Champion Exhibit: Summer Equinox

I won a prize at the 2023 Leeton Art Society exhibition

This photograph of a culturally-scarred tree I called 'Summer Equinox' as the theme for the acquisitive award was seasonal and late summer is when trees will give up their bark.

The printing onto pine was an opportunity to raise awareness about the impact of pine plantations in the Murrumbidgee Valley, since critics have said these take 110% of rainfall as they'll draw groundwater from neighbouring properties.

My entry was declared "Champion Exhibit" and it's led to my family calling me "champ"!

Scarred tree

I'm no expert but I am becoming more confident in being able to spot a cultural scar on a tree

Been meaning to photograph this one between Matong and Narrandera for a while, but it's in a 110km/h zone. 

When I saw the tape on it yesterday, I thought I'd better stop and document it.

Tuckerbil Swamp

While Fivebough Wetland is promoted as Leeton's premier birdwatching site, Tuckerbil Swamp is also remarkable and a great place to see brolgas

That Tuckerbil isn't considered accessible to the public is part of the reason why you won't get directions at the local visitor information centre and there's often cattle on the land nearby, as well as hazards like dumped metal and concrete.

Nearby Koonadan Historic Site testifies to the ongoing connection the Wiradjuri people have with the Riverina landscape and there are many scarred trees around the region.

You can see two coolamon-shaped scars on the tree shown here and it's likely that Tuckerbil supported a settlement before the Frontier Wars in the 18th Century.

The video below discusses the human remains that were found at Koonadan in the late 20th Century.

Whitton scar

Scarred tree in Leeton

Coolamon

Spotted this coolamon-shaped scar on a tree outside Coolamon

Canoe Tree Park in Finley

Yesterday I stopped to look at the canoe tree in Finley

I'd guess this park was built in the early 1970s before the legislation came in for scarred trees to remain in situ.

The canoe tree must be old as the heartwood has hollowed, which also means one can't get an idea of whether a stone or steel axe was used.

I like the accompanying mural that gives an idea of the processes used by Aborignals to make a canoe from a cutting of River Red Gum bark.

Dreaming about trees

In recent years I've had a few dreams about scarred trees

It's a theme that's surprised me because they are the symbols of this landscape being Wiradjuri country.

The other week, the night before the poetry reading in Narrandera, I had a dream in which a Wiradjuri man I know was showing me tree hollows and explaining how they were used as shelter by Aboriginals.

The conversation was sorta based on one I'd had a week earlier, when I quizzed this bloke about the scarred trees that I see in my travels around the Riverina and their significance.

The bit where the dream got weird was the following day, when I drove into Narrandera Common for a swim and spotted these hollowed River Red Gums.

There they were, trees from my dream the night before.

Resilience

Look at trees in the Riverina and you see history in the landscape

I've posted about scarred trees (click on the "scar tree" tag at the bottom of this post) but here I'd like to look at the trunks ringbarked by Europeans in the late Nineteenth Century.

There are many examples to be found of trees that have overcome this practice.

Looking around a Brucedale property this morning and I spotted a Grey Box and a Yellow Box that had both lived after being ringbarked.

They both sprouted new trunks and both had gone on to grow for over a century and are now forming hollows that will be used as habitat for birds of increasing size and then possibly possums.

Another example was this Blakelyi Red Gum that lost its trunk and formed new ones. It may have been felled more recently, possibly the 1930s.

I really like these trees as symbols of resilience.

Scarred tree

Many scarred trees can be seen in the Riverina.

Hadn't noticed this one until roadworks included removing the trunk in the foreground.

I'd like to learn more about how to identify them, as well as recognising the tools used to make them.

History is our story

Leeton Shire Council recently asked for input in "activating" local heritage and it has prompted me to look at connections between the past and present.

Heritage, like history, reflects stories about the past that continue to be meaningful in the present. The Shire's existence is tied closely with the development of the MIA. There are many links to explore, possibly via the people who made it a success.

