It all began with ngarranggani, the creation time
This is the time that our ancestor beings walked the land, creating Country in their wake. Ranges formed, rivers flowed, rocks were laid down; plants, trees, animals, birds, and people all came into being. Embedded in Country is our thangani (language), knowledge and Law. A web of connectivity that speaks to us of the cycle of the seasons, the movement of our animals, and the responsibilities & obligations that each of us hold in maintaining the balance of Country. Because of this law, Bunuba Country has prospered under our stewardship for more than 46,000 years. Through our ongoing practices of thangani, story, art, song, dance and ceremony, our law and knowledge has passed down across 2,000 generations of Bunuba families.
Ngarranggani is the time of creation, but it is also through ngarranggani that our culture, our traditions, and thangani (language) is continuously practiced and strengthened. Our law and knowledge continue to guide us, as we draw upon thousands of years of lived experience on this land. We have seen and experienced great changes over the years, and many of our ngarranggani stories speak to pivotal moments in our history. One momentous event that continues to shape our lives today, was the arrival of the malngarri (Europeans or more precisely, the red-faced ones) on our country.
Abel Tasman made the first confirmed landing of a European on the Kimberley coastline in 1644, followed by William Dampier in 1688. But it wasn’t until January 1838 that the first malngarri made their way inland through the Kimberley. Charles Grey was the first European to site our river Bandaralngarri, which he named the Fitzroy River in honour of Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle.
In 1879 Alexander Forrest led an expedition across the Kimberley and although he was frustrated by the amount of spinifex country, he noted the fertile land either side of Bandaralngarri. Based off his glowing report, the Western Australian government established a system of stocking permits, which was very favourable to “entrepreneurs and settlers” who were encouraged to establish pastoral runs in the Kimberley. Wealthy landholders from the south of the state and the eastern seaboard began to apply for pastoral leases, in great lots, all sight unseen. And thus began the colonisation of our muwayi (country).
William Lukin and J. H. Monger were the two first malngarri pastoralists in the West Kimberley. Arriving with 1800 sheep in 1882, they set up the Lennard River Station on Unggumi Country, just to the north of Bunuba land. Pastoralism spread across Bunuba Country, notably in 1884 with the establishment of Lillimooloora Station at Limulurra, 5km southeast of Bandilngan (Windjana Gorge). The natural divide of Miliwundi Range between the East and West Kimberley, also determined the form of pastoralism. For the first 10 years, sheep farming was the common colonial practice on the lands to the west of these ranges.
However, the malngarri found that cattle were better suited to the climate, and far more profitable than sheep. With the discovery of gold in Halls Creek in 1885 and the West Australian gold rush taking off in the early 1890s, the growing population meant there was an increased demand for Kimberley beef. As more landowners sought to capitalise on this new market, property sizes and cattle numbers soon expanded.
The already turbulent relationship between our ancestors and the malngarri was pushed to breaking point.
When the first colonists had come to Bunuba Country, our ancestors assumed that this was a temporary incursion and paid them little attention. But as the malngarri spread across our land, their practices began to impact on our country, and on the lives and customs of our people. Unfenced livestock destroyed a lot of our native vegetation which in turn ravaged the natural habitat of our smaller animals. Although our ancestors tried to maintain their traditional lifestyles, the encroachment of the stations and the impact on our vegetation and native animals meant that there were no longer the food sources to support our families.
Of greater concern was the use of our significant garuwa (freshwater) sites as watering holes for the livestock. Damaging these pristine environments was akin to the desecration of our holy places, places where our ancestral spirits reside, and places that we were bound, by our own system of law, to protect.
For reasons of both cultural and personal survival, it wasn’t long after the arrival of the malngarri that our ancestors responded. The spearing of sheep and cattle, along with night-time raids of the homestead gardens and kitchen, were vital for us in the sourcing of food. But the response from the colonisers was swift and violent. Whipping and imprisonment were the formalised responses to the spearing of livestock. Those found guilty were marched in neck chains across the hot flat plains to Derby, where they could be sentenced to up to 3 years in the cold gaols of Rottnest Island.
As more of our people were killed, or enslaved, by the pastoralists, our kinship systems and social hierarchies were under threat. Within 10 years, our connections to Country and each other had been forcefully disrupted.
Our ancestors became more brazen in their raids, hoping to destabilise the small malngarri community. Protected by their knowledge of Country and the natural defences offered by the balili (limestone) of Ganimbiri (the Oscar Range) and Napier Range, these resistance fighters did all they could to ensure the survival of the people and culture. In retaliation the colonisers became increasingly violent, and the lands became stained with the blood of our dawangarri (people). By the 1890s the situation could not be described as anything less than genocide.
