Latest news with #Nyikina
ABC News
18-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Fears for Stolen Generations records as Broome heritage centre closes
Families in Western Australia's north fear they could lose access to the only known records of relatives as the Sisters of St John of God Heritage Centre Broome prepares to close. WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following article contains information about people who have died. In May the Sisters of St John of God (SSJG) announced it would shut the centre's doors in October as the congregation in Australia also winds up. Since 1995, the sisters and volunteers have worked to transform its Broome convent into a museum and archive. While the building is heritage-listed, it remains unclear what will happen to its award-winning exhibition or the thousands of historical photos and documents. Nyikina woman Phillipa Cook said the lack of assurance concerned her and many others. She said the centre contained the history of "just about every Aboriginal family" across the Kimberley — connections the Stolen Generations had threatened to erase. "There's a lot of photographs there that we hadn't seen before." Ms Cook said her grandmother and grandmother's sister were taken from Derby to the Beagle Bay Mission during the Stolen Generations in the early 1900s. "They never saw their mothers again until they were in their 40s," she said. The heritage centre contained photos of her grandmother, and even photos of herself, which allowed them to re-draw a family tree that was intentionally severed. Ms Cook said whenever people who had been fostered visited Broome they also went to the centre. "We bring them up here and we take them there to see the connection between the family," Ms Cook said. Ms Cook said the state government should step in to help keep the centre open. Monash University Indigenous research fellow and Jaru, Kitja and Yawuru woman, Jacinta Walsh, said church archives were not protected under the Commonwealth Archives Act. She said because they were privately owned they could technically be destroyed. "The laws don't protect us and that's a real concern Australia-wide," she said. Ms Walsh said many Aboriginal families lived with the reality their stolen history was privately held. "Many of the places Aboriginal children were taken to were run by church organisations," she said. Ms Walsh studied her family history as part of her PhD research. She was adopted as a child and grew up separated from her community and culture in Melbourne. The Broome centre holds some of the only archival photos of her grandmother, who was taken to Beagle Bay Mission. The heritage centre is yet to respond to the ABC's questions about plans for the preservation and continued access of its photos and archives. A government spokesperson did not rule out whether the state would purchase the historical documents or advocate for them to be made public, but said "future leasing opportunities" were a matter for the building owner, the church. "The state would need additional time to investigate and understand the options relating to storage of historical records and archives," the spokesperson said. For Ms Walsh, the materials held at the centre provided validation to heal from "trauma that runs through families". "When you find a document, that textual record is evidence of what my family went through," she said.
ABC News
14-06-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Country, culture and connection in the spectacular Kimberley
The Kimberley is a land defined by its extremes: a wild climate, harsh terrain and remarkable biodiversity. It's a place unlike anywhere else on Earth, and one few people experience in its entirety. Join Nyikina man Mark Coles Smith as he guides us on a journey through his ancestral lands, celebrating the people, places and animals that define this extraordinary part of the world. In Western Australia's north, the Kimberley spans over 400,000 square kilometres. It's an area six times the size of Tasmania but home to only 35,000 people. It's famed for attractions like Broome, Cable Beach, Lake Argyle and Mitchell Falls, but its allure extends far beyond the tourist trail. It's home to tropical savanna, bustling ocean reefs, deserts, waterfalls, mountain ranges, tropical islands and rugged gorges. Visitors cool off with a swim in the Martuwarra/Fitzroy River. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) The spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Site The Bungle Bungles in the Kimberley. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) At Yowjab / Montgomery Reef tidal fluctuations create waterfalls that reveal over 300 square kilometres of living coral. ( Courtesy of Wild Pacific Media ) The environment seesaws from torrential rains and flash floods, to scorchingly dry heatwaves and colossal wildfires. It's also the most cyclone-prone region in the country. First Nations' groups in the region recognise six annual seasons, all of which unlock unique conditions, challenges and opportunities. Nyikina Season Conditions Wilakarra The rain time Koolawa When the cold weather is on its way Barrkana The cold weather time Wilbooroo When everything stops and starts to dry out. Weather heats up Lalin The hot, dry time Jirrbal The build-up. High humidity and dry lightning storms Despite the extremes of the environment, ancient wisdom passed down through generations has sustained life here for thousands of years. First Nations people remain dedicated custodians with a deeply spiritual connection to land, river and sea. They're now leading the charge to safeguard their beloved Country. Connection to Country Meandering through the Kimberley is the Martuwarra Fitzroy River: one of the last great free-flowing river systems on Earth, and a sacred entity for First Nations' people. The river system experiences Australia's highest tides, with 11-metre variations at the river mouth, which power through the iconic Garaanngaddim (Horizontal Falls). Garaanngaddim/Horizontal Falls are situated in the coastal McLarty Ranges within Ganbadba/Talbot Bay in WA's Buccaneer Archipelago. