Issue 5: February 2021 Wet Season edition
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS Issue 5: February 2021 Wet Season edition Published: Kowanyama Culture and Research Centre, Chellikee Street and Chapman Road, Kowanyama, Queensland. 4897 Printed: The team at Lotsa Printing, Parramatta Park, Queensland 4870 Editorial: Viv Sinnamon Email: charlessinnamon2@gmail.com Phone: 0447 387 449
Cover: Seed lily blossom at the wetland between Man ngarchuwl and Mukarnt, February 2004 Inset: Kowanyama boys dancing NAIDOC 2020 Opposite: White lily blossom at the same place in April 2016 Photographs by Viv Sinnamon
A COMMUNITY MAGAZINE PRODUCED FOR THE KOWANYAMA COMMUNITY, THEIR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS A community service of Kowanyama Project with positive stories Supported by Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council
Copyright © Reproduction of any of the content of this magazine may only occur with the written permission of the editor excepting use for Kowanyama Community cultural education purposes.
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
FROM THE EDITOR
T
his year has had its share of challenges with the upset of the COVID pandemic restrictions placed upon everybody throughout the world. Kowanyama and much of our State of Queensland was very lucky. There were no deaths from COVID in North Queensland. That at least, was a great blessing for us all. This is little comfort to all our families here in Kowanyama who have lost loved ones since the beginning of 2020. Six people have passed since my leaving Kowanyama for my other home in late November. Many of those who have passed were not old and once again we have lost those who had much to offer in the traditional knowledge and skills they had learned from their Elders.
Anzac and Louie attended the AGM to talk on the Red Finch Project at the meeting in Mareeba. To all our kids that took part in the NAIDOC celebrations, what can I say? The long session of dance practice was better than the short performance you were allowed on the night. Congratulations!! It just goes to show the fun that can be had when the dance is for yourselves with no pressure. And to our northern neighbours who were their mentors - A big thank you to you all!
Children are now without a parent or grandparent and that is a great challenge in our grief. I hope that Kowanyama Project News magazine helps brighten the day with some positive news. There have been quite a few things that have happened since the last issue honouring our younger generations so there is some interesting reading in Issue Five. I hope it gives some hope in 2021. Thank you to John Brisbane for taking the photo of me at the Cultural Centre when he last visited Kowanyama to talk about the red finch project that the Land Office is involved in with Dr Ray Pierce. I have used the photo here. Sadly, Ranger Louie Native, known to us all affectionately as Fly passed away unexpectedly very early New Year’s Day after travelling with Ranger Anzac Frank to attend the Mitchell River Watershed Management Group AGM, just months before the onset of this wet season.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
For those who have passed recently and for all their families They will forever be with us Our loved ones are home and are with us in our hearts In all our quiet places and the busyness of every day In the soft breezes of winter and in the sweet smell of summer rain In our most beautiful places and in the beauty of the clouds In the deepest shade of a summer camp and in the faces of our children, and those not yet born Give your children a loving hug that they might understand, there is a time when every leaf will fall from the tree to give a new life
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CONTENT
Agents for change Our youth
6
The future of the Kowanyama Collection
7
Successful networking with Other museums
8
Cairns Museum collections
9
Rainforest baskets return to family and country
11
Koolatah Station and Mitchell River Mission in the 1960’s
12
Algngga orrngan ready for distribution
13
Dedication to an upcoming Traditional craftsman
13
NAIDOC celebrations
16
Cultural Centre works Improving museum environmental conditions
20
Different country, different water
23
Merle and Floyd Johnson Collection 23 Historic frontier clothing
24
MRM, a thriving settlement Brisbane Courier 1919
26
Frog in the shower at Chapman Road in Kowanyama
Ironwood blaze
27
Insects All living things have a purpose
28
Our country in the wet
30
Japanese landings in the Gulf 1943
32
Wartime at Mitchell River Mission
33
The Kowanyama Collection
35
John Courtney: Friend and Colleague 51
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Agents for change OUR YOUTH
We know we should “walk the talk”, “work together”, “education is the key” and that the “children are our future”. Time now to move on from the words and do it!!
Kowanyama Project is a bit selfish in one way wanting to find the highest achieving students graduating from their years to take Kowanyama Culture Centre forward.
walking the talk if indigenous communities are to move forward into what is an uncertain future for everyone. It is time for the community, schools and administration to think outside the square in creating job opportunities with meaning for indigenous communities. This can only happen if everyone works together. Again, how often have we all heard those words!
Our young are giving their early years to a High School education away from their home and family. Students find they return home and there are no jobs for them. Kowanyama has few opportunities of employment for High School graduates who Working return. Many drop out in the early stages of their away from home high school education which is a serious problem for them and our community.
towards an interesting job in cultural studies
Those who do graduate wonder why they bothered at all spending all that time away. Some Native American communities find that more and more graduates are not returning home because there seems to be nothing at home on the reservation for them to do. Some find employment in cities off reservation and others fall into a life of crime and drug addiction. Our Indian colleagues call it in Washington State “Brain drain”. How often have been to meetings over the last decades to hear that “the children are our future”. They are! It is as sure as the nose on our face. This is a serious community issue, of PAGE 6
Kowanyama Council and School began talks last year on ways to engage students during their home holidays from college. The issue of job opportunities for graduating students in the future was also on everyone’s minds.
Kowanyama Project would like to think that the Cultural Centre and the Kowanyama Collection are left in good hands as part of continuing maintenance of the cultural heritage of the ancestors and their children. Other Kowanyama agencies also need to be actively creative in providing jobs for graduates.
We know education is one of the keys to a better future for Kowanyama. We all now need to help give meaning to the education of our youth with jobs and a brighter future. That is the challenge for Kowanyama in 2021.
