Rock art book too ‘dangerous’ to publish

A NEW book on the extraordinary petroglyphs at Depuch Island off the remote Pilbara coast has been shelved by its WA author because traditional custodians feel its publication would be too ‘dangerous’ and culturally insensitive.
Mike Donaldson told StreetWise he was asked by Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation several years ago not to release the 347-page book even after he had received permission from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and WA Museum to photograph the rock art first recorded by European visitors more than 180 years ago. NAC has never seen the book.
A geologist and avid bushwalker, Dr Donaldson visited the island in 2006, 2010 and 2014: “Depuch was used for ceremonies by different neighbouring groups, not just Ngarluma. “Initiation ceremonies were held there, but no one lived on the island.”
In 1958, Australian anthropologist Frederick McCarthy said, “the great variety of human and spirit figures and the many excellent figures of animals, warrant its being denoted as one of the most artistically interesting sites of naturalistic engravings in Australia”.
WA Museum scientists who surveyed the remote island in the early 1960s described Depuch as a, “repository of Australian prehistory no less significant than such world-renowned prehistoric art galleries as the caves of Lascaux in the Dordogne and Altamira in northern Spain”.
Depuch is a rocky volcanic island 3km off the Balla Balla coast between Karratha and Port Hedland. It was declared an Aboriginal reserve after the WA Government abandoned plans in the early 1960s to build the first North-West industrial port at Depuch, instead shifting it to present-day Murujuga, Burrup Peninsula. In 2010, Dr Donaldson published ‘Burrup Rock Art’, a 516-page book that showcases the petroglyphs of Murujuga, subject of a World Heritage nomination.
He said Depuch contains thousands of petroglyphs including those depicting ‘retribution’ scenes unique to the island. They show groups of 20 to 40 people gathered in a circle around a figure they are punishing with spears.
Dr Donaldson says he identified at least 10 sites with retribution rock art.
The island also contains more contemporary inscriptions left by visiting Europeans including the crew of HMS Beagle in 1842 (opposite).
“It’s a great book. It’s a great shame it hasn’t been published. Depuch is a wonderful island full of wonderful art work.”
Dr Donaldson was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for ‘Service to the Indigenous Community of WA’, which recognises his important documentation of Burrup and Kimberley rock art.
He said he would be prepared to meet Ngarluma representatives and show them the book: “I tried several times to visit the corporation but they wouldn’t meet. They have never seen the book.”
NAC CEO Emil Moul told StreetWise last week it would be prepared to meet Dr Donaldson, “put him in front of the right people and there shouldn’t be a problem. Any sacred images can be removed”.
Dr Donaldson said he was delighted and would contact NAC to discuss the book: “This is a good start. I will arrange a time when I can get up there to meet the elders.”
Additional information at https://wildrocks.com.au.
Depuch images at www.streetwisemedia.com.au.

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