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media ) "The river keeps us alive, we keep the river alive. That's the deal," Coles Smith tells ABC iview's The Kimberley. "We see the river system as a literal ancestral entity. "Our legal system and our art systems, our stories and our songs, our medicine, and our food, is tied to the river. It has been that way for as long as we could remember." Although it has suffered damage from agriculture, it remains one of the most pristine river systems on Earth. Coles Smith likens the mighty Martuwarra to a religion, with much of its mythology tied up in spirituality. "Some people build cathedrals. This is our cathedral," he says. Indigenous leader, human and earth rights advocate, and researcher Professor Anne Poelina says the Kimberley is a "globally unique" environment. "The biodiversity, the cultural diversity is not found anywhere else on the planet," Poelina, a Nyikina Warrwa woman and Coles Smith's mother, says. "You've got to see it, to feel it, to hear it, to know it." "Our spiritual connection really goes back to what we say is the beginning of time." Caring for Country Many areas within the Kimberley are recognised under native title, and more than 40 per cent of those who call the region home are Indigenous. For many First Nations' people, like Azarnia Malay, working on Country is more than a job — it's a cultural responsibility. She's an Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) and Dambimangari (Dambi) sea ranger. "The old people had their own science … and it's good for us to keep carrying on what our people used to do, but now we're doing it in a different way," Malay says. Witnessing Yowjab (Montgomery Reef) emerge from the ocean is high on the list of unconventional work perks enjoyed by the sea rangers. The reef is usually not visible above sea level. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) Once a month the undersea coral is exposed due to the full moon. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) "When I first went there, I couldn't even believe my eyes," Malay says. This spectacular phenomenon happens a few days each month when the full moon draws the sea away, revealing the living coral underneath. "When you're driving [the boat] and the tide is up, you won't see it," Malay says. "But then when you sit in the channel and the tide drops, oh, it just opens up the Country … it just lights up. "I believe that the Country feels us, that we're there." Rangers across the Kimberley are also tasked with conducting traditional burns, to help preserve food, shelter and the nesting trees that many animals rely on. It's a practice First Nations' people have performed for countless generations to reduce fuel load and minimise the risk of lightning storms sparking catastrophic wildfires. A biodiversity hotspot While a spiritual heartland, the Kimberley is also a playground for Australian wildlife, where raw, untouched environments abound — and First Nations' rangers and conservation groups care for the animals who share this Country. The region has many species that aren't found anywhere else in the world, according to lead ecologist at AWC Skye Cameron. "[These animals are] highly evolved to the rugged and remote and harsh conditions," she says. Two frilled lizards (Chlamydosaurus kingii) displaying their frills. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media ) A white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media ) A blue-spotted mudskipper (Boleophthalmus caeruleomaculatus) and a crab meet on the mudflats. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media ) A saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) enters the river. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media ) The Kimberley is the only area of mainland Australia with no known animal extinctions since European settlement, but the arrival of cane toads has rangers fearing that may come to an end. The Wijingarri or northern quoll, a central figure in the Dambi creation stories, was once common across northern Australia but is now on the brink of extinction. An endangered northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) sniffs the air, aware of predators. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media ) The spread of toxic cane toads has decimated their population, as well as that of other toad-eating animals. "To see such a pristine environment being invaded by an invasive species and what that does to the biodiversity of the region ... it's heartbreaking," Cameron says. However, there is still hope. The quoll population is thriving on the more than 1,000 islands along the Dambi coastline, which, thanks to the ocean barrier, remain free of cane toads. Malay, whose team looks after 10,000 square kilometres of remote Sea Country, says they're desperate to protect the island quolls. Azarnia Malay works with conservation groups to protect the northern quoll from extinction. