Stone, ochre & earth
Red ochre
murbuy · wuba · makirr · makarra · kambarIron-oxide earths (haematite, ferruginous clay); kaolin (white clay)
Murbuy and wuba are red ochre. Makirr is yellow ochre, makarra 'streaky yellow ochre' and kambar 'white clay'[1]. Together with charcoal, these earths were the paint box of the Bloomfield. They were used for painting the body for hunting, fighting, mourning, initiation and dance, and for striping spear handles red and white[2]. Red ochre was something the Bloomfield people produced and traded, and yellow ochre came in by trade[3]. White clay was even made into a baked cake and eaten as a delicacy[4]. Ochre and clay pits can be culturally significant places and are protected as Aboriginal cultural heritage[5].
Hann River Cape York
Possum People's country on the upper river and Thaypan (Kuku Thaypan) country downstream: stringybark and bloodwood woodland and a spring-fed sandy river that runs north-east from the Great Dividing Range, past the Peninsula Developmental Road, into Rinyirru (Lakefield) and the North Kennedy. Not Kuku Yalanji country: the Kuku Yalanji words on this page are the dictionary's, not the Hann's own languages. Place guide
South-east of the Hann, the sandstone country around Laura is Quinkan Country, on the National Heritage List since 2018: 'Evidence of Aboriginal occupation is dated to 34,000 BP and rock art to 27,000 BP'[9]. Its paintings are mostly red or maroon with white[10], and Kuku Thaypan people have an ochre colour of their own[11]. The upper Hann is the Possum People's country and the middle and lower Hann Thaypan country[12][13].
The colours here
Quinkan pigment art is usually two-coloured, 'in red/maroon with white accents/outlines, and less often feature yellow'. The most recent phase of the art shows a shift in style and pigment, possibly a result of the European invasion[10].
Where it comes from here
No published source names an ochre pit on the Hann. Where the paint came from is the Traditional Owners' knowledge. Archaeologists compared paint from rock art near Laura with a red ochre outcrop in the bed of the Palmer River to the south: similar, but not identical, so the source is unproven[14].
Ochre also came in by trade. About 1900 the Bloomfield and Endeavour River people travelled up towards the Laura River and supplied the Koko-warra, whose country ran along the Normanby and Deighton rivers, with red ochre and white clay[3].
When it was used here
'In the wet season, they would camp under rock shelters on the high ground. This is where their rock art can be found'[11].
How people used it here
For a very long time. In rock shelters excavated near Laura, used pieces of pigment run right through the deposits: striated red fragments dated to about 32,000 BP, and yellow ones to 25,900 and 28,000 BP[15].
Marking. Dr Tommy George marked a young man at the Laura River with his own mark, 'in the ochre colour belonging to Awu Alaya'[11]. Marks, designs and their meanings belong to their owners and are not described here.
Respect here
A Kuku Warra man told the Federal Court in 2023: 'The only thing you're allowed to leave is tracks. You aren't allowed to take anything from my country.' Of rock art: 'You can't put your hand on the painting on the wall – you can only look at it.'[16]
Of the known galleries, 'only some are available for public viewing'[11]. Don't go looking for the others, and never take ochre from this country without the Traditional Owners' permission.
Upper Mitchell Western Yalanji
Western Yalanji country west of the Great Dividing Range: dry open woodland cut by the sandy, paperbark-lined upper Mitchell River, around Karma Waters and Mount Carbine. Place guide
Western Yalanji country, around Maytown and the Mitchell and Palmer rivers, had its own red: haematite from the middle Palmer[6][17].
Where it is found here
The Koko-minni of the middle Palmer River obtained red haematite together with burnt ferruginous clay, and called it norda[6]. Western Yalanji, a dialect of Kuku Yalanji, is the language of the wider Maytown, Mitchell and Palmer River area[17]. Painted caves and tools there show that Aboriginal people have lived in that region for at least 21,000 years[17].
On country today
The Western Yalanji determinations of 2013 define the 'Natural Resources' native title holders may take and use to include 'any clays, soil, sand, gravel or rock'. Minerals under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 are excluded[17].
