A collaborative project has mapped the heritage values of Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) and its people in the West Kimberley to create an online exhibition of the ‘Living Water’ museum.
The interactive story map was created by the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council in partnership with The University of Western Australia’s School of Social Sciences and Centre for Rock Art Research and Management with an Australian Heritage Grant from the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Living Water: River, Land and Sea Country and Indigenous People of the West Kimberley provides a rich tapestry of Traditional owner voices, images, videos, and wisdoms overlain with essays by academics and partners on ecological, geological, aesthetic cultural and historical values of the West Kimberley.
Dr Sven Ouzman, an archaeologist and rock art expert from UWA’s School of Social Sciences, said the region was home to thousands of rock art sites that demonstrate Aboriginal maintenance of Country from deep time until today.
“The rock art connects the wider cultural landscape through thousands of sites dating back as far as 41,000 years and through to European colonisation/invasion,” Dr Ouzman said.
“The project aims to improve Indigenous and non-Indigenous engagement and awareness of these heritage values and deliver digital resources.”
Martuwarra contains 10 sub-bioregions and is home to 10 Indigenous nations that include the Jarrakan, Nyulnyulan, Pama-Nyunga, Bunuban, and Worrorran language families who are linked by the ancient and evolving Wunan knowledge and exchange system and governed by First Law.
The format of the website has three core themes chosen by Traditional Owners through extensive consultation – Culture, Country and Truth. They cover the deep past through to events and institutions that have caused intergenerational trauma – like missions, pastoralism, massacre sites and the Bungarun leprosarium – as well as chronicling resistance and triumph.
The Martuwarra covers a 96,000 sqkm watershed, is a National Heritage Site, WA’s longest registered cultural heritage site at 733 km and the first ‘Living Waters Museum’ under the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Program.