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) "It makes me worry. It's very important to us — the quoll. We don't want him to disappear," she says. "Without them, there's no Country. We all need each other." Protecting the Kimberley Sadly, the threats to the Kimberley's biodiversity don't stop at the natural world. It's becoming increasingly vulnerable to industries looking to capitalise on the area's abundant natural resources. Poelina says many Aboriginal people who live on Country rely on it not just for spirituality but for a sustainable way of life. "We managed the system always on scale, always collectively together, respecting the diversity of different nations and different people coming together," she says. An iconic Kimberley boab tree (Adansonia gregorii) stands against a starlit backdrop on the grassy savanna. ( Supplied: Wild Pacific Media ) Aerial vista of Edgar Range in the Kimberley. ( Courtesy of Wild Pacific Media ) pic: edgar range] An aerial view of Silvergull Creek in the Kimberley. ( Courtesy of Wild Pacific Media ) pic: silvergull creek] "To survive requires the river and the hybrid economy of hunting and gathering and food collection, and all of these systems are changing. They're all out of whack." Poelina worries about the impact of industry in the region, including water-intensive developments in mining, fracking and agriculture, but says she is not anti-development. "[The Martuwarra] is such a precious resource," she says. "Rivers around the world are so under threat and many of them have died … all of this is important in terms of where we go now for the future. "This is a great opportunity to turn the conversation from business as usual." Poelina is calling for "just development" on "just terms" and suggests the future lies in creating economic opportunities around culture, conservation, science and tourism. The Martuwarra/Fitzroy River during Wilakarra (the rain time). ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) "[The Kimberley] belongs to all of us and we do have a duty of care to protect it, love it, and care for it, but it can create wealth." Preserving culture Poelina is not alone in her hopes for the Kimberley's future. Kallum Mungulu tends to thousands of significant sites during his week-long patrols as a Dambi ranger and says it gives him a sense of belonging. "All of the islands ... they still hold a lot of our ancestors in them ... whether it's their spirit or their bones," Mungulu says. "Everything comes back and sort of makes sense." Jeremy Kowan and his daughter work with the Uunguu Rangers on the traditional lands of the Wunambal Gaambera people, caring for cultural sites at Punamii-Uunpuu (Mitchell Falls). The area is considered a sacred site, home to creation stories and ancient rock art paintings. Tabitha Kowan works as an Uunguu Ranger with her father. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) Jeremy Kowan is passing down cultural knowledge to the younger generations. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) Ancient rock art adorns the landscape of the Kimberley. ( ABC/Wild Pacific Media ) "All our grandfathers, they told us: 'You guys got to look after this Country now and pass it on to the next generation,'" Kowan says. "You look after the Country, the Country will look after you." It's a sentiment shared by Coles Smith. He spent more than a year travelling the Kimberley to capture its breathtaking beauty and make the three-part documentary series. He says for Nyikina people, there is no distinction between the protection of the natural world and the preservation of their culture. "The philosophies and the wisdom that I grew up around have become increasingly more profound the older that I've become," he says. "I don't think there are many places in the world quite like this. It's sort of like dropping into the land before time." Stream all episodes of The Kimberley free on ABC iview. Credits
West Australian
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
New ABC wildlife documentary series The Kimberley captures rarely seen animals and locations
When it comes to ambitious wildlife documentaries, you'd be forgiven for imagining sweeping vistas of the Serengeti, with its massive herds in a daily dance of life and death with big cats. You might be surprised to learn there's an untamed ecosystem 30 times as big as the Serengeti, and exponentially more diverse, right on our doorstep – the Kimberley. The 400,000sqkm of this biological ark, stretching from turquoise coast to searing desert, is the subject of a groundbreaking three-part documentary series. The ABC series captures never-before-seen behaviour of animals that are found nowhere else on the planet, in locations that have previously only been seen by the Traditional Owners of the land, making this must-see TV for nature lovers. It's story takes place over a full year, following the six seasons observed by the Nyikina people, starting in Lalin, the peak of the dry season, when parched wallabies risk ending up as lunch for crocs to get a drink of water. After the