At that time, a young Bunuba leader by the name of Jandamarra rose to prominence. Having lived in both the Bunuba world and that of the malngarri, he was as adept at knowing Bunuba muwayi as he was skilled at handling guns and horses. For three years Jandamarra led his people in resisting the incursion of the pastoralists, organising his attacks and raids from the safety of the balili. Jandamarra’s exploits drove terror into the hearts of the colonisers. Frustrated with the inadequate policing of the Kimberley, the landowners took the law into their own hands.
This began the deadliest period in our colonised history. Bands of armed malngarri scoured the land in pursuit of Jandamarra, using his name as the excuse to shoot down or arrest any groups of Bunuba people they came across, regardless of their actions. The killings were not isolated to Bunuba Country. All along the Fitzroy Valley, our countrywomen and men were being massacred.
Finally, with the assistance of Aboriginal trooper Minko Mick, Jandamarra was shot dead at Dimalurru (Tunnel Creek) on April 1st, 1897. Although attacks and raids continued on for a short time, the death of Jandamarra was effectively the end of the Bunuba Resistance.
In 1898 the last of Bunuba Country was invaded with the establishment of Yarrangi (Leopold Station) and the expansion of Brooking Springs. We adopted some of the ways of the station life and the value of our skills and labour is undeniable. It remains widely known that the stations of the Kimberley would not have been profitable without Indigenous labourers, though this was never formally nor financially recognised. From children as young as seven, we were pressed into work on the land.
Shepherding, fencing, cleaning, droving, shearing, cart-driving, along with the domestic work of our women, were just some of the many roles that we were expected to perform. And all of this for no wages, just the ‘standard issue’ of blanket and clothing, plus the limited weekly rations of tea, flour, sugar and tobacco. These foods had to be supplemented by bush tucker and if we were lucky enough, a station manager might share the occasional bucket of milk or fresh meat from a ‘killer’ (cattle killed for station consumption).
We had little autonomy during this time, and we were considered the property of the stations we worked for. Anyone found to be running away from station life, was either returned back or given a prison sentence and then sent back to the station from which they had left. There was an unspoken agreement that no station owner would take on any Indigenous stockmen who had left another property without having been released from their role by their current manager. In time, we adjusted to life on the stations and we continued to look after our sacred places, while working for the malngarri. In bulurru our wet season time, we would be stood down from our duties on the station, and we could return to Country, to conduct ceremony and reconnect with our countrymen and women.
This was also the days of the Stolen Generations. From the early years of last century, the forced removal of our children began to tear our families apart. Hidden behind racist government policies of ‘protectionism’ and ‘assimilation’ our children were forcibly taken from our families. Some of our children were sent to Beagle Bay, north of Broome, and others were sent to Moola Bulla, near Halls Creek. Some ended up as far away as Moore River, near Perth. There are even instances where the removal of children happened across multiple generations. The terror, grief and trauma has scarred many lives across many generations. The legacy of the trauma of the Stolen Generations continues to reverberate across our families and communities today.
In the 1967 referendum, the settler-colonial Australian public voted for the amending of the nation’s Constitution to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as part of the Australian population. Just one year later, the order was passed that Indigenous station workers be paid an equal wage. Prior to this, the most that a head Indigenous stockman might make would be $75/month as compared to the minimum wage of settler Australians who at that time would earn no less than $170/month. Most Indigenous station hands however, received $25/month. The women predominantly were unpaid, as they were charged for the keep and board of themselves and their children. Records show of women at Yarranggi (Leopold Downs) in the 1960s being paid for only six weeks of the year, with this wage totalling a miserable $6.
When the Equal Wages law was passed, many of the landowners argued that they could not afford to pay Indigenous labourers, nor to provide to extended families, and we staged our walk-off. First, we left Yarranggi Leopold Downs where we walked 170kms across the ranges and plains to Brooking Station. There, meeting the rest of our family and kin, we followed the river downstream to Fitzroy Crossing. There was one old car that drove back and forth bringing into town as many of the elderly people as it could. For everyone else we walked the 20kms, young and old, cats and dogs, and everything else in between. When we got to Fitzroy, we settled down near where the old township was located and soon found ourselves on the ration line.
