Country, culture and connection in the spectacular Kimberley

Australia Broadcast Center

15 hours ago

The Kimberley is a land defined by its extremes: a wild climate, harsh terrain and remarkable biodiversity.
It's a place unlike anywhere else on Earth, and one few people experience in its entirety.
Join Nyikina man Mark Coles Smith as he guides us on a journey through his ancestral lands, celebrating the people, places and animals that define this extraordinary part of the world.
In Western Australia's north, the Kimberley spans over 400,000 square kilometres. It's an area six times the size of Tasmania but home to only 35,000 people.
It's famed for attractions like Broome, Cable Beach, Lake Argyle and Mitchell Falls, but its allure extends far beyond the tourist trail.
It's home to tropical savanna, bustling ocean reefs, deserts, waterfalls, mountain ranges, tropical islands and rugged gorges.
Visitors cool off with a swim in the Martuwarra/Fitzroy River. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
The spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Site The Bungle Bungles in the Kimberley. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
At Yowjab / Montgomery Reef tidal fluctuations create waterfalls that reveal over 300 square kilometres of living coral. ( Courtesy of Wild Pacific Media )
The environment seesaws from torrential rains and flash floods, to scorchingly dry heatwaves and colossal wildfires.
It's also the most cyclone-prone region in the country.
First Nations' groups in the region recognise six annual seasons, all of which unlock unique conditions, challenges and opportunities.
Nyikina Season Conditions Wilakarra The rain time Koolawa When the cold weather is on its way Barrkana The cold weather time Wilbooroo When everything stops and starts to dry out. Weather heats up Lalin The hot, dry time Jirrbal The build-up. High humidity and dry lightning storms
Despite the extremes of the environment, ancient wisdom passed down through generations has sustained life here for thousands of years.
First Nations people remain dedicated custodians with a deeply spiritual connection to land, river and sea.
They're now leading the charge to safeguard their beloved Country.
Connection to Country
Meandering through the Kimberley is the Martuwarra Fitzroy River: one of the last great free-flowing river systems on Earth, and a sacred entity for First Nations' people.
The river system experiences Australia's highest tides, with 11-metre variations at the river mouth, which power through the iconic Garaanngaddim (Horizontal Falls).
Garaanngaddim/Horizontal Falls are situated in the coastal McLarty Ranges within Ganbadba/Talbot Bay in WA's Buccaneer Archipelago. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media )
"The river keeps us alive, we keep the river alive. That's the deal," Coles Smith tells ABC iview's The Kimberley.
"We see the river system as a literal ancestral entity.
"Our legal system and our art systems, our stories and our songs, our medicine, and our food, is tied to the river. It has been that way for as long as we could remember."
Although it has suffered damage from agriculture, it remains one of the most pristine river systems on Earth.
Coles Smith likens the mighty Martuwarra to a religion, with much of its mythology tied up in spirituality.
"Some people build cathedrals. This is our cathedral," he says.
Indigenous leader, human and earth rights advocate, and researcher Professor Anne Poelina says the Kimberley is a "globally unique" environment.
"The biodiversity, the cultural diversity is not found anywhere else on the planet," Poelina, a Nyikina Warrwa woman and Coles Smith's mother, says.
"You've got to see it, to feel it, to hear it, to know it."
"Our spiritual connection really goes back to what we say is the beginning of time."
Caring for Country
Many areas within the Kimberley are recognised under native title, and more than 40 per cent of those who call the region home are Indigenous.
For many First Nations' people, like Azarnia Malay, working on Country is more than a job — it's a cultural responsibility.
She's an Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) and Dambimangari (Dambi) sea ranger.
"The old people had their own science … and it's good for us to keep carrying on what our people used to do, but now we're doing it in a different way," Malay says.
Witnessing Yowjab (Montgomery Reef) emerge from the ocean is high on the list of unconventional work perks enjoyed by the sea rangers.
The reef is usually not visible above sea level. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
Once a month the undersea coral is exposed due to the full moon. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
"When I first went there, I couldn't even believe my eyes," Malay says.
This spectacular phenomenon happens a few days each month when the full moon draws the sea away, revealing the living coral underneath.
"When you're driving [the boat] and the tide is up, you won't see it," Malay says.
"But then when you sit in the channel and the tide drops, oh, it just opens up the Country … it just lights up.
"I believe that the Country feels us, that we're there."
Rangers across the Kimberley are also tasked with conducting traditional burns, to help preserve food, shelter and the nesting trees that many animals rely on.
It's a practice First Nations' people have performed for countless generations to reduce fuel load and minimise the risk of lightning storms sparking catastrophic wildfires.
A biodiversity hotspot
While a spiritual heartland, the Kimberley is also a playground for Australian wildlife, where raw, untouched environments abound — and First Nations' rangers and conservation groups care for the animals who share this Country.
The region has many species that aren't found anywhere else in the world, according to lead ecologist at AWC Skye Cameron.