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Making our kids studies useful, relevant and fun
Do an audit of potential and existing job opportunities Creatively plan student pathways to employment Primary and High Schools work together Identify individual student interests early Follow those student interests Organise interest specific School and College excursions Focussed training Vacation jobs and activities Training providers work with community agencies as an important part of plans
KOWANYAMA CULTURE AND RESEARCH CENTRE Ensuring the future of The Kowanyama Collection As the Kowanyama Collection grows in its value to the community of Kowanyama there is a serious question in many people’s minds… ” Will it be maintained successfully into the future? ” During a visit to the Makah Cultural and Research Centre in Neah Bay, USA almost a decade ago, staff of the very successful, wholly tribally owned and operated centre cautioned Kowanyama on the need for good governance and administration of tribal organisations like theirs. Kowanyama Cultural Collection is fast growing into an Australian icon of Cape York. It is a collection of national and regional significance but the real value is that it is an important part of the heritage of ancestors that helps in the passing of knowledge on to future generations. There are many other places in Australia that share the same ideas with Kowanyama and our Makah friends in the State of Washington. Museums around the world share the challenge of finding the resources to safely keep the cultural and historical heritage that they house. Many smaller country museums survive on voluntary workers and occasional government grants. Indigenous Culture and Research Centres everywhere suffer the same problem keeping the doors open, and their cultural material safe. National and international networks have started to grow but they need to be strong and able to share ideas on how best to keep their own organisations strong. The message is clear, if Kowanyama is to maintain its valuable Centre and Cultural Research Centre into the future. We must work tirelessly to make sure we have a strong group of community people to direct the future of Kowanyama Culture and Research Centre, and ways to attract the interest of qualified young people to be future managers and to look after the Kowanyama Collection and Centre with a strong network of friends and supporters. PAGE 7
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Cairns Regional Museum
Successful networking with other museums Kowanyama has visited a number of museums in Australia and the United States. Visits include activities like the return of cultural objects, the sharing of knowledge and experiences, getting technical advice and looking for ideas. Establishing networks amongst mainstream museums and indigenous cultural centres is important, for the continued development, ongoing successful operation of the Kowanyama Culture and Research centre and the maintenance of the Kowanyama Collection. We still have a way to go yet. Future opportunities will be available for staff training and experience when the Cultural Centre has some full-time permanent staff. It is hoped that future school students showing a keen interest in cultural studies can be supported by the growing museum network.
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Staff of the Museum of the American Indian, that is a part of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC in the United States, showed very early interest in supporting Kowanyama attendance at Museum training workshops for Native American community participants. The offer was not taken up at the time, but illustrates exciting opportunities for our future staff. All of our international activities are on hold because of the impacts of the COVID 19 Pandemic upon us all. The QLD Police Museum in Brisbane has offered advice on police objects being acquired for the Kowanyama Collection. Warren Flegg, the local Policeman and his colleagues of the QLD Police Weapons Section were a great help in our getting a valuable rare 1860’s Tranter revolver from the United Kingdom for the Jardine Collection in Kowanyama Collection.
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
CAIRNS MUSEUM COLLECTIONS A visit to the Cairns Museum has revealed a very special object that is similar to a funeral object (worn down the wearers back) known in Kokoberra as man kumpan. A similar possum wool piece was worn around the waist mostly by the women called ma’ monporm by the Yir Yoront people. The spinning of the belly wool of possums was a widespread Cape York practice only represented by at least two historic cultural collections.
Spun possum wool object Cairns Museum
The Cairns example is unidentified. Kowanyama Collection has the remnants of a spun blue possum wool armlet made by The Late Doris Lawrence in the 1970’s. The Late Raymond George was also one of the last known people who had the skill. Walter Roth, the Queensland Chief Protector of Aborigines, documented the use of the simple lap spindle in one of his published bulletins (1901, Walter E Roth, Bulletin no 1, Plate one). Possum wool objects are very difficult to keep. When first spun the wool is like elastic but over time it loses the essential oils that keep the spun wool together and so often falls apart. The Kowanyama example is not in good condition. The woollen tassel in the Cairns Museum is still in good condition for its age and is a valuable example of this lost art. Museum visits are a good way to get an idea of what cultural objects from our region are held in their collections. Some work has been done in Cairns identifying and describing objects from our area.
Bark bound agile wallaby bone hand awl Made by The Late Patrick Eric. Kowanyama 1980’s. Original notes and drawings on provenance in the Kowanyama Collection Archive Cairns Museum Collection 2019
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Ngadijina The Late Wilma Walker Yalandji Traditional Weaver
Kowanyama Collection
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Rainforest baskets Return to family and country Wilma Walker’s legacy
In the 1980’s, Viv Sinnamon visited Mossman Gorge where he met traditional weaver, The Late Wilma Walker and purchased three of her rainforest style baskets. Many years after her passing, Viv met two of her granddaughters, Larissa and Delissa at a Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair and later at Kowanyama when Larissa visited as a member of RAATSIC staff. Viv discovered that the family had no examples of the old lady’s woven baskets at the Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair. It was decided that a basket be sent home to Mossman for the family from The Sinnamon Collection. Time passed and Bennett Walker and his son in law were found unexpectedly entertaining everyone in Kowanyama at the 2020 NAIDOC celebrations.
The family had a quick late-night tour of the Kowanyama Collection. It was Bennet’s first chance to see his mum’s baskets at Kowanyama. It was raining and everyone needed to leave for Cairns early morning. It was decided that two baskets would be securely packed for Viv’s departure from Kowanyama to Cairns later in the month. A night out at Cazally’s in Cairns was organised to enjoy a dinner with everyone and deliver the long-awaited baskets. The third example of Wilma Walker’s baskets is now held as a valued part of The Kowanyama Collection.
Walker family baskets are currently on exhibition at the Cairns Regional Art Gallery. Wilma’s work is accompanied by granddaughter Delissa’s traditional and contemporary works.
Cairns Regional Gallery November 2020
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K0WANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Koolatah Station and Mitchell River Mission in the sixties An unexpected outcome of a chance finding of a photo in a book has led to the unearthing of a small but valuable set of five 1960’s photographs for Kowanyama’s Photo Archive. The photograph was of Frank Yam at Koolatah and is the first photograph that the family, now living at Kowanyama, had seen. Now everyone has a second one of Simpson and his father.
Photographs by Paul Colvey 1961
In November, Viv presented a copy of Kowanyama’s book to thank him and enjoyed a barramundi dinner with Bryan before leaving for southern parts. A set of five fine colour images followed from his friends to add to their story. We thank Paul Colvey and Eric Frei for the photographs shown in this story.
