WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

But Geikie Gorge is much more than a beautiful national park. For the Bunuba
people, Danggu is a cultural refuge within the catchment of the Fitzroy River, a place
of deep spiritual significance created by its resident Rainbow Snake or Wunggurru.
The gorge is located in a section of the river known as Bandaralngarri, which extends
north from the 'Old Crossing' in Fitzroy Crossing to Dimond Gorge. The name is
derived from bandaral, the silver-leafed melaleuca which lines the river in this area
and was used to construct log rafts for travelling short distances.
Danggu is also the name given to the large limestone boulder (another name is
Linyjiya) located in the middle of Geikie Gorge – this is a Dreamtime place
associated with a resident Wunggurru, or Rainbow Snake (KLRC 1998). The boulder
is a malay, an increase place, critical to maintaining the abundance of fish in Geikie
Gorge, and is an important ceremonial and fishing spot for Bunuba people. At sand
patches within Danggu, Bunuba people camped and held ceremonies with other river
people from the surrounding region. Such ceremonies are still held today. Like many
places in the Kimberley, Danggu has darker resonances too. A massacre of Bunuba
people took place here in the late nineteenth century, and stories of this event are still
recalled by the living (Pannell 2009).
Geikie Gorge is described here not for its undeniable uniqueness and aesthetic appeal,
but because it is like so many places in the Kimberley – complex, layered in meaning,
valued by different people for different reasons, and associated with many and varied
stories.
Throughout the west Kimberley, geological activity and geological stability have
spectacularly shaped and preserved the landscape over hundreds of millions of years,
and scientists identify significant biodiversity values. While visitors are struck by its
ancient beauty, the land, sea and sky of the Kimberley, and the diversity of life there,
hold profound spiritual meaning for its Traditional Owners. Aboriginal law and
culture remain strong across the Kimberley, even in the face of a shared history of
violent disruption brought by colonisation.
Cycles of life
In the Kimberley, as in other parts of Aboriginal Australia, traditional life revolved
around variations in the weather and the seasons. Movements of family groups were
based on the availability of food, and on obligations to relocate to particular areas for
ritual business. During the dry, from about April to August, the weather was a little
cooler and there were abundant resources. The most critical time for food supplies
was the build-up, before the onset of rains. Once the wet season broke, more food
became available. The coming of the wet with the north-east monsoons brought
oppressively humid weather, and some Aboriginal groups moved to rock shelters and
more substantial huts on higher ground at this time. Seasonal movements differed
between groups living in the desert, near the coast, and in the wetter north Kimberley,
and were often determined as much by the need for water as for food.
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