red sandy soils that are common
here, and the seemingly-homogenous low woodlands and shrublands which grow on
them. South of Beagle Bay, the pindan is dominated by Acacia tumida, A. holosericea
and A. eriopoda. North of Beagle Bay there is an abrupt change: Acacia eriopoda is
almost absent and A. holosericea is reduced in frequency. Taller eucalypt woodlands
dominate in the north, particularly Darwin box (Eucalyptus tectifica) and ochre
bloodwood (Corymbia dampieri). Carnivorous plants are found on the pindan in
damper areas of black soil; white-flowered sundews such as Drosera broomensis are
found growing near Broome, and D. derbyensis, a similar species, occurs further east.
While pindan may appear homogenous, the coastal and near coastal environments of
the south-west are visibly rich and varied. Mangroves, samphire flats, grasslands,
coastal dunes, freshwater swamps, monsoon forests, Melaleuca thickets and creekside
vegetation are all found in close proximity to one another, clustered near the coast.
Outcrops of limestone and sandstone dot the landscape. Vine thickets occur on
limestone on the far southern perimeter of Yampi Peninsula, adjoining the south-west
region, as well as at the northern tip and western edge of Dampier Peninsula. They do
not extend as far inland here as in the wetter areas further north. On the white coastal
sands of Dampier Peninsula, the striking green birdflower (Crotolaria cunninghamii),
which can grow up to three or four metres tall, is very common; it also occurs far
inland on the red sand dunes of the desert.
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