Bonzer Words!: Boodjamulla
Paul Newbury visits Boodjamulla National Park, a place of tranquil waters and the land of the Waanyi people in North Queensland.
Paul writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
My partner Jan and I left Karumba in Gulf country where the 'outback meets the sea' and we drove down the Matilda Highway to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse where we had lunch. We then crossed the Leichhardt River on our way to the Gregory Hotel for the night. The next day, we drove to Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park for three days camping.
Driving in Gregory Downs country, you realise how ruggedly beautiful it is—the rich red ochre of its soils, the golden spinifex and the acacia of the flood plain, framed by a lovely blue sky. This is wedge-tailed eagle country—an ecosystem of the Australian outback
Driving into Boodjamulla, the change of country is breathtaking—the bountiful oasis setting overwhelms you. Water dominates, fringed by palms, ferns, cluster fig and pandanus. The remnant rainforest of eons past is joined by ancient ghost gums, shiny white. The scene is completed by fiery-red sandstone walls rising sheer to sixty metres, adorned by hardy palms and ferns rooted in its crevices.
Water flows into Lawn Hill Creek from the Barkly Tableland. The creek has been dammed by rock falls that have formed a three-level gorge system. Water falling over each gorge barrier breaks the stillness. The creek runs out of the park and joins the Gregory River on its way to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The walkways around the top of the escarpment give a spectacular view of the gorges. The permanent water has enriched the area with Aboriginal heritage. The abundance of food in the forest and waterways endowed the Waanyi people with the leisure time to create the artwork they have left behind.
Spiritually, the Park lies in Rainbow Serpent Country. Waanyi lore tells how Boodjamulla made this stream in his Dreamtime travels to keep his skin wet. Should Boodjamulla leave, the water holes would dry up. Numerous paintings in red and yellow ochre celebrate this spirit ancestor.
In 2001, the Queensland Government returned the Park to the custodianship of the Waanyi, the 'freshwater' people of the Gulf country and they changed the name of the Park to Boodjamulla. Park rangers follow a traditional mosaic fire regime to preserve flora and fauna and their habitat.
Settlers flocked to north-western Queensland from the 1860s, decimating the tribes. Some like the Injilarija, traditional neighbours of the Waanyi, vanished altogether. In 1902, the owner of Lawn Hill Station is reported to have said: 'Blacks and stock in the same country will never do—the people must go' and go they did.
The Traditional Waanyi Elders Aboriginal Corporation runs pastoral properties at Lawn Hill and Riversleigh. Under the Native Title Act, the Waanyi people are signatories to the Gulf Communities Agreement with Pasminco Century Mine and the Queensland Government. The Agreement promotes the people's move from welfare-dependency to self-sufficiency through mining income and employment opportunities. Under the Agreement, the Government monitors the people's health, education and other social indices to ensure they compare favourably with national standards.
The National Native Title Tribunal facilitates mediation on native title between pastoral lease-holders, mining companies and local Aboriginal people. In 2004, the Tribunal announced that seven North Queensland pastoralists had signed agreements acknowledging the Ewamian people of Georgetown, east of Boodjamulla, as the traditional owners of the area covered by the stations.
'Indigenous Land Use Agreements' (ILUA) allow Indigenous people negotiated access to their traditional land for cultural purposes. Currently, there are 232 ILUAs registered across Australia. They present an opportunity for sharing the land between those who have strong feelings for it. They are pacts of co-existence expressing pride in Indigenous heritage.
There is a restriction on camping numbers in Boodjamulla, so it is wise to book ahead. Some tourist bus operators visit the Park and set up overnight camps, otherwise accommodation can be obtained at Adel's Grove or the Gregory Hotel. The gravel roads may be impassible in the Wet.
Boodjamulla National Park is a natural wonder; a place of tranquil waters, perennial and deep. The Waanyi people have left behind ochre paintings and middens of mussel shell to tell who they were before the coming of Europeans and how bountiful the place was where they lived. Boodjamulla is a lush ecosystem—may the waters always run in his park.
© Paul Newbury