Photograph by Paul Colvey 1961
The photo of Frank was re-published in the new book, Algngga orrngan after speaking with Bryan with help from Richard Jenkins of Balkanu. Simpson features prominently on the front cover as an Elder.
Photograph by Ernie Frei about 1966
The photo had been published in a book on crocodile shooters by Cairns author, Bryan Peach. Bryan and his mates spent upwards of fifteen years around the Koolatah area where they hunted crocodiles in the local rivers and waterholes. Bryan remembers Frank and his sons Lefty, Simpson and Paddy Yam. George Murray was also on Koolatah at the time.
Frank Yam and son Simpson on the river waiting for pig to cook in a ground oven
Cabbage palm houses Mitchell River Mission 1961
Stock camp at Black Gin Yard
Chapman Road with dormitory & buildings including church
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
ALGNGGA ORRNGAN Our book ready for distribution Almost nine months late our book is ready for distribution. “We received forty orders in the first two days after its announced arrival on social media. We are really happy with the response but our main aim right now is to make it available to Kowanyama readers. It is an important part of making sure traditional knowledge and skills are passed on to the young people of Kowanyama” Viv Sinnamon said. Thanks to Tuxworths for delivering our book safe and sound
This project was supported by Arts QLD
Algngga Orrngan our long-awaited book arrived in Kowanyama in November, as the editor Viv was preparing to leave Kowanyama to return to his other home in the south. Unfortunately, there was no time to organise a formal launch. Following Christmas, the number of deaths made it difficult to do anything other than take orders and to get the Olkola mob their preview copies. Olkola families love the book. The book was printed in China and was held up with the COVID pandemic so it arrived more than six months late. Woolloongabba Art Gallery played a key role in helping with final formatting and publication. Big thank you, Bob Mercer and Alex Shaw of WAG, The Cairns Museum, Woolloongabba Art Gallery and Avid Reader bookshops all showed keen interest in selling copies. We must apologise for the delay in filling the forward orders of more than forty followers of Kowanyama Project. There was surprise at such a good response within just a couple of days of the announcement of the book’s arrival. The method of payment and shipping has still to be confirmed for mail orders. All money raised from the sale of the book will go towards the operations of the Kowanyama Cultural Centre and Museum. PAGE 13
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
The logo shield of The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
DEDICATION TO AN UPCOMING TRADITIONAL CRAFTSMAN The Late Stephen Patterson
Traditional Shield Maker One of Stephen Patterson’s Mel thiw (Baldy Owl) Clan shields is now keeping the 1930’s Mitchell River Shield company in Canberra seen here. The old shield became the logo of The Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in the 1960’s.
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From the editor We are reminded again how fragile the state of traditional knowledge and skills is at Kowanyama. Brother passed before his time and we lost another fine traditional craftsman. In his time, he touched many people with his work and everyone is very proud of Stephen and his fine work. Speaking to the ABC about his work at CIAF 2016
He suffered severely from depression and found his peaceful place in the bush with his craft amongst the Old People, long gone all around him. It was his place away from the worries and noise of the community. He took up shield making when he was part of hosting an Awin Udnum 2014 event on his homeland at Patha pakalin where his father and Aunty were laid to rest more than a decade ago. His father, Banjo Patterson known affectionately as Runkiy, left the legacy of a small shield painted in his clan’s design for his sons. Stephen drew inspiration from that shield and proudly painted the ochred design on a number of shields before his passing. He achieved a lot in the short time he produced shields. In 2016 he completed two shields with the Mel thiw Clan design. A third With Judy Watson, well known Aboriginal artist CIAF 2016 copied a shield design collected by the Mission Superintendent, We were all proud of brother. Sadly, you never got to Henry Mathews in the 1900’s now held in the QLD Museum, see your fine shield work exhibited in the Nation’s Brisbane. This shield was to honour the ancestors. capital. We will all miss you, especially your grand kids His shields were part of an Ochred Shields Exhibition with Cape who often came to watch you work. You were able to York Arts at Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair. Both shields with the spend time with Elder mentors, The Late Warwick Mel thiw design were snapped up. One of the two being David we all knew as Chook, and The Late Edgar acquired by the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Bendigo. You touched a lot of people and found skills Strait Islander Studies, Canberra to accompany their logo you never knew you had, and peace, in what you did shield. In 2019 the shield featured in Ngulla Wellamunagaa, well. See an article in Kowanyama Project News issue 2 on exhibition at the National Museum in Canberra. Stephen’s 2016 CIAF Shield Exhibition.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
NAIDOC CELEBRATIONS November 2020
The ancestors would have been proud
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
LOST IN DANCE Always was. Always will be.
Special moments were captured when our children danced for themselves with their mentors in preparation for a NAIDOC public performance in November at the Kowanyama Multipurpose Centre. The night’s celebrations were a success but the young dancers had their own celebration earlier.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
A safe home for two regionally significant wommera collections Thanks to the Mitchell River Group, formed at Kowanyama in 1990, the Atherton and Palmer Wommera Collections have a safe space in the Kowanyama Collection room. John Brisbin, of the Mareeba based Group donated and transported a cabinet surplus to office needs, by road, 9 hours travel to Kowanyama for our museum.
CULTURAL CENTRE WORKS Improving museum environmental conditions Works are ongoing to address the 2018 Recommendations to protect the Kowanyama Collection. Very late in 2018 Ian Miles of Sic Air Conditioning, Townsville raced to beat wet season rains to upgrade the air conditioning system in the residential part of the building, and to improve the existing ducted system into the museum. Jane Woolcock of the Anthropology Museum at the University of QLD provided advice on the environmental requirements for protection of the Kowanyama Collection against the high temperatures and mould. Tropical hot wet weather is not a museum’s best friend. Recommendations were that the beehive be removed from the back of the building allowing the safe removal of the cluster fig trees there. Trees were damaging the foundations of the building and the roots were lifting the ducting of the air-conditioning system letting moist air in through a tear in the ducting. This was a threat to keeping the humidity down during the wet season. A roof over the main cabinet was recommended to protect the container from the weather. The bees were removed by Joe Adams to the Men’s Shed Farm to allow works to begin. Council had the main tree removed and later Rangers Anzac Frank and Fitzy Lawrence cut out the remaining two smaller trees already growing over the Centre’s storage shed and rainwater tanks. Bartlett’s Builders erected a roof over the cabinet just before the wet season. Work will begin early this dry season to remove the damaged duct and removal and grinding of the stump to allow the final necessary repairs to the system. The Cultural Centre’s first Cyclone Management Plan is our next job this year to keep Kowanyama Collection safe. Thank you everyone for your supporting maintenance work at the Cultural Centre
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
SERIOUS CROCODILE WARNING Do not swim in Magnificent Creek For a long time now, people have swum at Car Crossing and many other places in the creek near town. Children and their parents are asked not to swim in the creek especially when the saltwater crocs are moving about in the floods. They could be anywhere in the waters near town and we do know that there are two large animals that do live in the creek behind the Ranger shed. Rangers have seen them in a roll
together and dogs were taken last year. Video was posted on Facebook of one incident. It is no longer safe to swim in the creek and any fishing while the creeks are in flood should be done with care. Keep at a safe distance away from the edge of the water.
