Gorge Formations (Kalkadoon Country, Outback Australia)

The Kalkadoon People, also known as the Kalkatungu, Kalkatunga, or Kalkadungu, ruled what is called the Emu Foot Province and have been living on these lands for over 40 thousand years. The Kalkadoon People owned vast tracts of land extending from McKinley’s Gap in the east where they joined the Goa tribe of the Winton district to Gunpowder Creek which was the territory of the Waggaboongas. On the southern side of their territory the Kalkadoons were touched upon by the Pitta-Pitta tribe of the Boulia district, and on the northern side by the Mittakoodi of the Fort Constantine country.

The Kalkadoons would mark their territory boundaries with an emu or cranes foot that was either painted onto rocks and trees or carved into the hard granite rock. This was also a warning for other Aboriginal clans not to pass these boundaries.

The Kalkadoon (Kalkatungu) are descendants of an Indigenous Australian tribe living in the Mount Isa region of Queensland. Their forefather tribe has been called 'the Elite of the Aboriginal warriors of Queensland'. In 1884 they were massacred at "Battle Mountain" by settlers and police.

The first Europeans to visit the area were explorers Burke and Wills who crossed the Cloncurry River in 1861. Though their journals make no mention of the tribe, their passing through is said to have been recorded in Kalkatungu oral history, and in their language they coined the term walpala (from 'white feller') to denote Europeans. Three parties sent out to search for Burke and Wills, led respectively by John McKinlay, William Landsborough, and Frederick Walker, passed through the general area. Walker, a former commander of the Dawson native police, shot 12 natives dead and wounded several more, just to the north east of Kalkatungu territory.

Another early European settler, Edward Palmer, who was described by George Phillips as 'one of that brave band of pioneer squatters who in the early sixties swept across North Queensland with their flocks and herds, settling, as if by magic, great tracts of hitherto unoccupied country', settled on the edge of Kalkatungu country in 1864, at Conobie, on the western bank of the Cloncurry River. Decades later, Palmer described the natives as a peculiar people of which little was known. Palmer was critical of the use of native police and interested in indigenous tribes. His station lands did not cover any Kalkatungu sacred sites, he did not object to their presence in the vicinity, and found no problem in his relations with the Kalkatungu. He tried to learn their language. Ernest Henry arrived in 1866, discovering, with the assistance of Kalkatungu guides, copper deposits the following year, and founded the Great Australia Mine. He successfully enlisted some Kalkatungu people to work one of these mines. A short attempt at settlement by W. and T. Brown at Bridgewater in 1874 experienced, like Palmer, no difficulties with the indigenous owners of the land.

The Scottish settler Alexander Kennedy then took up land in the area in 1877. He had managed, since his arrival in 1861, to accumulate land holdings of some 4,800 sq. miles, holding 60,000 cattle, and established himself in a residence he built, called Buckingham Downs. Kennedy is thought to have begun the troubles with the native peoples of the area by instigating murderous assaults on the Kalkatungu. Iain Davidson describes him as 'the man who led the destruction of the tribes of North West Central Queensland.'

The traditional white heroic narrative version of what then occurred drew on the account provided by Sir Wilmot Hudson Fysh in 1933. According to this version, the Kalkatungu was by nature a hostile and bellicose tribe, exceptionally brave with 'primitive' military cunning and guerilla-like tactics of strategic withdrawals to the mountains to evade reprisals for their savagery. They were eventually vanquished and broken after a last stand against men like Alexander Kennedy.

Source: Kalkadoon PBC (www.kalkadoonpbc.com.au).

Taken on: January 1, 2023

Tags:

water

waterhole

creeks

stream

streams

streamway

estuary

swim

swimming

sky

skies

rain

rains

rainy

field

fields

desert

deserts

deserted

dirt

dirty

gravel

sand

sands

nature

natural

tree

trees

gum

gums

plant

plants

rock

rocks

animal

animals

marsupial

marsupials

lizard

lizards

frog

frogs

dry

arid

terrain

geology

geoscience

wildlife

isolate

desolate

desolation

peaceful

quiet

aboriginal

indigenous

kalkadoon

european

europeans

people

peoples

culture

cultural

history

historic

heritage

outback

lake julius

kajabbi

mount isa

cloncurry

north west

queensland

australia « less

Sets appears in: • North West Queensland (Kalkadoon/Mitakoodi Country)

Groups appears in: • Australian Travel Images • Photography more » • Photography Critiques • Artistic Photography • !FlickrSoup for Soul • Photography Corner • Flickr, let's make it a better place! • australian flickr {2 pictures a day} • History is All Around Us • Queensland • Flickr Australia • Australian Photographers!!!! • *** Flickr's Most Creative Shots *** • I bring my camera everywhere (no 30/60 limit) • Project worldwide (pictures of places around the world) • Get noticed • Earth Science Teaching Resource • The Australian Experience • Geologicpedia: learn geology through images. • National Flickr Graphic • Photography Club • Dragon Gold Award " The Best Of Flickr " • nature's composition • Photography Magazine, I Heart • Land of Oz (This is Australia!) • !!Perfect Composition!! • Photography 24/7 {We need some activity!} • ***Flickr Global • Flickr United (Group Founded by Photographer Ben Heine) • Flickr Community (INVITE ALL CONTACTS) • Queensland Australia • Flickr Queensland • Australia All Over • Around Australia • Photography Downunder • ` FLICKR ´ • Outback of Australia • Queensland Photographers Australia • [][][] Flickr. DNA [][][] • Flickr center • Photography Week • Nikon Photographers • The Best ... • !*ALL ARE WELCOME*! • Photo Hog 12 • !*Flickr All Stars*! • Nature and Animals (Wild Only) • Pictures of the World. • Fossils , Minerals And Rocks Group • PHOTOGRAPHY Colors • Australia, Our Great Southern Land • The best photographs from around the world. • Flickrology • Photo-Phactory • All Your Photos and Mine (No 30/60 limit - Photos from anywhere) • Flickr Steps & Stairs • Photographers of Australia « less

Camera: Nikon D5600, f/8.0, 1/100 sec, 19mm (=28mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D5600
Lens:	TAMRON 17-35mm F/2.8-4 Di OSD A037N
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.01 sec (1/100)
Focal Length:	19mm (35mm equivalent: 28mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	Low
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.3 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 1,948 views / 3 comments