build-up of Jirrbal, flooding rains eventually come during Wilakarra, transforming the landscape and bringing new challenges for its inhabitants, before the calendar turns to Koolawa, which reveals the region at its most bountiful. A cool change arrives with Barrkana, heralding the appearance of humpbacks from Antarctica to give birth in warmer waters, although the mercury soon rises again with Willbooroo, shrinking the vast wetlands once more. Hosted by Mystery Road: Origin star and Nyikina man Mark Coles Smith, The Kimberley series combines local knowledge from the Traditional Owners with scientific experts to give viewers a rich understanding of the region's significance. Filmmaker Nick Robinson dragged $80,000 worth of camera equipment through some of the most inaccessible wilderness on Earth to create the series, and said pulling off such an ambitious project took 40 per cent planning and 60 per cent getting lucky. Perhaps the best example of getting lucky is a scene in Episode 1, in which a crocodile stalks a wallaby. Unbelievable footage that was made possible by a chance encounter with a local fisherman. 'I've been filming crocodiles my whole life, for the last 20 years, because television just can't get enough of them,' Robinson said. 'So I've been to film crocodiles everywhere, and I feel like I've been to the best places … and I've spent months just trying to get that kind of behaviour and never got it. '(In the Kimberley) we shot that in five days, and I've never shot anything like that.' While it's hard for Robinson to narrow down the flora and fauna he's most proud of capturing in the series, there is one animal that does stand out – the critically endangered nabarlek. The marsupial is so rare that it had never been caught on broadcast-quality cameras before, something Robinson's team achieved after camping for a week on the beach of an uninhabited island with ecologist Ian Bool. 'It's almost a mythical creature if you're a biologist because it doesn't exist on the mainland anywhere, you never see them,' Robinson said. But, in the end, the mythical nabarlek came to them. 'A wild nabarlek, just hopping around the tents,' Robinson laughed. 'I think it took five days of being there before the nabarlek showed itself. 'And on that fifth day, a couple of nabarleks, a baby and an adult, came out and sat and hopped around in front of the camera.' Robinson hoped the series will make Australians realise the Kimberley is every bit as deserving as the Serengeti when it comes to the world's greatest natural wonders. 'The Kimberley is probably the last, great, tropical, wild land on Earth,' he said. 'There'd be nowhere on the planet that's as wild and has the potential to remain wild like that place.'
The Advertiser
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
'Closest thing to paradise': a rare insight into The Kimberley
A saltwater crocodile watches a group of wallabies drinking from the river it calls home. It strikes, missing, as the frightened wallabies frantically scale the steep and unstable riverbank. All but one makes it. This wallaby jumps and it jumps, twisting its body mid-air in panic. The crocodile is still watching, waiting, but this time it's not alone. An eagle nesting nearby is attracted by the commotion. It swoops the wallaby, causing it to tumble into the water. The crocodile strikes again - and this time it doesn't miss. The eagle waits for the crocodile to start feasting and, as flesh, fur and bones are flung across the water's surface, grabs its share. It's a confronting but fascinating start to wildlife documentary series The Kimberley, narrated by award-winning actor Mark Coles Smith, a Nyikina man from the lower Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) area. The stunningly filmed three-part series explores the six distinct seasons on the Nyikina calendar - Lalin, Jirrbal, Willakarra, Koolawa, Barrakana and Willbooroo - through daring camerawork and cutting-edge cinematography techniques. The Kimberley spans more than 400,000 square kilometres - three times the size of England - and is made up of sprawling savannas, towering gorges, rivers, tropical coastlines and desert. The remote region's rugged terrain provides a last refuge for countless rare mammals, reptiles and birds, including the world's smallest marsupial, and the largest and fiercest reptile, the saltwater crocodile. "What we've got here is so special. I've grown up in what is, for me, the closest thing to paradise. The Kimberley," Mark says via phone from the ABC Kimberley's studios in Broome. "The scale of biodiversity and the network of ecological systems here is unlike anywhere else in the world. "The pristine tropical coastline, the savanna, the complex sandstone and limestone geology of the caves, the water networks that sustain life ... it's a real labyrinth of ecology and diversity here, and a time capsule for endemic species and for Australia as a whole. "Australia's mammalian extinction rates are really sobering, so it's quite inspiring to know that in parts of the northern Kimberley, it's the only place on mainland Australia with no recorded extinction, even though that's changing every day as we continue to get encroachments impacting into the space." Mark is a captivating orator who knows The Kimberley intimately. I ask him about saltwater crocodiles and their reputation for aggression. "You know, they