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Kuuku I’yu Ngaachi Rock Art Project

David Claudie interpreting art on a rock shelter on the Kuuku I’yu Ngaachi, 2014

In 2011 Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation prepared a detailed Cultural Heritage Management Plan (CHMP) which brings together the known information about the cultural heritage of the Kuuku I’yu Northern Kaanju people via historical, anthropological, archaelogical and Indigenous knowledge sources. One of the findings of the plan was that few heritage surveys had been conducted in the region and that the management status of many culturally significant sites were not known. Since returning to Ngaachi in the 1990s, surveys of country by Traditional Custodians and Chuulangun Rangers had identified a number of Story Places, scarred trees, rock art and birth and burial sites as well as contemporary heritage places. The CHMP and the desire to properly survey and protect recently rediscovered rock art sites prompted Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation to seek funding for a project.

The Kuuku I’yu Ngaachi Rock Art Project was conducted in 2014-15 with the assistance of funding under the Commonwealth Indigenous Heritage Program. Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation engaged archaeologist, Dr Mick Morrison, to assist with documenting, historical/cultural interpretation and scientific analysis of rediscovered rock art sites and development of measures for protection of sites. Further outcomes were a written report with recommendations for further research, digital documentation and incorporation into a database, and submission of site information to the Queensland Cutlural Heritage Database.

Three field surveys were conducted which located nine previously unrecorded archaeological features, along with three art sites shown to the scientists by Chuulangun Rangers. The new sites included one rock art site, two open artefact scatters and five scarred trees. These sites are significant scientifically as:

1. They are the largest body of art sites north of the Koolburra Plateau on mainland Cape York Peninsula, providing direct evidence of cultural expression of Aboriginal people prior to the arrival of Europeans in the region where no art has been previously reported.

2. They are the first reported rock shelter sites with probable archaeological deposits in central Cape York. While it is impossible to estimate the date that people began to use the Kuuku I’yu sites at this early stage of research, it is very likely that they are older than 3,000 years. As such the sites are very important for improving the knowledge of the long term Aboriginal history of central and northern Cape York Peninsula.

Chuulangun Ranger Farron Port recording a scarred tree, 2014

Importantly the project identified management issues and recommendations to protect the sites from direct threats such as damage from erosion, fire, animals and unapproved third party access. These actions are included in the work program of the Chuulangun Rangers along with training and the development of knowledge and skills in cultural heritage surveys and management.

This collaboration has led to a number of other collaborative research projects over the recent years as well as academic publications including: Rock Art Analysis Package (RAAP), v01: Data, Schema and Scripts for the Formal Analysis of Rock Art Data and Results of archaeological surveys of the Pianamu cultural landscape, central Cape York Peninsula, 2014-16.

The videos below show Northern Kaanju Traditional Custodians and Elders, Robert Nelson ‘Dundee’ and David Claudie (both now sadly passed away) interpreting cultural sites on the Kuuku I’yu Northern Kaanju Ngaachi.