Eastern coast Eastern Kuku Yalanji
Eastern Kuku Yalanji country: rainforest, beaches, mangroves, reef and the short steep rivers from the Daintree to the Bloomfield and the Annan.
On the Bloomfield red ochre was a home product and a trade good, and the white clay kambar was dug from the cliffs and creek banks[3][4].
Where it is found here
On the Bloomfield the white clay, kambar, was 'dug out from the veins in the cliffs or in the banks of the creeks'[4]. Red ochre came from Bloomfield country itself, since it was one of the district's own products for trade. Yellow ochre was mostly brought in[3].
Seasons
Ochre moved in the trading season. Roth wrote that for the Bloomfield people, 'the principal time of barter was during the laying-season at King's Lake country', whenever there was enough food to draw people together[3]. Anderson places King's Lake country at King's Plains, near the Laura–Cooktown road[2]. White clay cakes needed six to eight days of sun-drying before baking[4].
Trade
Bloomfield trade goods included dilly-bags, spears, woomeras, gum-cements, edible pipe-clay (in recent years) and red ochre. In return came stingray spears, shell ornaments, yellow ochre and, in the old days, edible pipe-clay[3].
On country today
The Daintree, Ngalba-bulal, Kalkajaka and Hope Islands national parks were returned to Eastern Kuku Yalanji Traditional Owners in 2021 and are jointly managed with the Queensland Government[18].
Everywhere
Names
The dictionary gives two words for red ochre, murbuy and wuba. It gives makirr 'yellow ochre', makarra 'streaky yellow ochre' and kambar 'white clay'[1]. Kambar also means 'wet season'[1]. The dictionary does not say why the clay and the season share a name.
Roth confirms kambar. In 1901 he wrote the Bloomfield name for the white kaolin clay as kambar, exactly as the dictionary spells it today[4]. Wuba is shared with the Guugu Yimithirr of Cape Bedford. Roth recorded wo-ba there for a red pigment of burnt ferruginous sandstone from the McIvor River. Their word for 'red' was woba-dir, literally 'with woba'[6].
What it is
Ochres are natural earth pigments. Roth sorted the North Queensland pigments by colour[6]:
- White. Kaolin or pipe-clay, a fine white clay (hydrous silicate of alumina). He found it at the Bloomfield, at Cooktown and Cape Bedford, on the Palmer and elsewhere.
- Red. Oxides of iron. These include haematite (on the Palmer River), burnt ferruginous sandstone (McIvor River), red oxide probably made by burning yellow ochre (Pennefather River), and ferruginous clay with sand.
- Yellow. A yellow iron-oxide ochre with a little fine sand, traded from the north. It was said to be dug from under salt pans and dried in the sun.
- Black. Charcoal, 'used everywhere'.
On the Bloomfield the paints were red and yellow ochres, Grevillea charcoal and white kaolin clay[2]. Makarra, the 'streaky' yellow, presumably names a banded or mottled ochre[1].
Where it is found
The exact pits are not named in the published sources. Their locations are knowledge held by Traditional Owners. What is known for each place is under its name above.
Uses
Body painting. On the Bloomfield, body paint was put on for some hunting trips and for mourning, fighting, initiation and dancing. 'While men were painted anywhere on their bodies, women were only painted on the faces'[2]. Roth also recorded that Bloomfield painting differed with the purpose: mourning, fighting, initiation or corroboree[7]. These are ceremonial matters, and the designs belong to their owners.
Weapons and things. Spear handles 'were usually painted with red and white stripes'[2]. The white clay was also 'employed for painting weapons'[4]. On the Bloomfield the oil of the candlenut, bilar, was 'used in fixing the ochre for spear-painting'[6][4]. The wheel for the spear-throwing game was covered on its sides with red clay and beeswax and decorated with feathers[2]. Women's waist circlets of hair or fibre were prized when 'some red colour is woven into it'[2].