are tricky for me. I am now doing spear fishing, I am free diving to 20-metre depths up on the peninsula, and I come across some pretty big sharks, and that's not too bad for me," he says. "I try to read them and judge the situation I'm in, but crocs are a whole other story. You would never see me in the water with a saltwater croc, or if one had been identified in a body of water. "They are the only creature I'm aware of that will actively hunt you across several days, that will watch your behaviour, watch your habits, and then place themselves at a particular point on the riverbank. "They are really cunning and they are really competent in what they do, whether that's taking livestock or feral creatures or native animals. They are adept killing machines. Apart from juvenile bull sharks, which can be quite aggressive, the saltwater estuarine crocodile is the one animal we all agree will actively try to kill us when we're in its habitat." Mark swims contentedly in a waterhole in episode one. How did he know it was crocodile-free? "The biggest thing will be the belly tracks, the belly marks. Our mob can tell what species is in the water from the belly marks on the river banks," he replies. "With the smaller waterholes, it makes no sense for a creature of threat to be in there. There's nothing for it to eat, and it will get hotter during the day, which will make it uncomfortable. There's a myriad of signs to look out for." I mention the documentary's soundtrack and am surprised to learn Mark himself had - unintentionally - composed and produced most of it. "I produce hypnotic, ethereal, cinematic, electronic music under an artist name known as Kalaji, and all of my music is about The Kimberley, my mother's culture and our spiritual connection," he explains. "I never once, when I was composing and producing those pieces, thought they would end up in a wildlife documentary. But the team asked if they could listen to some of my music, and fed it into different parts of the series, and they loved it. "I was really proud to see my music recontextualised in that way." Mark left The Kimberley in 2010 to move to Melbourne to study audio engineering and sound design. While there, his acting career unexpectedly "took off". Beneath Hill 60, Apple Cider Vinegar, Last Cab To Darwin, Sweet As, Kid Snow and We Bury The Dead are among his film credits to date. Television-wise, he is best known as Detective Jay Swan in series Mystery Road. Mark won a Helpmann Award in 2017 for best male actor in a play (The Drover's Wife). "I'd done quite a bit of acting but I never believed it could mature into something tangible," he says. "After 10 years in Melbourne, though, I realised how much I missed The Kimberley, and my family and my community and being a part of my culture, so I moved back. "I wondered if the work I'd done on the East Coast over 10 years meant that I could work from The Kimberley, and over the last four years that seems to be the case, which is something I'm really proud about ... it's very hard to work in the arts, and to do it from such a remote place adds all these additional layers." The Kimberley is a labour of love for Mark, and it shows. "It was a privilege for me to be invited to create on this series. It has that international-standard picture quality, but it also has access to the human story inside the Kimberley landscape," he says. "There are these beautiful vignettes of the people who call this place home, who are connected to this landscape, whether it's from a cultural point of view or from our National Parks and Wildlife Protection Service or our incredible ecologists. "The mosaic that we end up creating is, I think, really unique for a wildlife series." A saltwater crocodile watches a group of wallabies drinking from the river it calls home. It strikes, missing, as the frightened wallabies frantically scale the steep and unstable riverbank. All but one makes it. This wallaby jumps and it jumps, twisting its body mid-air in panic. The crocodile is still watching, waiting, but this time it's not alone. An eagle nesting nearby is attracted by the commotion. It swoops the wallaby, causing it to tumble into the water. The crocodile strikes again - and this time it doesn't miss. The eagle waits for the crocodile to start feasting and, as flesh, fur and bones are flung across the water's surface, grabs its share. It's a confronting but fascinating start to wildlife documentary series The Kimberley, narrated by award-winning actor Mark Coles Smith, a Nyikina man from the lower Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) area. The stunningly filmed three-part series explores the six distinct seasons on the Nyikina calendar - Lalin, Jirrbal, Willakarra, Koolawa, Barrakana and Willbooroo - through daring camerawork and cutting-edge cinematography techniques. The Kimberley spans more than 400,000 square kilometres - three times the size of England - and is made up of sprawling savannas, towering gorges, rivers, tropical coastlines and desert. The remote region's rugged terrain provides a last refuge for countless rare mammals, reptiles and birds, including the world's smallest marsupial, and the largest and fiercest reptile, the saltwater crocodile. "What we've got here is so special. I've grown up in what is, for me, the closest thing to paradise. The Kimberley," Mark says via phone from the ABC Kimberley's studios