Swan River Belonging: Social and Emotional Interactions with an Urban River in the South West of Western Australia

Swan River Belonging: social and emotional interactions with an urban river in the South West of Western Australia Marie Seeman Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Anthropology, University of Queensland This thesis is presented for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Western Australia. School of Social and Cultural Studies Discipline of Anthropology and Sociology 2008 Marie Seeman 1 ABSTRACT In this thesis I explore concepts of belonging in relation to the Swan River of Perth, Western Australia. The primary focus of my research was on the various ways in which people expressed their social and emotional connections to a waterway often referred to as the 'soul of the city'. The people consulted derived from two main groups: a local inner city catchment group and a collection of artists. Drawing on literature such as Kay Milton's theories of emotion, culture and the environment to explain my ethnographic data, I show how and why people's interactions with the Swan River are motivated and enacted. This thesis demonstrates that human relationships with rivers such as the Swan are complicated by themes that include nostalgia, memory, aesthetics, space, proximity, ecological concerns and development issues. By drawing on a range of methods (participant observation, interviewing) and travel modes (walking, cycling), I found that current day practices were affected by historical decision making for both indigenous and non-indigenous groups. My research conveys the value of doing socio-cultural research on rivers in urban and in other contexts, especially in circumstances where water matters are becoming increasingly paramount. Marie Seeman 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 LIST OF MAPS 6 LIST OF PLATES 6 LIST OF TABLES 6 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 7 1.1 SOUL OFTHE CITY 7 1.2 A RIVER CITY 8 1.3 IDENTIFYING THE RESEARCH QUESTION AND PROBLEM 11 1.4 RESEARCH BOUNDARIES 12 1.5 THESIS QUALITIES AND LIMITATIONS 13 1.6 A NOTE ON METHODS 13 1.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY 16 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 17 2.1 SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL THEORY 17 2.2 ANTHROPOLOGY OF RIVERS AND WATER 18 2.3 THEORIES OF BELONGING 21 2.3.1 Human Needs 21 2.3.2 Cultural Identification and Belonging 23 2.3.3 Bodies, Rhythms and Rivers 29 2.4 THE SWAN RIVER: FICTION AND NON-FICTION 31 2.5 SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL BELONGING: 35 2.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY 40 CHAPTER THREE: THE SWAN RIVER: HISTORICAL, CONTEMPORARY AND ECOLOGICAL ISSUES 41 3.1 INTRODUCTION 41 3.2 Nyungar Perspectives 41 3.3 European Settlements 46 3.4 Contextualising the Swan River Ecology 49 3.5 The Swan River Today 52 3.6 Swan River Trust 55 3.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY 63 CHAPTER FOUR: SWAN RIVER BELONGING THROUGH THE PRACTICE OF ART 65 4.1 INTRODUCTION 65 4.2 Profiling the Artists. 65 4.3 Interactions with the Swan River: Lara's Story 66 4.4 Forms of Belonging 70 4.5 EMOTIONAL BELONGING 80 4.6 Kelly's Story 82 4.7 Moira's Story 84 4.8 Ginger's Story 87 4.9 Leanne's Story: The Swan River's 'Comfort Zone' 89 4.11 CHAPTER SUMMARY 91 CHAPTER FIVE: SWAN RIVER BELONGING VIA A LOCAL CATCHMENT GROUP 92 5.1 INTRODUCTION 92 5.2 Profiling the Catchment Group 92 5.3 SWAN RrvER ACCESS , 96 5.4 LEARNING THROUGH WALKING 97 5.5 Cathy's Story 108 5.6. Lindy's Story 117 5.7 String of Pearls 119 5.8 CHAPTER SUMMARY 128 Marie Seeman 3 CHAPTER SIX: ANALYSIS 129 6.1 INTRODUCTION 129 6.2 LITERATURE AND DATA INTEGRATION AND DISCUSSION 129 6.3 A RETURN TO KEY AUTHORS TO EXPLAIN SWAN RIVER BELONGING 136 6.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY 139 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION 140 APPENDICES 143 REFERENCES 152 Marie Seeman 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Masters thesis is the product of a research project that began in March 2004. I would like to thank the Australian Research Council for a postgraduate scholarship. My thesis formed part of a three year Australian Research Council funded project titled 'Underwater: an ethnographic analysis of water use and natural resource management in Queensland and Western Australia' awarded to Sandy Toussaint and Veronica Strang in 2003. There are many people who have contributed to my research. From the environmentalist group I would like to thank Sally Lake, Claise Brook Catchment Group, who provided significant information and 'hands on' experience of catchment activities. From the artist group I would like to thank Louise Lodge who coordinated the Rivers and Parks: A Personal Perspective art project. Louise invited me to participate in activities during the project giving