More Jandamarra and Aussie Culture

An unexpected link back to the Jandamarra story at Fitzroy Crossing, and a classic Aussie event in Derby today.

We made an early start, well, just organised really without making an effort, and went down to the Fitzroy River because it was a little early for anything else. It is wide and flat at the crossing proper, not entirely dissimilar to its Queensland namesake.

First stop was at the Crossing Inn, a hotel and caravan park, but making a name for itself as an art gallery. The outside is adorned with paintings from the local High School, done after the school won a 2000 art competition. Inside is a gallery of works of local indigenous artists. Many of the artists shared names with famous pioneers of the area, or of street names, so the claim of locality was probably justified, even if the manner of the girl on the counter seemed a little forced. Much of the display was very tempting.

Next on the list was an unexpected find on two fronts. The first was why would a glassworks gallery exist in such a place? The second was what did that have to do with the Jandamarra story?

Dr Sawfish’s Glassworks and Gallery is the latest venture of a very talented local artist. I think he has been in the area for some time, but at age 40 I’m sure he grew up somewhere else. He has had a varied career, working in ceramics, developing indigenous art programs in schools, and developing commercial galleries and encouraging artwork in aboriginal communities. His latest venture is a glass working gallery in a hired shed,and although he has only been working since November, he has a stunning repertoire and is expanding his markets through the Kimberley and further afield.

He is clearly passionate about indigenous issues, and spoke at length about the problems of grog in communities, the CDEP, identity and culture, and the future development of Fitzroy Crossing. He will also have a minor role in a movie being filmed in the area called “Jandamarra’s War”, playing a police officer speared in battle. The filming is actually next week, taking place on location at Tunnel Creek, and the movie should appear on the ABC in November. That was surprising news for us as we had heard that some years ago Mel Gibson had considered making a movie covering the same story, but that the problems of working in the area were too great.

On to Derby and on the way we saw some massive Boab trees. One of these was used as a prison tree. This was reasonably common, as old boabs grow to a vast size, some metres in diameter, and are hollow in the trunk with the wall thickness being of the order of 15-20cm. If there is some damage a hole can appear and access to the inside is possible.

This particular tree was involved in the “Blackbirding” trade, Kimberley style. In Queensland, Blackbirding referred to the kidnapping of pacific islanders with the intention of having them work on Queensland cane plantations. In the Kimberley, it referred to the process of removing aborigines from their homelands, such as was done in Jandamarra’s battle in Lillimooloora, but repeated across the Kimberley. The removed aborigines for forced to work in the pearling industry or other pioneer ventures in the area. This tree was a staging post on the way to Derby.

After a brief tour of the Derby Jetty, watching the tide and having a chat to a local about it, we checked in to the caravan park before attending the local Crab Racing carnival. This is organised as a fundraiser by the local fishing club, and seems to take place a few times during the holiday season. The actual racing consists of heats through the afternoon, followed by an auction of the placegetters in the heats. The heat losers wind up in the pot and are sold off with salad for $10 a plate. The auction is a vehicle for selling drinks, and is broken up by a live band. The actual final is all over in about 30 seconds, and the “owners” of the winning crab and placegetters get a share of the auction takings. To make sure it is all above board, the local town professional, a physio who also happened to be a bronze medal winning Beijing 2008 Kayaker, was judge.

Of course, while the crab race is the vehicle and the excuse, the entertainment is really about the banter of the auctioneer to keep the party feel rolling. Adding the band and a jumping castle for the kids completed the ambience. Since we are not big crab eaters we rounded out the evening with barramundi and chips down at the wharf.

Hello Kedron State School, Mrs Smith, Mr Fogarty and Mr Vickers!