in Broome. "The scale of biodiversity and the network of ecological systems here is unlike anywhere else in the world. "The pristine tropical coastline, the savanna, the complex sandstone and limestone geology of the caves, the water networks that sustain life ... it's a real labyrinth of ecology and diversity here, and a time capsule for endemic species and for Australia as a whole. "Australia's mammalian extinction rates are really sobering, so it's quite inspiring to know that in parts of the northern Kimberley, it's the only place on mainland Australia with no recorded extinction, even though that's changing every day as we continue to get encroachments impacting into the space." Mark is a captivating orator who knows The Kimberley intimately. I ask him about saltwater crocodiles and their reputation for aggression. "You know, they are tricky for me. I am now doing spear fishing, I am free diving to 20-metre depths up on the peninsula, and I come across some pretty big sharks, and that's not too bad for me," he says. "I try to read them and judge the situation I'm in, but crocs are a whole other story. You would never see me in the water with a saltwater croc, or if one had been identified in a body of water. "They are the only creature I'm aware of that will actively hunt you across several days, that will watch your behaviour, watch your habits, and then place themselves at a particular point on the riverbank. "They are really cunning and they are really competent in what they do, whether that's taking livestock or feral creatures or native animals. They are adept killing machines. Apart from juvenile bull sharks, which can be quite aggressive, the saltwater estuarine crocodile is the one animal we all agree will actively try to kill us when we're in its habitat." Mark swims contentedly in a waterhole in episode one. How did he know it was crocodile-free? "The biggest thing will be the belly tracks, the belly marks. Our mob can tell what species is in the water from the belly marks on the river banks," he replies. "With the smaller waterholes, it makes no sense for a creature of threat to be in there. There's nothing for it to eat, and it will get hotter during the day, which will make it uncomfortable. There's a myriad of signs to look out for." I mention the documentary's soundtrack and am surprised to learn Mark himself had - unintentionally - composed and produced most of it. "I produce hypnotic, ethereal, cinematic, electronic music under an artist name known as Kalaji, and all of my music is about The Kimberley, my mother's culture and our spiritual connection," he explains. "I never once, when I was composing and producing those pieces, thought they would end up in a wildlife documentary. But the team asked if they could listen to some of my music, and fed it into different parts of the series, and they loved it. "I was really proud to see my music recontextualised in that way." Mark left The Kimberley in 2010 to move to Melbourne to study audio engineering and sound design. While there, his acting career unexpectedly "took off". Beneath Hill 60, Apple Cider Vinegar, Last Cab To Darwin, Sweet As, Kid Snow and We Bury The Dead are among his film credits to date. Television-wise, he is best known as Detective Jay Swan in series Mystery Road. Mark won a Helpmann Award in 2017 for best male actor in a play (The Drover's Wife). "I'd done quite a bit of acting but I never believed it could mature into something tangible," he says. "After 10 years in Melbourne, though, I realised how much I missed The Kimberley, and my family and my community and being a part of my culture, so I moved back. "I wondered if the work I'd done on the East Coast over 10 years meant that I could work from The Kimberley, and over the last four years that seems to be the case, which is something I'm really proud about ... it's very hard to work in the arts, and to do it from such a remote place adds all these additional layers." The Kimberley is a labour of love for Mark, and it shows. "It was a privilege for me to be invited to create on this series. It has that international-standard picture quality, but it also has access to the human story inside the Kimberley landscape," he says. "There are these beautiful vignettes of the people who call this place home, who are connected to this landscape, whether it's from a cultural point of view or from our National Parks and Wildlife Protection Service or our incredible ecologists. "The mosaic that we end up creating is, I think, really unique for a wildlife series." A saltwater crocodile watches a group of wallabies drinking from the river it calls home. It strikes, missing, as the frightened wallabies frantically scale the steep and unstable riverbank. All but one makes it. This wallaby jumps and it jumps, twisting its body mid-air in panic. The crocodile is still watching, waiting, but this time it's not alone. An eagle nesting nearby is attracted by the commotion. It swoops the wallaby, causing it to tumble into the water. The crocodile strikes again - and this time it doesn't miss. The eagle waits for the crocodile to start feasting and, as flesh, fur and bones are flung across the water's surface, grabs its share. It's a confronting but fascinating start to wildlife documentary series The Kimberley, narrated by award-winning actor Mark Coles Smith, a Nyikina man from the