Millstream Chichester National Park and Mungaroona Range Nature Reserve Management Plan No

Millstream Chichester National Park and Mungaroona Range Nature Reserve Management Plan No. 69 2011 Traditional Owners Millstream Park Council 20110464-10-200 Millstream Chichester National Park and Mungaroona Range Nature Reserve Management Plan No. 69 2011 MILLSTREAM CHICHESTER NATIONAL PARK AND MUNGAROONA RANGE NATURE RESERVE Management Plan 2011 Traditional Owners – Millstream Park Council Department of Environment and Conservation Conservation Commission of Western Australia VISION By 2021, the Millstream Chichester National Park and Mungaroona Range Nature Reserve will have greater recognition by the local and broader community, visitors and others of its important cultural and mythological significance for the Yindjibarndi and Ngarluma Traditional Owners. The Indigenous heritage of the planning area will be preserved by the ongoing involvement of the Traditional Owners, who will have a critical and active role in jointly managing the cultural and natural values of the planning area. The significant wetland ecosystem and other natural values of the planning area will be in better condition than at present and the subterranean aquifer will remain in its current healthy condition. This will have been achieved through efforts focused on effective weed control, restoring the resilience of the natural ecosystems and improved management of water extraction from the aquifer, through monitoring, research and adaptive management. In particular, those values that are not found or are uncommon elsewhere will have been conserved, and their special conservation significance will be recognised by the local and broader community and visitors. The planning area will continue to support a wide range of nature-based recreational activities with a focus on preserving the natural character of the region and its wilderness qualities including its rangeland landscapes and open pools of the Fortescue River. The local and broader community will identify with the planning area and recognise that its natural, cultural and recreational values are of national significance. An increasing number will support and want to be involved in its ongoing management. Front cover images: Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi Traditional Owners. Photo by Ross Kermode. Mount Herbert. Photo by Cliff Winfield. Crossing Pool (Murlunmunjurna). Photo by Clare Atkins. ii THE DREAMING: WHEN THE WORLD WAS SOFT Ngurra Nyujung Gamu Balamu Yindjibarndi Ngardangarli wanggarnmarda Ngurra Nyujung Gamu ngurra nhaa nhantharriyarndu barna matha Minkarla nhurnu matha manggunha marawayi bathamanha ngurrayu waramarna warndangarli marndangarli wundungarli gagingarli bajarrimijarnu nhungula nhantharriyarndu Yindjibarndiyarndu ngurrarngga. Minkarla waramarna Marrga wangganha nyinda barni nhungula ngurrangga barni nyinda nhungula ngurrawarndrala banggarri ngunhu nyinda nhaningarli Minkarla waramarna nyinda barni nyambali ngurra nhurnu nyinda mirda jajamagayi ganyjanma waba Marrga barna nhungu ngurrangga barra banggarrinha Ngardangarli waramarna wantharna nyambali yala nyinda nhuwayi Ngardangarli nhurnu nyambali. Burndud jawi Jarlurra wanggamijarnu yala Ngardangarli ganyjagu. Burndud Minkala nyunkurna Yindjibarndi Birdirra wantharna Bilinbilin Ganyiyanha Marrga banggarrinha Minkala wangga wirndarna mani Marrgangarli mankunha birdawumanha yala nhaa Birdirra Yindjibarndi nyambali. Marrga ngunhula ngurrangga yala Ngardangarli nhuwayi marndangarlingga ngurrawarndrala Ngardangarli banggarri wuthurrumagayi ngurrayiyu mirdawarlu Ngarda ngunha jiniyarri Marrga ngunhagu mankarn mundagayi. Ngurra ganagarrinha nyinku bulurrmagayi mirda nhantharri nhanimagayi! Country, we’ve come to visit, don’t harm us! When the World was Soft In Ngarda Yindjibarndi beliefs, in the Dreaming - When the World was Soft (Ngurra Nyujung Gamu), everything was like wet cement. The Sky God (Minkala) and his first creation of man, (the Marrgangarli), together shaped this country. The Yindjibarndi Elders, through their stories, describe the land being created and shaped when it was soft. Minkala and the Marrgangarli moulded this clay into a masterpiece, a sculpture that symbolises Ngurra, the homelands of the Ngardangarli, their rich culture, their strong values, and their fundamental ways of life which have enabled their survival over countless millennia. The Indigenous people’s (Ngardangarli) connection to this land, its inherent elements and images, is demonstrated, reinforced and reproduced through the songs, stories, culture, traditions, language, actions and customs, taught by the Elders. Each element of flora, fauna, traditions, language, cultural heritage and landscape are incorporated and interconnected, with this knowledge network being the key to Ngarda survival. This complex