Buluwai Country Landcare

Buluwai Ranger’s Recording and Looking After Cultural Places

Buluwai Ranger’s recently completed ‘Recording and looking after cultural places’ funded under the Queensland Government’s Looking After Country Grant Program (LACGP) 2022.

The activities were centred at Bare Hill Conservation Park and Dinden National Park, Davies Creek area. Since the 1950’s archaeologists and other specialists have come to study the accessible rock art galleries, including an excavation at the Kunindooran occupation site over 40 years ago.

A review of rock art sites in the Wet Tropics region identified the Buluwai sites as the most vandalised.

Senior Buluwai Ranger Coordinator Astro Brim says of the project “Our ancient rock art sites are affected by the high visitation numbers aswell as environmental factors such as mould and water damage. We are looking into different technologies and seeking resources to help us to restore and preserve these sites for future generations to come. It is our responsibility to look after and pass down our dreamtime stories and lore which have been painted in ochre at these sites by our ancestors.”

“Monitoring the recorded sites and learning how to record new sites and cultural artefacts to add to our database has been an important aspect of our work. Davies Creek is a rich cultural landscape and our ancestors have left traces everywhere so there is a lot of work to do yet.”

“We were happy to take advantage of new technology to record our rock art in digital format, which in turn will help with monitoring our sites over the longer term.”

“QPWS have been a real ally for us and we have a solid, transparent long term partnership managing Buluwai Country. I think fostering working relationships with government agencies is essential to running a good project.”

Photo top: Senior Buluwai Ranger Coordinator Astro Brim at the Kunindooran rock art gallery
Photo bottom: Group photo at the Kunindooran rock art gallery