Wet season fishing for jewfish and silver perch is a popular traditional practice but must be done with care so everyone survives to enjoy their catch. Social media posts and community notices have been out. Do the right thing and use the community swimming pool when it is open. What a crocodile can do is clear with the example seen in the photo of a beast’s skull punctured by a crocodile whose front teeth punctured the brain of the animal and bitten off its nose. Stay safe and out of the water.
The power of a crocodile’s jaws Photograph taken of the skull found by Teacher Aaron Davey and Viv Sinnamon at Starfish Story at Mu’ar, popular mud shell gathering place on the South Mitchell River bend.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
WANTED Gracie and Cecil Rutland with Grandson Murphy with their flour drum full of fresh water: Topsy Creek 1970’s
Believed to be lurking about on a shelf or in a back shed somewhere on the Cape
Once seen in their thousands Now rarely seen Blue silver or red No matter
One only Defiance Flour Drum Secure firmly & report the sighting
Kowanyama Collections Curator 0427 124 666 or 0447 387 449
Kowanyama Township April 2009
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
DIFFERENT COUNTRY DIFFERENT WATER This photo was taken by Dr Timothy Bottoms, former teacher at Kowanyama, showing both the Mitchell and Alice Rivers in flood in February 2009. The photograph clearly shows the difference in the quality of Alice River water draining into a dirtier Mitchell River. The image shows the area where the ‘L’ marked ironwood, near Spider’s camp where the Chinese prospectors died. It is also very near to where the 1874 Jardine Expedition fought local tribesmen in which 30 men died of gunshot wounds. The actual location of the Jardine incident is yet to be identified
The Merle and Floyd Johnson Collection Another generous donation
A big thank you to Merle and Floyd Johnson who last year donated a collection of twelve cultural objects to The Kowanyama Collection from their new home in Mundubbera. Items were gathered during their stay at Kowanyama when Floyd was a member of staff at Kowanyama, and Merle at the school in the 1980’s.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Historic frontier clothing collection
QLD Police Museum Brisbane Roma Street 2021
With the help of historic photographs and examples of original clothing and reproductions from museums, like the Queensland Police Museum, Kowanyama Collection is developing a representative collection of uniforms and other equipment.
Kowanyama Collections has entered an interesting stage in its development with a number of recent acquisitions of historical objects in 2020. Some acquisitions are covered in this issue. A number of objects representing the arrival of European contact in the region as early as the 1860’s with The Jardine Expedition and the expansion of the cattle industry just two decades later with the establishment of the Native Mounted Police at Cairo Lagoon 1885-1900 on Highbury. Highbury Station was established later as an early part of the Wrotham Park Holdings. Maddock Hughes moved from Highbury in 1914 where he worked, to take up the vacant Koolatah block. An earlier attempt to establish Old Koolatah on the Alice River had been made in the late 1880’s after the establishment of Dunbar by Hungerford and Geddes. The settler named the Alice River after his wife. Kowanyama Project’s intention is to provide an iconic Historic and Cultural Collection for Cape York and Gulf Region. Something that will become an asset for us all to tell the story of the history of Cape York.
K C
Ea
Kowanyama Collection Part of the Historical Collection
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Kowanyama Collection is on the lookout for help from our readers Let us know if you have these, or a friend who does that could be on offer for purchase or donation.
Slouch hat with puggaree (1879 through to 1940’s) Old Kowanyama Police ones even better
Khaki QLD Police pants, shirt (Mid late 1800’s through to 1940’s)
Insp. Urquart with his Native Mounted Troopers in the Central West of QLD during the 1800’s. In 1900 Urquart became QLD Commissioner of Police
Pair of Victorian era Police suspenders
Wrong clothing for the “job”
Pair of QLD Police boots
Police and Native Mounted Police adopted the lighter white trooper’s trousers finding the standard woollen blue uniform used in the south very hot as they moved into the tropics.
(Mid late 1800’s through to 1940’s)
The white trousers were made of heavy cotton duck and would still have been uncomfortable in Cape York summer.
Tailor for accurate reproductions
Any local experienced and worth his salt in spear fighting knew trousers restricted quick movement if they became a target for harassed tribesmen. Little wonder there are reports of troopers removing their trousers often, quite apart from the heat. When the shirt was removed as well, the red banded cap stayed on the head to identify them to avoid being killed by “friendly fire”.
We are looking for a men’s tailor who could produce faithful reproductions of a Native Mounted Police uniform from photographs. (1885 to 1900). We also have a pair of grey Confederate US Civil War trousers almost identical in pattern to the Victorian era white duck trousers worn in North Queensland.