Food and medicine. White clay was eaten at the Bloomfield and at Cooktown, 'as a food and as a medicine'[6]. It was prepared into a baked cake 'considered a delicacy' (see below)[4]. The outer crust of ant-hills, which Roth wrote as kappai, was eaten as a filler 'when no other edible substance is available'[4].
Carrying. Small precious things like pigment travelled rolled up in tea-tree bark and tied with twine[6].
Meaning. Roth found that across North Queensland white was 'essentially the colour of mourning', while red was the colour of force and energy, 'a man's colour', seen on warriors and fighting gear[6].
How it was prepared
Edible white clay cake, Bloomfield River (R. Hislop to Roth)[4]:
- Dig the white clay (kambar) from the veins in a cliff or creek bank.
- Pound it carefully and sift it until it is quite smooth and free of grit.
- Put it in a bark trough and work it with water into a stiff paste.
- Shape the paste into a cake.
- Dry it in the sun for six to eight days.
- Wrap it in leaves, bury it in the ashes and make a hot fire over it.
- When it has cooled it is ready to eat.
White paint (Palmer River and Cape Bedford, neighbouring peoples)[6]:
- Hammer the clay to a fine powder between stones.
- Mix it with water.
- Dry it in the sun and keep it for use. On the Palmer and Pennefather it was also used just as found.
Paint that lasts, Bloomfield River[6][2]:
- Grind the ochre or clay fine.
- Mix it with candlenut (bilar) oil, the Bloomfield fixing medium for spear-painting. Spittle and water were the everyday media across the north.
- Paint it on. Spear handles were striped red and white.
Making red from yellow. Elsewhere in the north, red was made by burning. On the Pennefather the red oxide was probably obtained by burning yellow ochre, and the Gunanni burnt their red pigment marcla before use[6]. No Bloomfield record says whether makirr was burnt to make murbuy.
Safety and respect
The clay-eating recipe above is a historical record, not a tested recipe or a recommendation[4]. More important: ochre and clay sources can be significant cultural places, and the paints themselves are tied to mourning, initiation and other ceremony[2]. Do not dig, collect or use ochre from country without the Traditional Owners' permission. Anyone carrying out an activity in Queensland must take all reasonable and practicable measures not to harm Aboriginal cultural heritage[5].
On Country today
Queensland's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 protects significant Aboriginal areas and objects and imposes a cultural heritage duty of care on everyone carrying out an activity[5]. Under s 211 of the Native Title Act 1993, native title holders may gather and carry out cultural activities for personal, domestic and communal needs without licences[8]. Visitors need Traditional Owners' permission.
Language
julngkal 'to rub or paint on'; marun-marun 'bright red colour'; bingaji 'white or light colored'; ngumbu 'black, charcoal'; ngunjil 'charcoal'; bilar 'candle nut tree'[1].
References
- Hershberger, H. D. & Hershberger, R. (1982). Kuku-Yalanji Dictionary. Work Papers of SIL-AAB, Series B, Volume 7. With Toby Bloomfield, Roy Friday, Billy Roberts, Hector and Doris Sykes, Joe Walker and others. www.sil.org/resources/archives/18038
- Anderson, C. (1996). Traditional material culture of the Kuku-Yalanji of Bloomfield River, North Queensland. Records of the South Australian Museum 29(1): 63–83. Based on fieldwork at Wujal Wujal in the late 1970s and early 1980s. — Personal property, decoration, magic, ceremony and conflict; Communications, trade, pp. 76–79 archive.org/details/RecordsSouthAus29Sout
- Roth, W. E. (1910). North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 14: Transport and trade. Records of the Australian Museum 8(1). — Sect. 1, Trade and barter on the Bloomfield River; sect. 2, Princess Charlotte Bay archive.org/details/biostor-52863
- Roth, W. E. (1901). North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 3: Food — its search, capture, and preparation. Brisbane: Government Printer. Bloomfield River information from R. Hislop. — Sect. 8 Minerals (white clay, ant-hill clay); plant list 'Aleurites moluccana' archive.org/details/northqueensland00landgoog
- Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld), s 23 (cultural heritage duty of care). www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2003-079
