Monday musings on Australian literature: A little note on the Kalkadoon (or Kalkatungu)

/ Whispering Gums

Tonight I am in Kalkadoon (Kalkatunga) country. The Kalkadoons were the first Indigenous Australian people I became aware of as a young pre-pubescent girl living in Mount Isa in the 1960s. What I remember being told is that they were “fierce warriors”, but nothing much else, because we didn’t learn this history of Australia back then did we? This description, however, never sat easily with me. What did it mean?

During my current tour through outback Queensland, we’ve heard a little more, mainly about how many Kalkadoons were killed at Battle Hill (or Battle Mountain), in retribution for some action of theirs. The word massacre has not been used in the stories we’ve heard, though there has been recognition that spears had little chance against guns.

Of course, the truth is far more complicated, and was part of a long ongoing conflict between the Kalkadoons and settlers. The Kalkadoons certainly see it as a “massacre”. And they have a good website. I am too tired to write a full post tonight, but I wanted to share this site as an example of sites created by First Nations people, in which they tell their story their way, in which they communicate their stories to a wider world while also providing community for their people.

The Kalkadoon site also proudly shares that

On 12th December 2011, Honourable Justice John Alfred Dowsett of the Federal Court said the price the Kalkadoon People had paid for the prosperity of the region would not be forgotten. Native Title was granted to the Kalkadoon People.

We were told about this Native Title on our drive into Mount Isa, but just think about the meaning behind those words, “the price the Kalkadoon People had paid for the prosperity of the region would not be forgotten”. What a significant acknowledgement!

I am leaving it here, because if I write more, it would need to be a lot more, so I’ve decided to go for succinctness.

If you are Australian, do your local First Nation people have a website?

17 thoughts on “Monday musings on Australian literature: A little note on the Kalkadoon (or Kalkatungu)”

  2. I find it interesting to read about how various present-day descendants write about historical relationships between ancestral Indigenous (and First Nations and Métis and Inuit) nations, about broad statements (like whether one group was viewed as being more aggressive or martial in the past) and different ways they could be interpreted (slanted).

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  4. Thank you, Sue. What else can one say?

    The truth of the colonisation of this continent is increasingly impacting on us. What a lot we’ve had to learn, accept and finally act upon.

    Enjoy your visit to the past.

    Sara

    >

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    • Thanks very much Sara … it’s very interesting being here in outback Q. I can’t quite get a handle on how things are going (not helped by the fact that Mr Gums and I have COVID do my energy levels are low) but there feels to be less overt recognition of FN people and cultures. Maybe though, more is happening behind the scenes. I’d like to think so but that may be wishful.

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  5. Not Australian, obviously, but the tribal people who live in my hometown have their own website, and it’s cool to see all the work they’ve done to educate, support, and demonstrate pride in the community, both their own and the surrounding. I’m fact, I learned that a girl I went to school with is now a leader in the Saginaw-Chippewa organization!

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  6. Did you know the locals were Kalkadoon when you were at school? I don’t think I became aware of the various nations until I was in Perth (Noongar country), which is to say in the last 20 or so years.

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    • Yes Bill I absolutely did … that was my point. We all knew about the Kalkadoons – I don’t recollect how but their name has stuck with me through years though I think now they are more often known as Kalkatungu. This is not to say though that I was aware of other nations but I understood in some way that in Australia there was some sort of “tribe” system. I did some ethnographic studies at university in the 1970s and at that time I learnt about the Pitjantjatjara people. Then it was the Yolngu in the 1990s through Yunupingu and Yothu Yindi. And now of course I have a better sense of a bigger picture. So, it’s been a gradual process but it started back in the 1960s with the Kalkadoons.

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  7. As a descendant of the leader of the Kalkadoon people at the Battle Mountain massacre and a proud Kalkadoon woman I believe you have somewhat glossed over our history. Nevermind, that is the way with Australian history and I guess it is up to us to tell our story. Glynnis Taylor

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    • Oh Glynnis thank you for responding. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or to try to tell your history. My intention was to convey that I can’t tell your history because I don’t know it – and to point to the Kalkadoon website, and say here is where we should find the history. I am very sorry if this is not how it came across.

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