Our friends at Hills Hats did a great job in the reproduction of the Native Police caps for our collection. We are now after the original small QV crown buttons that held the chin strap. Thank you everyone in the land of the long white cloud.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
MITCHELL RIVER MISSION. A thriving settlement. Brisbane Courier 16th August 1919
INSIGHTS INTO THE PAST OF EARLY MISSION LIFE This is reproduction of an article in the words it was written in over a hundred years ago In the Brisbane Courier 16th August 1919 The Brisbane Courier was a southern newspaper 1864-1933 Five years after the formation of the State of Queensland in 1859. Rapid spread of colonial settlement into the north and fatal contact with The Jardine Cattle Expedition on the unsettled lands of Alice and Mitchell Rivers country in 1864
Mitchell River Mission At the time of the writing of this newspaper article
1919
The Rev. W. Light, who has just come from the Gulf country, gave an interesting account to a "Courier"' representative yesterday of the doings at the Mitchell River Mission, which he visited last May. He stated that about 18 Months ago it was decided to move the station from the old site at Trubanamen which had been utilised for about 12 years to a place on the South Mitchell River, about 14 miles away. This decision was come to because the land at Trubanamen was not suitable for agriculture. Mr. Light said he found that a great deal of work had been done in growing crops of yams, sweet potatoes, bananas, and taro, and those were all yielding good returns during the present season. The mission was experimenting with cotton growing and, apparently, it was proving successful. The first object of the new station was to get the gardens going, and at present all the buildings were in a grass and palmleaf stage.
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As at Yarrabah, the birth rate was higher than the death rate, so that it did not look as if the aborigines were dying out. For the present it was intended to keep on the old station at Trubanamen for the use of the school children, and also because there were a number of mango and citrus fruit trees which would need to be looked after until there were supplies at the new station, Kowanyama (a native name, meaning plenty of water) The object of the mission on the secular side, said Mr. Light, was to provide labour, partly that the people might grow much of what they needed, but chiefly as part of their moral training, and it was the agricultural-work that would do this. There were about 160 natives on the mission station, about 30 of them being children of school age. It was estimated that there were some 600 on the reserve, with whom the mission was more or less in touch.
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Ironwood blaze An interesting blaze on an ironwood tree close to the junction of the Alice and Mitchell Rivers has been discovered. A number of mature Owenia trees are growing near the tree. The tree is marked with the roman numeral, L similar to surveyor and explorer marks. Investigations are being made to identify the marks. The tree has probably grown over one of the blazed numbers.
DRUGS AND ALCOHOL ARE NOT THE ANSWER THEY JUST HELP YOU FORGET THE QUESTIONS Wall graffiti Seattle 2014
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
INSECTS All living things have a purpose The insect world provided traditional food, medicine, indicated seasons when other foods would be ready to gather and that some would be fat and plentiful. Dragonflies, blue flies, grasshoppers and the itchy grub all had their part to play and there were ways to deal with the insects that annoyed people. Even insects had their story places at places like Nhen wolhrr, Sandfly story place and Ogngol ampungk, Mosquito Lagoon in Olkola forest country. Queen of the insect world and most prized was the sugar bag bee that supplied pollen, honey, a drinking mixture for sore throats and wax for ornaments and the binding of stone and bone tools. There were many types of bee that included Lorr wonmangvn the big noisy yellow and black bumble bee that tricked humans with its sound in hollow trees for Wangarr morlvm, one of the many spirit beings that tricked humans in the bush.
LORR POPOR The centipede
Many will not know that the scorpion, known as lorr popor by our bottom end Yir Yoront people had an important use for the Old People. When our biting friend was found it was killed and carried back to camp. Lorr popor was placed on a young child’s belly button to stop it peeing too much. The centipede is brown snake’s namesake. It shares its name with minh popor the brown snake. Lorr is the word for insect and minh is for animal i.e minya.
When the hairy caterpillar nests of silk and leaves were ready the people gathered them carefully and cooked them in slow coals burning the itchy hairs and leaving the pupae exposed for eating. Moy the other kind of hairy grub made its nest in a silken sock in trees and was not eaten. It had a nastier use that will not be described here.
Thi’ rrawr, green ant nests were crushed and a drink made of the crushed ants as a medicine. A grub that lives in may wul’, cocky apple fruit were put in blocked ears to clean out the wax and later fell out having grown fat on the wax
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Some insects are different and have their own name like thi’rrowr the green ant, ponh the hornet, thonhthn the scorpion & ngar lu’ the witchetty grub.
Passing on the cultural knowledge of ancestors to future generations
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Ngar lu’: In winter ngar lu’ (wood grubs of the longicorn beetle) can be cut from the river wattle trees. At other times they can be found by splitting rotten cotton trees where they can sometimes be found in large numbers amongst the soft rotten wood.
LORR KERN
The ones that got missed hatch out of the side of the tree and the shell of the big white grub can be seen. Grubs were found from the sawdust that falls to the bottom of the wattle trees. The edible witchetty grub’s traditional name is not Lorr but Ngar that is the reference to fish. The grub when cooked is filled with liquid fat. The word lu’ in Yir Yoront refers to that nothingness.
The MEAT ANT
Sharing names was common in some languages. Here are some examples in the Yir Yoront language Lorr kern: Meat ant Minh kern: Black cockatoo Kay kern: Broad nosed stone axe (Because it has the same shape as the black cockatoo’s beak). Lorr minh pengr: Water beetle Minh pengr: Swamp turtle Lorr minh lo’l: Minh lo’l
The cockroach Stinking turtle
Lorr minh ngoro: Butterfly Minh ngoro: Magpie goose
Hatched grub case on the side of a tree close to Thakuluw, saltwater Topsy Creek
Other grubs also do not carry Lorr in their name like other insects. Marnanh is another edible hairy grub cooked and eaten in its chrysalis stage. Moy the smaller hairy caterpillar and Lep, the very small stinging caterpillar found on low gum saplings are others that are not eaten.
Lorr pen: After the heavy rains of the wet season were gone and most of the geese eggs in the swamps had hatched, Lorr pen, the flat bodied green katydid calls, “piin, piin !, piin !.” everyone knew that both long yams and round sour yams were ripe and ready to be dug by the women.
Lorr minh kotor: Praying mantis Minh kotor: Saltwater crocodile Lorr minh ngon: Minh ngon:
May wanchuw (Yir Yoront) Round Yam aka Sour Yam
A moth Mopoke owl
Passing on the cultural knowledge of ancestors to future generations
Lorr pen visiting the Kowanyama Post Office. December 2009
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OUR COUNTRY IN THE WET A season of plenty Mural, the freshwater swamp crab emerges from its burrow beneath the swamp to mate and lay its eggs. It is also food for brolgas and other water birds.
Thetl ngupanvm, the bullfrog comes out in the wet to mate and have its young. It likes hunting in the light rain of the night for insects and smaller frogs. Like the green frog and Minh kotor the crocodile, it is a cannibal. It eats its own kind.