It didn’t take long for the station owners to realise that they could not run their properties without our skilled labour. Within weeks of us decamping, many were back working on the land again. For those who didn’t get station employment, we were stuck living in the overcrowded fringe camps that encircled Fitzroy Crossing, dependent on welfare for our survival. Although Fitzroy Crossing is on Bunuba Country, we were overcrowded with the people who had been relocated from stations across the Fitzroy Valley. At that time Fitzroy Crossing constituted no more than a post office, police station, hospital, pub and the United Aborigines Mission. But around the township were makeshift camps of Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Walmajarri, Wangkatjunka, and Nyikina, people who had been kicked off stations, and off their country.
The 1970s also saw great changes as people sought to return to country and establish outstations. In the 1970s Junjuwa community was built on an area of land sub-leased from, and adjacent to, the United Aborigines Mission. This was the first community with structured housing built within the township, and it was our Bunuba people who were employed in the vision and construction of this space that we could now make our home. This was followed by the establishment of the Darlngunaya community next to the banks of the river in the early 1990s. In 2004, at Burawa and around the site of the old Mission, new houses were built for our community. In the same year, land excised from Brooking Springs Station was developed for the Bungardi community. Although Bunuba people are spread far and wide, most of our town-based people remain in these 4 communities today.
By the end of the 1980s, Bunuba still had no rights or ownership over our Country. It wasn’t until 1989 that the initial report on Bunuba land interests was prepared. In 1991 the Bunuba Aboriginal Corporation (BAC) was established to pursue our land interests. BAC was integral in helping to establish our town-based communities, alongside a number of communities out on Country which were set up at Walmali, Galamunda, Warangarri and Biridi.
In 1992 with the support of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) we were able to take ownership of Yarranggi (Leopold Downs). We increased our holdings again in 1994 with the acquisition of Miluwindi station, and then Yuwa (Fairfield) station in 1995. These stations together add up to around one third of Bunuba country, and it was a very happy time to be able to return to these stations and manage them, on our terms.
Sensitive Content
This photo contains sensitive content which some people may find sensitive or disturbing
In 1998 we lodged our first Native Title Claim but had to wait until 2012 for ‘Bunuba Number 1’ to be settled. Part of this settlement gave us exclusive Native Title possession of our 3 cattle stations. Our organisation then became a registered Native Title Body Corporate, and we took on the name of Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation, representing all the muwayi (clan groups) of Bunuba Country. It wasn’t until 2015 that Native Title was recognised for the rest of our Country, with the determination of ‘Bunuba Number 2 Claim.’
Bunuba Country now encompasses pastoral lands and conservation areas. Since the early 1960s we have collaborated with Parks & Wildlife WA (under their various organisational names) in protecting the conservation values of our Country. In 1963 Dimalurru (then Tunnel Creek) National Park was established, followed in 1967 by Danggu (then Geikie Gorge). In 1971 the last of the National Parks was set up at Bandilngan (then Windjana Gorge). In 1994 the Conservation Parks were extended to include Jungiwa (then Brooking Springs) and the Balili (previously Devonian Reef) Conservation Parks. Finally in 2000 the Miliwundi (then King Leopold Ranges) Conservation Park was established, which also includes Darrambal (then Lennard Gorge).
In May of 2017 we signed an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with Parks & Wildlife WA. This certified the Joint Management Agreement between Bunuba and Parks & Wildlife WA of our existing National and Conservation Parks. The ILUA stated that our Parks were now co-vested, meaning that the conservation estate is jointly owned by Bunuba and the state.
Seeking to protect more of our Country through the conservation and tourism opportunities that Parks & Wildlife WA can offer us, we recently signed a new ILUA with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions for the creation of the new Bunuba National Park. Covering 143,000 hectares, this new Park will protect our life source Bandaralngarri (Fitzroy River), as well as other cultural, environmental, and economic values that Country provides us.
Since time immemorial we have sung Country with our story and our connections remain unbroken. Even during the darkest of the colonial days, we remained a strong and resilient people. As we move into the future, we look to strengthen our society through the cultural and economic opportunities that Country can provide. As you journey with us, you will bear witness to the next stages of the Bunuba story that is borne from our creativity, wisdom, strength and our intimate knowledge of Country.
OTHER RESOURCES
There are many wonderful resources that provide further information about the history of Bunuba Country and the Kimberley region
Thangani Bunuba: Bunuba Stories Stories from the Bunuba Elders of the Fitzroy Valley
Every Mother's Son is Guilty: Policing the Kimberley Frontier of Western Australia 1882-1905 Chris Owens
Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance Banjo Woorunmurra and Howard Pedersen
Raparapa: Stories from the Fitzroy River Drovers John Watson, Paul Marshall, and Raparapa Authors
A Town is Born: The Fitzroy Crossing Story Steve Hawke