Aboriginal Rock Art and Dendroglyphs of Queensland's Wet Tropics
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ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Buhrich, Alice (2017) Art and identity: Aboriginal rock art and dendroglyphs of Queensland's Wet Tropics. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/51812/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/51812/ Art and Identity: Aboriginal rock art and dendroglyphs of Queensland’s Wet Tropics Alice Buhrich BA (Hons) July 2017 Submitted as part of the research requirements for Doctor of Philosophy, College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank the many Traditional Owners who have been my teachers, field companions and friends during this thesis journey. Alf Joyce, Steve Purcell, Willie Brim, Alwyn Lyall, Brad Grogan, Billie Brim, George Skeene, Brad Go Sam, Marita Budden, Frank Royee, Corey Boaden, Ben Purcell, Janine Gertz, Harry Gertz, Betty Cashmere, Shirley Lifu, Cedric Cashmere, Jeanette Singleton, Gavin Singleton, Gudju Gudju Fourmile and Ernie Grant, it has been a pleasure working with every one of you and I look forward to our future collaborations on rock art, carved trees and beyond. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and culture with me. This thesis would never have been completed without my team of fearless academic supervisors and mentors, most importantly Dr Shelley Greer. Shelley provided invaluable guidance and support in all aspects of academia and thesis production. She allowed me enough independence to walk my own path while keeping me firmly on track, a fine balance that can only be achieved with years of experience. Dr Noelene Cole has been my long-term mentor and rock art guide and I am grateful for to continue to learn from such an experienced and accomplished rock art researcher. The inspirational and irrepressible Dr Susan McIntyre-Tamwoy has always been ready with invaluable, practical and timely advice. Professor Rosita Henry provided context for my study and encouraged my participation on the Australian Research Council Discovery Project ‘Objects of Possession: Artefact transactions in the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, 1870-2013’. Together these four women represent the best of academic collegiality. Combined, they have completed over 10 decades of collaborative archaeological and anthropological research in far north Queensland and I am fortunate to have learnt from each of them. The generosity of Gordon Grimwade and Dr Nicky Horsfall, has been invaluable to this work. There are very few places I have visited that these two have not already been, and their detailed and meticulous records provide an invaluable resource for future management of the significant sites included in his research. I doubt many of the dendroglyphs would have ever been found again without Gordon’s previous work on the carved trees of north Queensland, and both Nicky and Gordon’s extensive ‘work around the ridges’ of far north Queensland provides a strong foundation for future management of Aboriginal sites in this region. Funding was provided through an Australian Postgraduate Award (2013-16), the James Cook University Graduate Research Scheme (2014), the Wet Tropics Management Authority Student Research Grants (2013, 2014, 2015) and Queensland Indigenous Land and Sea Grant Program (2016). I would like to make special acknowledgement of Wet Tropics Management Authority i Executive Officer, Ellen Weber, for recognising the value of my research and understanding the practical complexities. Many people have helped with the fieldwork for this thesis. To Rupert Russell and Bill Carrodus, I owe a special debt of gratitude. At 76 years old, Rupert spent over a week in the wilds of Mount Windsor to help re-find one solitary carved tree while Bill battled lawyer cane, stinging trees and fended off wild dingoes to ensure we all returned safely. Dr Rodney Catton and Bob Jago introduced me to two special sites in Wooroonooran National Park. Members of the Tropical Archaeology Research Laboratory were always ready with a helping hand. Annette Oertle, Samantha Aird, Selene Kenady, Felise Goldfinch and Owen Ray helped in the field, as did Zak Buhrich, Nikki Winn, Katie O’Rourke, Melissa Spry, Lana Polglase and Dave Pender. Tom Hamilton of Geographica Consulting prepared the maps. Permission for the use of images is shown in text. Every reasonable effort has been made to gain permission and acknowledge the owners of copyright material. I would be pleased to hear from any copyright owner who has been omitted or incorrectly acknowledged. Finally, I want to thank my family. James Hill, for his tireless patience and support over many years; Bonita and Mischa, who were only wee cherubs when this research started; and Libby Pender, who was always ready to give a helping hand and words of encouragement. This thesis is dedicated to my grandfather, Hugh Buhrich, for his unwavering belief in the pursuit of knowledge. ii Abstract That is a cassowary foot…and we are the cassowary clan. Dugulbarra fieldworker’s initial reaction to locating a Wet Tropics dendroglyph (March 2014). Identity is a key concept in Australian rock art research. Archaeological interpretations of rock imagery recognise that motifs and their production convey information, not just about the artist, but also about the cultural and social context in which motifs were produced. Rock art studies provide a unique window into the world view of the artists that is not available through other archaeological material. Aboriginal custodians are also interested in the relationship between imagery and identity, often through a lens that does not separate the social, cultural and physical landscapes. Dendroglyphs, although rare, offer similar opportunities to explore visual expression, identity and place. The Wet Tropics of Queensland offers a unique set of circumstances to investigate style in Late Holocene visual culture. The rock art, affected by the high humidity, was likely created relatively recently (Edwards 2007; Gunn and Thorn 1994; Ward et al. 1995) while dendroglyphs, only as old as the trees on which they are carved, are not likely to exceed a few hundred years in age (Buhrich et al. 2016). In this thesis, I explore the relationships between rock art, dendroglyphs and language in the Wet Tropics of north Queensland to understand relationships between stylistic choices and social context. My research identifies that rock art production was, and continues to be, strongly linked to cultural identity. However, in the Wet Tropics at least, language was not the main factor in determining style in either rock art or dendroglyphs. Across Australia, Aboriginal social and cultural identity was multi-faceted and individuals belonged to a complex web of intersecting identities that included language, clan, totems and moieties. While language has emerged as the most significant in post-colonial Australia, my findings suggest this may not always have been the case. Wet Tropics Aboriginal groups have consistently voiced the need for researchers to collaborate with them in all stages of research. My research design responds to this by incorporating both formal and informed approaches through quantitative (site and motif recording) and qualitative methods (multiple interviews with relevant Aboriginal people). By combining these forms of data, the rock art and dendroglyphs can be studied within context of broader Aboriginal cultural landscapes. iii Forty-five rock art sites and twelve dendroglyph sites were examined, in six language areas. While similarities identify a Wet Tropics rock art style characterised by painting as the main technique, significant differences were found between rock art styles in the eastern and western zones of the study area which, in some cases, intersect linguistic boundaries. Dendroglyphs, found in the east, where figurative designs dominate the rock art corpus, are mostly non-figurative like the western style rock art. Furthermore, dendroglyphs and rock art are found in different contexts, suggesting that, as forms of visual expression, they had distinct roles. Today, rock art sites and dendroglyphs continue to be highly significant to Aboriginal people, as part of a living cultural landscape that incorporates story places, walking tracks and ceremonial sites. iv Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 12 The Wet Tropics rainforest .................................................................................................................... 13 Rock art, dendroglyphs and social identity ..................................................................................... 14 Working alongside: a collaborative approach ................................................................................ 16 Significance of the research ................................................................................................................... 18 Definitions ..................................................................................................................................................... 19 Structure of the thesis .............................................................................................................................