Minh ngoro. The magpie geese gather as the wetlands fill with water, rice grass and May wolvm, bulgurruw to tie their nests. February and March is the main laying time and for gathering eggs. Everyone gathers the Minh nhapn, eggs during goose egg time. Pirram, the wet season is a time of plenty for traditional foods. Rivers and wetlands fill with life. Many people fish along the banks of the Magnificent Creek for bream and jewfish.
May melvnh, the edible grass lily: Aponogeton elongatus
MITCHELL RIVER DELTA COUNTRY A beautiful place of cyclones and floods that happen regularly as natural events. The annual wet season and dry seasons are something that northern Australians live with and love.
Surprise and Mottle Creeks with Main Mitchell River to the right February 2009
Egrets and Spoonbills foraging on the edge of a saltwater marshland Near Monl par Wet season 2019
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
DID THE JAPANESE LAND ON THE SOUTH EAST SHORE OF THE GULF OF CARPENTARIA, QLD IN APRIL 1943?
In April 1943, the RAF Radio Unit in Townsville intercepted Japanese radio traffic which they interpreted as indicating that Japanese military were being landed on the Cape York Peninsula. The large military airfield at Iron Range was advised and placed on alert. HMAS Australia spent the early months of 1943 in support of the Coral Sea Group and patrolling the east coast of Australia. On 11 April 1943 she received a report of a Japanese landing of 40 to 50 Japanese marines on the south east shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria at Galbraith. Although subsequent investigations proved negative, it appeared likely that the Japanese were either establishing fuel caches for subs or aircraft or both, or landing small parties of men as commandos or coast watchers. The reports started with advice from N.E.A. through O.B. 28 at Horn Island of an unconfirmed report of a Japanese landing at Galbraith. At around the same time, local residents from Mitchell River Mission and Galbraith reported seeing lights out to sea. They were even reports of a submarine being seen west of Aurukun Mission. At 1720 hours on 11 April 1943 P. Randall of Sterling Station reported the landing to Colonel O'Malley VDC in the Gulf area.
At 1930 hours the RAAF advised that a Japanese submarine had been sighted west of Aurukun and an aircraft was circling the area. At 2330 hours NOIC Townsville reported that there were no sightings after an aerial reconnaissance of the area. Footprints were found on the beach. York Force was mobilised to find the suspected landing party. An Independent Company was formed from the 11th Brigade. They were flown from Cairns in Qantas flying boat Camilla on 13 April 1943. Another source stated that a party of 10 RAAF guards and a detachment for the 13th Garrison Battalion of the Australian Army was sent to the area on 17 April 1943 where they patrolled Tozer's Gap on the road between Iron Range airfield and the sea. They searched the area for two days with no result. Extensive ground and aerial surveillance patrols failed to find any trace of the suspected landing force. REFERENCE BOOK Ball, Reg. A., "Torres Strait Force - Cape York, Thursday Island, Merauke 1942 - 1945", Australian Military History Publications, 1996.
War time at Mitchell River Mission The Curr family were at Inkerman Station in 1943. Their station life on the Nassau River coast will be the subject of a book currently being written by Carol Curr. The Late Vera Dick talked about seeing a strange vessel later interpreted to be a submarine off the coast at Mitchell River Mission around the time of the other coastal sightings.
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“In 1942, civil aviation services throughout Cape York used a landing area (DCA Landing Ground No 516) near Mitchell River Mission. This site provided light aircraft access for minor RAAF interest in the area. The most significant of which was the installation of a radar station (No 320), nearby. While this landing area never compared with the many developed and frequently used throughout the State during WW2, its proximity to a
well-documented USAAF B-17 Bomber recovery meant that it became better known. This particular recovery called Mitchell River Mission residents, particularly large numbers of Aboriginals at the centre, into great prominence at the time even though newspaper censorship masked location and identities.” (https://www.ww2places.qld.gov.au/pl ace?id=849)
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
JAPANESE SUBMARINE SIGHTED WEST OF AURUKUN MISSION IN APRIL 1943 “On 11 April 1943 reports were received of a Japanese landing on the south east shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria at Galbraith. At around the same time, local residents from Mitchell River Mission and Galbraith reported seeing lights out to sea. There were also reports of a submarine being seen west of Aurukun Mission. It is possible that this may have been Japanese Submarine RO-33”.
Can anyone give me some more details on these stories. See me online: https://www.ozatwar.com/japsubs/sight03.htm
The Editor wishes to thank the sources of this information. The more we can add to the story of the events at Mitchell River Mission/Kowanyama during the 1940’s the more complete the story will be. During time of war the War Secrets Act did not permit information to reach the public for national safety reasons.” These are excerps of online posts. Much of this information will be available now that time has passed since the conflict. Kowanyama Project would love to hear anything that readers have to add in either photographs and stories. REFERENCE BOOK Bradley, Vera, "I Didn't Know That - Cairns and Districts Tully to Cape York, 1939-1946, Service Personnel and Civilians", Boolarong Press, 1995
Mitchell River Mission War time The old Air Surveillance Post camp was near where the Men’s Shed is now and the old dormitory mango trees.
American Airforce crew at Dunbar 1940’s photographed by Phyllis Campbell-Hughes
Unfortunately, past modern airport extension works have erased much of what remained of the site of the surveillance post and camp at Belboro near the site of the New Mission’s first dormitory in 1915. An early dump of artifacts was pushed across the airport runway site to a place outside of the airport control area.
Some photographs exist of the wartime Mission airstrip and the B17 Bomber crash site on the plains near Shelfo. A search continues for the actual site of the crash and the repair of the aircraft. The gilgay plain is very difficult to negotiate in even a four-wheel drive vehicle. Cannon shells were thrown from the aircraft for safety
reasons before the bomber crashed. They were sometimes found but the last example was lost in the early 1970’s and would now be dangerously unstable if any are found and picked up. Report cannon shells to the Police and do not handle them. The shells are dangerous.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
JAPANESE SUBMARINE RO-33 LANDS A PARTY ON MURRAY ISLAND IN NORTH QUEENSLAND DURING WW2
Japanese submarine RO-33
The Murray Island elders speak of a Japanese submarine captain who used the islands close by as a means of evading detection from antisubmarine patrols. There are eyewitness accounts of the crew coming ashore to collect fresh water from the wells and fresh fruit from the islanders gardens. Apparently, the captain utilised the island for quite some time.
of the 3 volcanic islands that make up Murray Island). They landed on "Dauar" Islet to take on fresh water from the wells at the Sardine Factory and to obtain intelligence on the area. In another instance a submarine (presumably the same one - dates need to be confirmed) cruised the length of Murray Island on the surface at about 4 knots.
