Original artwork – acrylic on canvas ready to hang. 50cm x 50cm. $390
A magical place with a spiritual presence, Tunnel Creek is a site of enormous cultural significance to the local Bunuba people who were shamefully dispossessed of their land by the British invaders who arrived in 1837.
A great resistance fighter named Jandamarra led his Bunuba tribe against the white settlers in defence of their country until 1897 when he was killed and beheaded by the white troopers.
Tunnel creek traverses for 750 metres from one side to the other of the Napier Range, part of an ancient Devonian reef system which I explored with my wife Margaret, wading through the freshwater stream which features many beautiful formations including stalactites and stalagmites. It is also a home to a variety of bats, olive pythons and freshwater crocodiles, none of which we encountered, fortunately.
We were overwhelmed by this experience and the outstanding beauty of Windjana Gorge into which the creek flows, but immensely saddened by the loss of country and home the Bunuba suffered at the hands of the white stockmen and police – an atrocity of outrageous proportions.