Experience the land of the Bardi – the saltwater people
My guide, Debbie Sibosado, fell silent as a flock of red-tailed, black cockatoos flew overhead. She became agitated, shuffled on her feet and kept her head down. I silently waited, admiring the birds, looking at the rugged bush land around me, and the red soil beneath my feet. The midday sun was beating down as the uncomfortable interlude passed. Soon enough Debbie revived and as cool as a cucumber, while I sweated profusely in my descent into sweltering mess, continued our bushtucker walk through her native Djugaragyn back yard.
Debbie is an Indigenous guide, one of the Bardi ’saltwater people’ whose traditional homeland is the remote Dampier Peninsula in northwest Australia. After a long legal battle, the Bardi people finally won recognition of their native land rights to the Peninsula as recently as 2005. Today, the region is slowly becoming known beyond the Kimberleys, as one of the most unique, pristine, coastal environments in Australia. Home to rust red pindan soil, blinding white sandy beaches by iridescent ocean, unspoilt native scrubland and many Indigenous communities, the Dampier Peninsula, or Dampierland, offers some of the most authentic and rewarding Australian experiences.
I had left Broome at dawn, bumped my way up the 4WD Cape Leveque Road, and reached Djugaragyn by 11am. Joining Debbie for an insightful exploratory into Dampierland history, culture and flora, we discovered atmospheric old timber stockyards, from the land’s past life as a cattle station, tried local bushtucker, learnt about untouchable ‘law trees’ and revealed a traditional medicine for headaches – one for my next hangover hopefully. Some time later, as we were enjoying a plate of hot damper, fresh from the fire, Debbie explained her earlier discomfort. Red-tailed, black cockatoos are her inlaws and according to Bardi law, when she encounters them she must show respect and neither look nor not speak until they have passed. I wondered for while who my secret inlaws could be. While I am speechless when I see a dreaded huntsman spider, I soon decided phobic fear and ancient law were far from the same thing. (more…)