lower Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) area. The stunningly filmed three-part series explores the six distinct seasons on the Nyikina calendar - Lalin, Jirrbal, Willakarra, Koolawa, Barrakana and Willbooroo - through daring camerawork and cutting-edge cinematography techniques. The Kimberley spans more than 400,000 square kilometres - three times the size of England - and is made up of sprawling savannas, towering gorges, rivers, tropical coastlines and desert. The remote region's rugged terrain provides a last refuge for countless rare mammals, reptiles and birds, including the world's smallest marsupial, and the largest and fiercest reptile, the saltwater crocodile. "What we've got here is so special. I've grown up in what is, for me, the closest thing to paradise. The Kimberley," Mark says via phone from the ABC Kimberley's studios in Broome. "The scale of biodiversity and the network of ecological systems here is unlike anywhere else in the world. "The pristine tropical coastline, the savanna, the complex sandstone and limestone geology of the caves, the water networks that sustain life ... it's a real labyrinth of ecology and diversity here, and a time capsule for endemic species and for Australia as a whole. "Australia's mammalian extinction rates are really sobering, so it's quite inspiring to know that in parts of the northern Kimberley, it's the only place on mainland Australia with no recorded extinction, even though that's changing every day as we continue to get encroachments impacting into the space." Mark is a captivating orator who knows The Kimberley intimately. I ask him about saltwater crocodiles and their reputation for aggression. "You know, they are tricky for me. I am now doing spear fishing, I am free diving to 20-metre depths up on the peninsula, and I come across some pretty big sharks, and that's not too bad for me," he says. "I try to read them and judge the situation I'm in, but crocs are a whole other story. You would never see me in the water with a saltwater croc, or if one had been identified in a body of water. "They are the only creature I'm aware of that will actively hunt you across several days, that will watch your behaviour, watch your habits, and then place themselves at a particular point on the riverbank. "They are really cunning and they are really competent in what they do, whether that's taking livestock or feral creatures or native animals. They are adept killing machines. Apart from juvenile bull sharks, which can be quite aggressive, the saltwater estuarine crocodile is the one animal we all agree will actively try to kill us when we're in its habitat." Mark swims contentedly in a waterhole in episode one. How did he know it was crocodile-free? "The biggest thing will be the belly tracks, the belly marks. Our mob can tell what species is in the water from the belly marks on the river banks," he replies. "With the smaller waterholes, it makes no sense for a creature of threat to be in there. There's nothing for it to eat, and it will get hotter during the day, which will make it uncomfortable. There's a myriad of signs to look out for." I mention the documentary's soundtrack and am surprised to learn Mark himself had - unintentionally - composed and produced most of it. "I produce hypnotic, ethereal, cinematic, electronic music under an artist name known as Kalaji, and all of my music is about The Kimberley, my mother's culture and our spiritual connection," he explains. "I never once, when I was composing and producing those pieces, thought they would end up in a wildlife documentary. But the team asked if they could listen to some of my music, and fed it into different parts of the series, and they loved it. "I was really proud to see my music recontextualised in that way." Mark left The Kimberley in 2010 to move to Melbourne to study audio engineering and sound design. While there, his acting career unexpectedly "took off". Beneath Hill 60, Apple Cider Vinegar, Last Cab To Darwin, Sweet As, Kid Snow and We Bury The Dead are among his film credits to date. Television-wise, he is best known as Detective Jay Swan in series Mystery Road. Mark won a Helpmann Award in 2017 for best male actor in a play (The Drover's Wife). "I'd done quite a bit of acting but I never believed it could mature into something tangible," he says. "After 10 years in Melbourne, though, I realised how much I missed The Kimberley, and my family and my community and being a part of my culture, so I moved back. "I wondered if the work I'd done on the East Coast over 10 years meant that I could work from The Kimberley, and over the last four years that seems to be the case, which is something I'm really proud about ... it's very hard to work in the arts, and to do it from such a remote place adds all these additional layers." The Kimberley is a labour of love for Mark, and it shows. "It was a privilege for me to be invited to create on this series. It has that international-standard picture quality, but it also has access to the human story inside the Kimberley landscape," he says. "There are these beautiful vignettes of the people who call this place home, who are connected to this landscape, whether it's from a cultural point of view or from our National Parks and Wildlife Protection Service or our incredible ecologists. "The mosaic that we end up creating is, I think, really unique for a wildlife series."