- Roth, W. E. (1904). North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 7: Domestic implements, arts, and manufactures. Brisbane: Government Printer. — Sect. 13 gums (Aleurites); sects 17–21 Pigments, media, uses of colours, colour-sense; sect. 65 Packages archive.org/details/northqueensland00landgoog
- Roth, W. E. (1910). North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 15: Decoration, deformation, and clothing. Records of the Australian Museum 8(1). — Sect. 53, Painting of the body archive.org/details/biostor-52864
- Australian Law Reform Commission (2014). Review of the Native Title Act 1993, Discussion Paper 82, ch. 8: Relevant provisions in the Native Title Act (s 211, preservation of native title hunting, fishing, gathering and cultural activities). www.alrc.gov.au/publication/review-of-the-native-title-act-1993-dp-82/8-the-nature-and-content-of-native-title/relevant-provisions-in-the-native-title-act/
- Australian Government. Quinkan Country, National Heritage List place 106262 (listed 10 November 2018). www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/quinkan-country
- Wallis, L. A., Burke, H., Dardengo, M., Morgan, C., Cole, N., Marsh, S., Lee Cheu, P., Lowdown, S., Lowdown, J., Callaghan, C., Naylor, M., Naylor, M., Hart, R., Walker, P., Barker, B. & Pagels, A. (2024). A preliminary study of culturally modified sugarbag trees in the Laura Sandstone Basin, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Queensland Archaeological Research 27: 21–39. doi.org/10.25120/qar.27.2024.4093
- Standley, P.-M. (2019). The importance of campfires to effective conservation. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Records the fire and country knowledge of Kuku Thaypan Elders Dr Tommy George and Dr George Musgrave. — Ch. 8, pp. 295 and 302–303 (the Kuku Thaypan ochre colour; art, dance and song in Quinkan country) researchonline.jcu.edu.au/64274/
- Ross on behalf of the Cape York United #1 Claim Group v State of Queensland (No 21) (Possum determination) [2023] FCA 1316 (Federal Court of Australia, 2 November 2023). — Determination area (upper Hann and Kennedy rivers); prescribed body corporate; affidavit evidence on hunting and fishing www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2023/2023fca1316
- Ross on behalf of the Cape York United #1 Claim Group v State of Queensland (No 20) (Thaypan determination) [2023] FCA 1315 (Federal Court of Australia, 2 November 2023). — Determination area and waters; prescribed body corporate (Awu-Laya Indigenous Corporation); affidavit evidence on hunting www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2023/2023fca1315
- David, B., Watchman, A., Goodall, R. & Clayton, E. (1995). The Maytown ochre source. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38(2): 441–445. archive.org/details/biostor-260367
- Cole, N. (2013). Art ancien et Australiens contemporains : continuité au sein du complexe d'art rupestre de Laura (Péninsule du cap York). In J. Clottes (ed.), L'art pléistocène dans le monde, Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre 2010. Palethnologie 5, Symposium 5 (Australia), pp. 205–207 (summary). blogs.univ-tlse2.fr/palethnologie/wp-content/files/2013/fr-FR/Palethnologie-2013-FR-AUS6_Cole.pdf
- Ross on behalf of the Cape York United #1 Claim Group v State of Queensland (No 19) (Kuku Warra determination) [2023] FCA 1314 (Federal Court of Australia, 2 November 2023). — Evidence of Joseph Lee Cheu (rules about taking from country and about rock paintings) www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2023/2023fca1314
- Brady on behalf of the Western Yalanji People #4 v State of Queensland [2013] FCA 958 (Logan J, 24 September 2013), consent determinations of native title over lands in and around the Palmer and Mitchell River systems north-west of Mt Carbine. — Orders, para 13 (definition of Natural Resources); Reasons, paras 3, 20, 22 www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2013/2013fca0958
- Queensland Government (29 September 2021). Ministerial media statement: Daintree, Ngalba-bulal, Kalkajaka and Hope Islands National Parks returned to Eastern Kuku Yalanji Traditional Owners as Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land, to be jointly managed. statements.qld.gov.au/statements/93360
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