In April 1942 Japanese submarines RO-33 and RO-34 were placed under the direct command of the Japanese South Seas Force to search for convoy routes and suitable anchorages prior to the planned assault on Port Moresby. RO-33 left Rabaul in April 1942 to reconnoitre Port Moresby. Both submarines were later ordered to blockade Port Moresby and guide Japanese shipping into the area.
Australian signals personnel based on the island at this time logged the reports and according to Vanessa See Kee a signaller who was based on Murray Island was still alive in August 2001. Manual McAuley was due to interview an islander who remembers the landing. A crew member of the submarine knew his father before the war. This fellow was called "Ottosun" (we assume Otto San, as in the Japanese form of respect). He was a Beche-deMer boat skipper in the Torres Strait before the war. He was also a trusted friend of Gee Dee Williams, the manager of the sardine factory located on Dauar Islet prior to the war. It is believed that Otto (nicknamed "Black Otto") by the Torres Strait Islanders, was an officer of some sort on the boat.
Manuel McAuley from Murray Island on the eastern side of Torres Strait believes that it was Japanese submarine RO-33 that put a landing party ashore on Murray Island during World War 2. Vanessa See Kee (Curator of the Torres Strait Heritage Museum) told Manuel that RO33 was credited with sinking the Burns Philp ship Mamutu" (300 tons) on the 7th August 1942 north of Murray Island. RO-33 was a small but well-armed submarine of 940 tons with a crew of 42 officers and men. It is estimated in that in late July 1942, or sometime after the sinking of the "Mumutu", the submarine surfaced beside "Dauar" Islet (one
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On 29 August 1942, HMAS Arunta sunk the RO-33 10miles SE of Port Moresby (09-36S, 147-06E). All hands were lost. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I'd like to thank Manuel McAuley from Murray Island on the eastern side of Torres Strait for his assistance with this home page.
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
The Kowanyama Collection Maintenance of the cultural and historical heritage of our ancestors and their children For past, present and future generations
In Issue 4 were proud to present a look behind the closed doors of the crowded museum store room for our readers. Here is another look. In future issues we promise to show more of Kowanyama’s treasures in cultural and historical objects, photographs and documents.
Kowanyama Collections present our wellknown American Anthropologist, Lauriston Sharp from Cornell who made the Yir Yoront and Kowanyama well known in anthropological studies across the world. Some of his papers on the Yir Yoront people of 1933-34 became readers for young students internationally. We honour him as a generous and caring old man loved by his students and known affectionately by the Old People as “Mr Sharp”. As with all things, everything has its story often making ordinary things special to some people.
Kowanyama Collection is an Aboriginal Community collection that connects people, stories and country. It is being developed for the Kowanyama People so that people can tell their stories to future generations and to share them with others. It is a special collection that is not a meaningless collection of old and strange things, but a valuable cultural and historical heritage full of stories about the People and their ancestors of the Mitchell and Coleman Rivers. It is the story of freshwater and saltwater country and its people. Kowanyama people call this country home.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Personal briefcase of Professor Lauriston Sharp Emeritus Professor Cornell University Acquired in the 1980’s in a visit to see Sharp and to talk about his valuable 1933-34 fieldwork records, photographs, and to present a collection of Yir Yoront cultural objects in his honour. Viv Sinnamon was offered the brief case by the Professor who was worried that Viv’s shoulder bag was not secure for travelling by bus in the United States. PAGE 36
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His work amongst the Yir Yoront
Young Harvard University student Lauriston Sharp at his camp during his fieldwork at Puyul on the Coleman River between 1933 to 1934. He is with Black Dog, later known as David Melamen who was killed by a crocodile on Melamen Creek almost ten years later, while fishing with his two sons.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
A sign of its time Yellow metal sign originally hung on a cabbage palm thatched partition at the Kowanyama Airport. A pre 1987 sign erected under the Regulations of the Aborigines Act during the Government Era of administration 1967-1987 Acquired later as a throw away in a back office of the Council.
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Kowanyama Airport: 1970’s
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Going to the office in the 70’s An iconic photograph depicting a shortstemmed pipe, Erinmore tobacco tin and white passbook so typical of the time.
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Government White Passbooks Set of linen covered institutional DAIA white savings bank passbooks found at the Council Office destined for the dump. Salvaged in the late 1980’s
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Mukaby’s bush pipe A commercial pipe bowl with stem removed and short bush one inserted Willie Mitchell AKA Mukaby 1980’s
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
Significant new addition to The Kowanyama History Collection Kowanyama now has two of the three kinds of weapons carried by the Jardine brothers cattle drive in 1864 in its museum collection. Our long-awaited Antique 1860 model Tranter percussion cap revolver has finally made it to Australia from the United Kingdom (“England”, to a lot of people in Australia). The object is a significant acquisition for the Kowanyama Collection representing rare weapons identical in kind to the ones carried by the Jardine brothers, and colleagues on their epic cattle drive in 1864. The collaboration between agencies lasted some months to get the pistol into Australia. Kowanyama Police Sergeant, Warren Flegg, helped connect the Cultural Centre with QLD Police Weapons Section in Brisbane.
All of the paperwork was completed with the registration of the old pistol as an antique in very short time thanks to the efficiency of QPS in Brisbane. That was not the end of the journey however. The UK’s gun laws are even stricter than ours and it took some time to find any one that was willing to deal with the old firearm for shipment to Australia. Eventually thanks to an international company with an office in both the UK and Brisbane it was air shipped to Brisbane where it was picked up from their Brisbane office. The revolver made its way finally to Binjour after a visit to the Queensland Police Museum. It will be placed in The Kowanyama Collection in April.