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The river keeps us alive, we keep the river alive': new documentary captures the Kimberley and its custodians
The Kimberley's winding ochre gorges, coral sunsets and celadon crocodile-filled rivers feature in a new ABC documentary series about one of Earth's last great tropical wetlands. Filmed on cinema-grade cameras in the remote and vast north-west Australian region, The Kimberley captures an intimate portrait of its ancient landscape and offers ecological and cultural insight across three episodes. The series follows the six seasons in the Nyikina calendar. The Nyikina people are the traditional custodians of the Martuwarra, also known as the Fitzroy River, the Kimberley's largest river system. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Actor and Nyikina man Mark Coles Smith, the series' narrator and host, describes himself as deeply connected to the land, his mother's country. He introduces the Martuwarra as a 'literal ancestral entity' that has sustained the cultural, spiritual and physical life of First Nations people in the area for tens of thousands of years. The crocodile is a 'revered spirit of the riverways' in the Kimberley. Photograph: ABC TV At the end of the hot, dry season of Lalin – colloquially called 'married turtle season' because it's when the reptiles mate – a crocodile ambushes a thirsty wallaby, snapping it into its jaws before its tail disappears through the croc's teeth. Director Nick Robinson describes it as one of the most astonishing sequences he has ever filmed. The rare footage was taken during the six months he and the series' director of photography, Jack Riley, spent camping, rafting and trekking throughout the Western Australian region. Director Nick Robinson and camera operator Paul Bell shoot a scene with Mark Coles Smith and Gooniyandi elder Mervyn Street. Photograph: ABC TV 'We were just talking to a random fisherman,' Robinson says. 'He mentioned having seen a croc take a wallaby. I'd never seen that in the wild, and I've spent years filming crocs. 'That tip turned into one of the most amazing sequences I've ever shot.' Coles Smith, who won an Australian best actor award for his role in Mystery Road: Origin and is a Gold Logie nominee, explains the crocodile is a 'revered spirit of the riverways', playing an important role in the ecosystem and symbolising the 'raw power of nature'. The tiny crew worked alongside Indigenous rangers, traditional owners and scientists, including the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, to capture animal behaviour and landscapes never before filmed – from frill-necked lizards sparring in their quest for love to humpback whales arriving in the cool, dry season of Barrgana. Some stories came unexpectedly. A planned shoot of northern quolls, small carnivorous marsupials, was derailed when cane toads arrived, likely devastating local populations. Coles Smith takes viewers to the riverbanks of the Martuwarra: kids splash and fish in green-mirrored waters as an elder sketches shapes in the earth for young children and kangaroo tails cook on a fire. A still from the documentary of a northern quoll. Photograph: ABC TV As she untangles a line in her lap, one woman says: 'That spiritual connection we have – with the river, the land, all these things – it heals you. You hear the birds, the river, and the calmness of it … your body is meditating.' skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion A man, tending smouldering flames with a shovel, explains: 'You come up here and sit down, have a feed, go fishing, maybe catch a barramundi if you're lucky; those things, are really, really good for the heart, good for the mind, good for the spirit.' The Martuwarra is one of the most pristine river systems on Earth. Photograph: ABC TV When peaking humidity brings in the rainy season, Wilakarra, it revives the Martuwarra for a stunning rafting expedition – a journey that Robinson says requires helicopters, small planes, and local knowledge to access rarely seen gorges and rapids. Despite damage caused by European farming in the last 150 years, the Martuwarra is still one of the most pristine river systems on Earth. 'I can't fathom the generations behind me, through my mother's family, that begin and return to the river – that's what I think of when I'm out here,' Coles Smith says. But the series also documents the looming danger the Kimberley faces. Aerial shots show mining, water extraction and fracking equipment cutting into the wilderness. 'It's an existential threat,' Coles Smith says. 'You hear the birds, the river, and the calmness of it … your body is meditating.' Photograph: ABC TV In response, local leaders have formed the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council – a 'coalition of hope' – advocating for the river's rights. 'There are many nations that make up the length of the Martuwarra,' Coles Smith says. 'All of us have a cultural obligation to protect these waters for future generations. 'The river keeps us alive; we keep the river alive. That's the deal.' The Kimberley airs from Tuesday 13 May at 8pm on the ABC and ABC iview.