One underappreciated example is Jack Brady, manager of the Leeton Cannery, who promoted rice as a crop. This was significant in making the irrigation scheme viable and continues to be relevant as Leeton is the home of SunRice.

Another example is the name Whitton comes from John Whitton, who oversaw significant developments in rail. This seems particularly timely with recent discussion of new inland rail connections and the surprise announcement of billions dedicated to this project in the recent Federal Budget.

The Shire's links to the Griffins elevates Leeton to an international standing, recognising developments in urban planning as well as the lofty ambitions of the Modern age. If you consider Walter Burley Griffin's inclusion of a bandstand and parks within the town design, you see how architecture recognised roles for culture and nature within society.

One more significant story comes from prior to the Shire, when early settlers in the Yanco (Yonco as it was called) region coexisted with the original inhabitants of the land. The Wiradjuri people fought to retain this landscape and there is increasing interest in the so-called Frontier Wars, such as the wreath unofficially part of the ANZAC ceremony in Canberra this year.

In the interest of promoting harmony as discussions continue to promote constitutional recognition of Australia's indigenous and possibly treaties, it would be great to recognise how a European negotiated an early treaty in what is now Leeton Shire.

Yonco was particularly significant in presenting a narrative of tolerance and respect. In 1838 it was the one remaining white settlement in our region during the Frontier Wars.

Historian Bill Gammage suggests the tolerance of both the Yonco land manager and local Wiradjuri links these events on either side of the carnage and that it is likely a form of treaty was negotiated. This seems particularly relevant in light of the recent push for a national treaty to follow the one that has begun in Victoria.

The trees shown in the photographs here are thought to be Wiradjuri scar trees that are currently unlisted in Leeton Shire.

Scar trees

As I shared a tree with a scar here, I thought I'd share this photo of the scar trees at Griffith Pioneer Park Museum.

These two trunks were moved to the Museum in the early 1970s from outside Darlington Point, which is a township south of Griffith on the northern side of the Murrumbidgee River.

In the foreground is a trunk with many coolamon-shaped scars, while through the hollow the scar for a canoe can be seen.

An indigenous heritage officer told me the number of coolamon-shaped scars would suggest this tree sat on a boundary. This makes sense to me as I'd expect it would be interpreted by someone visiting the region that many people live in this area.

Carved trunk?

Earlier this year I heard about a carved scar on a tree outside Wagga Wagga.

I went looking for it while I was staying in the area over Christmas and think I found it.

I've heard that carving trees was a Wiradjuri custom to remember the dead, which might explain why the shape doesn't seem like those I've seen elsewhere for coolamon.

The horizontal lines appear to be evenly spaced apart, which suggests a deliberate design but I'll ask around and see what I can learn.

Pioneer Park

Started my new role as Curator at Pioneer Park in Griffith this week.

It's a fascinating museum with a diverse collection, including dozens of historic buildings that allow you to literally step back in time and a number of dresses on a national register. There's also an array of agricultural machinery, which underscores the incredible effort that went into building the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.

The site also features trees with scars from indigenous pioneers, such as this outline of material that was probably taken to build a canoe.

When I first visited the Park I had mixed feelings about some of the replica buildings. On one hand I could see they showed a perspective on the past, but on the other it seemed inauthentic to present a scaled-down version.

Then I heard the story about the first building brought to the site when the Park was started in 1971. Ray Rathbone brought his grandfather's home from Victoria, which includes an in-ground pantry and other features from pre-Federation Australia.

The house was built in 1872 and, nearly a century later, was carefully deconstructed and shipped piece-by-piece to be reconstructed on the hill above Griffith.

Vandals burnt it to the ground.

I'd imagine the loss of the first building for a proposed museum was a major blow. Yet the pioneers of Pioneer Park were not deterred.

Using the detailed notes kept by the removalists, they recreated the homestead.

The result is a replica of an old home and I think the story illustrates how the tone was set for Pioneer Park's presentation of the past.

I think I'm going to enjoy exploring this history and sharing the stories I learn.