web of understanding, tradition, communication and action, describes the contemporary social reality of Yindjibarndi people today, contributing to and supporting their special and unique personal and collective identity. In Yindjibarndi customs, the Marrga are the first beings of this country, and the Ngardangarli are descendants of the Marrga. In Yindjibarndi Law it is said that in the beginning the sky was very low. When the creation spirits got up from the ground, they lifted the sky and the world out of the sea. The creation spirits are called Marrga and they still live in the rocky mountains and gullies. In the early morning, the mist over the water represents smoke from their breakfast fires. {Reference: Know the Song Know the Country} iii High up in the tableland1, the Fortescue River (Yarnda Nyirranha) runs like a spine through the heart of Yindjibarndi tribal country. The river is a living force in the lives of Indigenous people all over the Pilbara today. Rising in the Western Desert, it travels through the country of five tribes to the Indian Ocean. Its middle and lower reaches within Yindjibarndi territory are at the centre of the Law and creation. This country is literally a holy land whose myths and law reverberate across tribal boundaries throughout the Pilbara and cross the Central Australian deserts to reach as far as Uluru. The Dreaming determines all relationships with every creature on the land and influences everyday life. It connects people to the spirit world and is maintained through honour, preservation, celebration and ceremony. Before Ngarda, the Marrga occupied these lands, freely moving from location to location designing the environment as we see it today and leaving behind petroglyphs marking early flora and fauna. The Marrga images in the petroglyphs are reflections of themselves, and are still apparent even to this day. Yindjibarndi people believed that the Marrga men and women stood tall and were shaped like the praying mantis, which is also called Marrga in the Yindjibarndi language. If Marrga are not approached and spoken to in the proper manner, they become angry. Elders believe they can still hurt people or make them sick if the right Ngarda ways are not practised. The Dreaming - When the World was Soft (Ngurra Nyujung Gamu) and the Dreamtime stories provide the fundamental basis for the ways that Yindjibarndi (Ngardangarli) conduct themselves. These rules apply to all aspects of relationships between men, women and children, and are the rules of governance that apply to all Yindjibarndi Ngarda laws encompassing land, country, environment, plants, animals, culture and tradition. These laws of governance remain intact and alive today. It was the Marrga with Minkala that named and shaped the country, then all the birds and animals, and finally the Indigenous people (Ngardangarli) came from the Marrga too. It is also said that before Ngardangarli, birds of all spectrums were the country’s caretakers of language, Law and culture. Through them our relationship structures are taught to the Yindjibarndi by the events and tales of the Dreaming, where birds played out the first tribulations before Indigenous people’s (Ngardangarliyarndu) existence. In our relationship system, it is forbidden to speak, make eye contact or be in the same space with our mother in- laws. Our skin system (Galharra) governs Ngardangarli men and women in obeying these strict Ngarda relationship laws. 1The Chichester tablelands are an area of broad tablelands that lie behind the crest of the Chichester escarpment. These tablelands slope gently to the south, until they runs into the Hamersley Range (see Section 15 – Geology, Landforms and Soils). iv THE STORY OF THE WARLU Barrimirndi Travelling up the Fortescue River (Yarnda Nyirranha) Balamu ngurranyujungamu Barrimirndi ganagarrinha baya birdawangungu guwayiyarra ngarrgunha Barrimirndiyarndu thalu gurdarnkurdarn Miyanhangunalangu.Barrimirndi barndinha gurdarnkurdarn gambangarlingu banggarrinha baya wundungarli barni wirndarnu. Barrimirndi bula gabranha Wirrawarndinha ngunhala gabranha mujimarna. Wirrawarndinha nhuna banggarrinha Wuyumarri, Wuyumarrinha Barrimirndi ngunhungga gabranha Ngarrarnkarri buyawarrinha Ngarrarnkarri yindamarna. Ngarrarnkarrilangu banggarri ngunha gabranha Jindawurrunha mirdawarlu bandayinha Ngardangarli. Garlinyjarrinha waramarna Gumarnu yinda. Gumangunhanungu banggarrinha Yandiwurrunha mirdawarlu bandayinha Yandiwurrunha yindamarna. Yandiwurrunha banggarrinha Marlimadurnkanha yindamarna Marlimadurnkanha barnha nhuna wayarringu birdawangu guwayiyarra. Marlimadurnkanha ngunha banggarinha Marlanggunha bangarrinha ngurra thurnungga gabranha Biigunula waramarna guwayiyarra mujingarli. Biigun banggarrinha Marduyambulangu, Marduyambulanha ngunha yindamarna Marduyambulanha

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