"[These animals are] highly evolved to the rugged and remote and harsh conditions," she says.
Two frilled lizards (Chlamydosaurus kingii) displaying their frills. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media )
A white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media )
A blue-spotted mudskipper (Boleophthalmus caeruleomaculatus) and a crab meet on the mudflats. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media )
A saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) enters the river. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media )
The Kimberley is the only area of mainland Australia with no known animal extinctions since European settlement, but the arrival of cane toads has rangers fearing that may come to an end.
The Wijingarri or northern quoll, a central figure in the Dambi creation stories, was once common across northern Australia but is now on the brink of extinction.
An endangered northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) sniffs the air, aware of predators. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media )
The spread of toxic cane toads has decimated their population, as well as that of other toad-eating animals.
"To see such a pristine environment being invaded by an invasive species and what that does to the biodiversity of the region ... it's heartbreaking," Cameron says.
However, there is still hope. The quoll population is thriving on the more than 1,000 islands along the Dambi coastline, which, thanks to the ocean barrier, remain free of cane toads.
Malay, whose team looks after 10,000 square kilometres of remote Sea Country, says they're desperate to protect the island quolls.
Azarnia Malay works with conservation groups to protect the northern quoll from extinction. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
"It makes me worry. It's very important to us — the quoll. We don't want him to disappear," she says.
"Without them, there's no Country. We all need each other."
Protecting the Kimberley
Sadly, the threats to the Kimberley's biodiversity don't stop at the natural world.
It's becoming increasingly vulnerable to industries looking to capitalise on the area's abundant natural resources.
Poelina says many Aboriginal people who live on Country rely on it not just for spirituality but for a sustainable way of life.
"We managed the system always on scale, always collectively together, respecting the diversity of different nations and different people coming together," she says.
An iconic Kimberley boab tree (Adansonia gregorii) stands against a starlit backdrop on the grassy savanna. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media )
Aerial vista of Edgar Range in the Kimberley. ( Courtesy of Wild Pacific Media ) pic: edgar range]
An aerial view of Silvergull Creek in the Kimberley. ( Courtesy of Wild Pacific Media ) pic: silvergull creek]
"To survive requires the river and the hybrid economy of hunting and gathering and food collection, and all of these systems are changing. They're all out of whack."
Poelina worries about the impact of industry in the region, including water-intensive developments in mining, fracking and agriculture, but says she is not anti-development.
"[The Martuwarra] is such a precious resource," she says.
"Rivers around the world are so under threat and many of them have died … all of this is important in terms of where we go now for the future.
"This is a great opportunity to turn the conversation from business as usual."
Poelina is calling for "just development" on "just terms" and suggests the future lies in creating economic opportunities around culture, conservation, science and tourism.
The Martuwarra/Fitzroy River during Wilakarra (the rain time). ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
"[The Kimberley] belongs to all of us and we do have a duty of care to protect it, love it, and care for it, but it can create wealth."
Preserving culture
Poelina is not alone in her hopes for the Kimberley's future.
Kallum Mungulu tends to thousands of significant sites during his week-long patrols as a Dambi ranger and says it gives him a sense of belonging.
"All of the islands ... they still hold a lot of our ancestors in them ... whether it's their spirit or their bones," Mungulu says.
"Everything comes back and sort of makes sense."
Jeremy Kowan and his daughter work with the Uunguu Rangers on the traditional lands of the Wunambal Gaambera people, caring for cultural sites at Punamii-Uunpuu (Mitchell Falls).
The area is considered a sacred site, home to creation stories and ancient rock art paintings.
Tabitha Kowan works as an Uunguu Ranger with her father. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
Jeremy Kowan is passing down cultural knowledge to the younger generations. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
Ancient rock art adorns the landscape of the Kimberley. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media )
"All our grandfathers, they told us: 'You guys got to look after this Country now and pass it on to the next generation,'" Kowan says.
"You look after the Country, the Country will look after you."
It's a sentiment shared by Coles Smith. He spent more than a year travelling the Kimberley to capture its breathtaking beauty and make the three-part documentary series.
He says for Nyikina people, there is no distinction between the protection of the natural world and the preservation of their culture.
"The philosophies and the wisdom that I grew up around have become increasingly more profound the older that I've become," he says.
"I don't think there are many places in the world quite like this. It's sort of like dropping into the land before time."
Stream all episodes of The Kimberley free on ABC iview.
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