The hunt is on now to complete the valuable heritage collection with an example of the double-barrelled Police carbines issued to the Native Mounted Police from the Wide Bay region who were with the Jardine Party. The antique weapon is extremely rare.
A Queensland Govt issue Calisher Terry Carbine has been acquired from a Queensland source. Like the Tranter percussion revolver, it is an antique weapon. The Jardine party were issued with Terry carbines and Tranter revolvers for their cattle drive to Somerset at the tip of Cape York delivered cattle to their father, the Magistrate of Somerset. The four Native Mounted Police who accompanied the party were issued with double barrelled police carbines. Adding this very rare weapon to Kowanyama Collections will be a challenge. Few examples survive and the ones that have are in the hands of private collectors in Australia. The search continues.
Calisher Terry Carbine Kowanyama Collection
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Men’s shell forehead band Shell forehead piece made of fillets of little rayed pearl shell strung on plain palm fibre string (Corypha elata/utan) . Made by Maynie Henry in the 1990’s
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Shark bone necklace Shark vertebrae necklet strung on nylon line. Coloured in a banded pattern with Morinda root natural bush dye. Made by Hazel Barr 21.09.10
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Tusk shell Necklet Dentalium shell sections strung on (Corypha elata/utan) cabbage palm bush string. Red ochre stained from use on a number of occasions in dance events. Made by Doris Lawrence in the 1970’s
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Wallaby jaw bone grooving tool Wallaby (Macropus agilis) mandible grooving tool with the tip of the incisor removed to make a chiselled point for wood working. The coronoidal process of the jawbone has been purposely broken off. Made by Jerry Mission in the 1980’s
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Hafted shell hand adze used as a heavy spoke shave in woodwork Shell: Worked shell fragment (Geloina coaxans) Handle: Tulip wood (Thespesia populneoides) Binding: Fig fibre strips (Ficus virens) Cover: Native bee’s wax (Trigonula hockingsii)
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Collection of five bottle glass wood working scrapers Origin: Old Bottom End Village near the old sites of Snotty’s and Jackson’s huts neighbouring Joseph Chapman’s hut and garden eroding from road surface Acquired: Viv Sinnamon 2018
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KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
THE KOWANYAMA COLLECTION
Two handled fine weave basket
Unfinished fine weave basket
Corypha elata palm fibre string basket Two overbound handles
Unfinished Corypha elata palm fibre string basket
Vertical green stripes over natural fibre
Five vertical dark brown stripes
Dye: Commercial synthetic
Dye: Natural Morinda root
Maker: Unknown
Maker: Fannie Bruce
Donor: Neville Simpson (Teacher 1970’s)
Donor: Priscilla Major Page 49
KOWANYAMA PROJECT NEWS
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John Courtenay Former Founding CEO GLADA 1980-1991 Gulf Local Authorities Development Association Founder of Gulf Savannah Guides 1988 Ravenshoe Passed Away 22nd December 2020 Aged 82 years We regret to hear that John Courtenay has lost his battle with lung cancer. He will be remembered as a long-standing friend and colleague of Kowanyama Aboriginal Council and Land Office. Staff of the Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management Office will long remember him as a person committed to management of country. He loved the north. In the years leading up to Kowanyama’s formation of Australia’s first Aboriginal community land management agency John had been involved with Kowanyama Aboriginal Council that was involved with GLADA. In 1990 he was present at the Mitchell River Conference, facilitated and hosted by Kowanyama. Following this historic meeting he was voted in as the Chairman of the Mitchell River Watershed Management Group. Charlie O’Neil, Chairman of Carpentaria Shire and three Councillors, Peter Cannon of Rutland Plains, David Hughes of Koolatah and trawler operator, Karumba. The joke was that their Shire had a quorum to hold a meeting. Cook and Mareeba Shires had declined invitations to attend the conference. They could not understand what the fuss was about, one noting, “there was no development on the Mitchell and would not be for another 200 years”. The conference received five ministerial letters of support and attendance by regional management of all of the major State’s resources management agencies. John Courtenay of GLADA had begun talks earlier on the possibility of a River Trust and played an important part in the recognition of Kowanyama’s efforts to establish community based natural resources management. It was at a time when The Mitchell River Watershed Management Group was one of the community groups questioning the South Edge Lake Development proposal, and its potential environmental impacts as downstream users. Soon after the formation of the Goss Government Kowanyama presented a letter to State Members, Casey, De Lacey and Bredhauer, attending a GLADA meeting at the
HONOURING JOHN COURTENAY AS A GOOD FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE AS A PART OF KOWANYAMA’S JOURNEY TO RECOGNITION WE THANK YOU JOHN Cairns Yacht Club. Kowanyama identified proposals for a Fisheries Habitat Reserve and an Application for Authority to Prospect for Minerals at the mouth of the Nassau River. The proposals were in clear conflict as incompatible activities. Ed Casey MLA and Minister for Fisheries made an immediate press release that the Nassau River Fisheries Habitat would proceed. Fisheries authorities and Gulf of Carpentaria Fisherman’s Association had all attended the 1990 Mitchell River Conference. An alliance between Kowanyama and fisheries interests became stronger. Kowanyama Aboriginal Council formed its own natural resources management agency in the year of the Mitchell River Conference providing the newly formed Savannah Guides established by John Courtenay with early cultural awareness workshops as a member. John Clark, Kowanyama Senior Ranger and Fisheries Officer was one of the first to wear the Kowanyama Savannah Guides patch. Kowanyama chose not to continue development of its guides program due to pressures of demand for active natural resources management on its Aboriginal Lands, promotion of the development of indigenous management agencies, and engagement in early development of the TAFE based ranger training program. In the decades that followed John left GLADA with Gulf Savannah Guides as his legacy. John operated a private consultancy business, Probe out of his Digger Street base in Cairns in 1990. We heard little of John after making a new home in Ravenshoe with partner Melody Nixon and continuing his good work in North Queensland. John was part of the early journey in Kowanyama’s history when Kowanyama was recognised as an active player in Gulf country management. We thank you John Courtenay as a friend, colleague and supporter, along with many others. “You did good Friend. When others didn’t believe in us, you did !” Thoughts always to Melody, Noanie, Angelique, Tristen and son Shane.
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