me access to a range of artists and their work. My research fieldwork would not have been possible without the support of the employees from the Swan River Trust and in particular the assistance of Darryl Miller, who deserves a special thanks. The administration staff at the School of Social and Cultural studies and library staff have given me support for a range of enquiries. I would like to thank Jill Woodman and Emily Buckland for all their help. Thank you to the various anthropology staff and postgraduates who I have listened to at seminars and had various conversations with over the past few years. In particular I would like to thank Dr Cheryl Lange for her role as Postgraduate Coordinator in bringing students together for anthropological discussions. I would also like to thank Dr Greg Acciaioli for the house sitting opportunity and for his editing comments, and I would like to thank Andrea Weaver, Tim Newlands and Anna Schnukal for reading draft copies and providing editing feedback to me. I would especially like to thank my supervisors Associate Professor Sandy Toussaint and Professor David Trigger for their generous supervision throughout my research and the thesis writing process. I appreciate their support and encouragement during the project. A final thank you goes to my parents, Marge and Bill Seeman for everything. I appreciate their kindness and generosity. Marie Seeman 5 LIST OF MAPS Map 1: The Swan and Canning River, Burningham (2004, p. 12) 143 Map 2: Melville Water (Burningham, 2004, p. 85) 144 Map 3: Aboriginal Place Names and Territories recorded by Robert Lyon (Green, 1979, p. 174) 145 Map 4: Freshwater Bay Area mid nineteenth century (Bolton and Gregory, 1999a, p. 13) 146 Map 5: Point Fraser and Heirrison Islands 1895, State Library 147 Map 6: Perth Water and Melville Water (Burningham, 2004, p. 106) 148 Map 7: Middle Swan - Claisebrook, Burswood Peninsula, Maylands Peninsula, Ascot and Bayswater to Tonkin Highway Bridge (Burningham, 2004, p. 162) 149 Map 8: Middle and Upper Swan, Success Hill to the Middle Swan Road Bridge (Burningham, 2004, p. 200) 150 Map 9: Claisebrook Main Drain and Catchment Area (Government of Western Australia) 151 LIST OF PLATES Plate 1: Weekly Water sampling Swan River trip © Marie Seeman 8/11/2004 57 Plate 2: Walking along Pelican Point surveying native vegetation 13/09/2005 60 Plate 3: Participants at Corporate Care Day at Attadale Reserve 17/06/2005 61 Plate 4: A Vietnamese man fishing on Heirisson Island 08/04/2004 68 Plate 5: Walkers and Rollers on a dual use path along Burswood Foreshore 19/02/2006 69 Plate 6: Artists gathered at Sir James Mitchell Park at the east end of South Perth 29/04/2004 74 Plate 7 © Sushi. Artwork inspired from interactions with the sandbar at Point Walter 1305/2004 and the meanings from an Aboriginal story shared by Trevor Walley. 76 Plate 8: Kelly showing her paintings of birdlife on the Canning River 11/11/2004... 83 Plate 9: Banner made to commemorate Eric Singleton's contribution to the community 20/11/2006 88 Plate 10: Artist Leanne walking to a favourite place on the Swan River near Guildford 11/11/2004 90 Plate 11: Walking tour participants meeting at the tortoise fountain, Claisebrook in the shade 18/02/2006 98 Plate 12: CBCG members and Volunteers planting at Mardalup Park on the Swan River foreshore, East Perth 06/05/2006 105 Plate 13: Community member with their dog at Banks Reserve 12/03/2006 108 Plate 14: A Walking Tour gathered at Point Fraser Demonstration Wetlands 18/02/2006 119 Plate 15: CBCG members at Smiths Lake discussing new plans 09/04/2005 121 Plate 16: Lindy carrying out a water sampling test at the wetlands in Robertson Park 08/04/2006 127 Plate 17: Signage along the Swan River indicating social etiquette for walkers and rollers 30/02/2006 131 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Key to Map 9 Kau Nyungar Boodjar Gabbee Gnarning Quobberup (Bolton and Gregory, 1999b, p. 2) 152 Marie Seeman 6 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...It is the Swan River, not the coast, that is the soul of the city (Burningham, 2004, p. 14). 1.1 SOUL OF THE CITY In this thesis I focus on Perth's Swan River, a major natural and cultural icon of southern Western Australia. The waters flowing into the Swan River are part of the Swan coastal plain referred to by some early commentators as 'Swanlands' (Brearley, 2005). According to Nyungar, a predominant local Indigenous group, the Swan River area is known as 'the heartland' of the south, a point that Burningham (2004, p. 14) explains: Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, like all Australian state capitals, is the home of a large proportion of the state's population. And like all the other Australian state capitals it is a coastal city, but it is the Swan River, not the coast, that is the soul of the city.

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