Rock Art and Cultural Places on Islands

UUNGUU

Cultural PLaces

We have many important cultural places on our country. While all of our cultural values are important, four aspects of our culture have been recognised as being of national significance as part of the West Kimberley National Heritage Listed Places

1. Our Wanjina Wunggurr Cultural tradition.

2. Our log-raft maritime tradition: our old people used rafts and canoes to sail the tides and currents from the mainland to the isalnds and warrurru (reefs) far offshore.

3. Makassan: our old people interacted with Makassan sea farers for hundreds of years. 

4. Pearling. We have important pearl shell resources on our country. 

ROCK ART

In the Lalai, our creators left their images we see as paintings today in caves and overhangs. the paintings show our living home, our Uunguu. There are Wanjina, Wunggurr and Gwion images, animals, fish from the wundaagu (sea) and gaawi (freshwater fish) and diligu (birds). 

Picture: Ildephonse Cheinmora standing under Jalandal

Our book, We Are Coming to See You, shares our Wangina Wunggurr Culture, the same culture we share with the Willinggin people. 

Our elders have worked together for many years to make this book. This book is their modern way to leave our Wanjina Wunggurr culture story to our children and future generations.

You can find out more about our Wanjina Wunggurr culture in our Culture book: We Are Coming to See You. 

We see, and we are always reminded of our ancestors everywhere in our graa, our country. Lalai is when our Wanjina Wunggurr ancestors created our country many, many, many generations ago and left their images, paintings, memories and stories in caves, in stone, in living things, in seasons, in weather, in fresh and saltwater and in the shapes of our country for our families today to see, read and learn.

Our elders made this book to show that our Wanjina Wunggurr culture, language and history is in our graa country. We can visit, learn and get our cultural strength from it. Our many Wanjinas, our sacred Wunggurr, our Gwion who give us guidance and wunan our ways to live together. Man and woman customs, our knowledge to use and look after all things – bush, animals, birds, fish, plants, water – that our Wanjina Wunggurr ancestors created and left for us today. 

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