#112 We All Need to Connect
Natalie Davey on protecting the Martuwarra Fitzroy River - & everything else
Our final episode recorded in the Kimberley last year features Natalie Davey, a Bunuba-Walmajarri woman, Traditional Custodian of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, first Indigenous Chair of Environs Kimberley, broadcaster, artist, educator and so much more. What a privilege it was to be welcomed to her home and Country, on the banks of the River just outside Fitzroy Crossing. The Martuwarra is one of the last wild rivers in the world and, as you may have heard in previous episodes, it’s at the heart of another flashpoint right now.
The Martuwarra Fitzroy River, at Nat’s place (pic: Anthony James).
“I just can’t understand how you can see one of the last wild rivers in the world, not being a national or world monument.”
Extractive colonial narratives of ‘advancing the north’ persist. One of Australia’s outstanding audio documentary makers, Kirsti Melville, entitled her recent 2-part ABC podcast on this place: ‘First they came for the land, then they came for the water’. But then, Nat recalls how her own Indigenous grandmother was afraid of Native Title, fearing it might mean she had to return to a tough life on Country. So if anyone can speak to where we go from here, it’s Nat.
This is a very special conversation by the Martuwarra, a deep insight into the Kimberley, its extraordinary Country and rich cultures, how we can avert the threats to it all, and be part of the brilliant and growing regenerative collaborations and economies everywhere. We talked for nearly two hours, having given this the time it needed. So there’ll be a special extra to this episode released next week too, with this natural, wise and generous guide to the Martuwarra.
This conversation was recorded on Natalie’s Country by the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, just outside of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia, on 24 September 2021.
Click on the photos below for full view, and hover over them for descriptions where they’ve been added.
Learn more:
Tune into the extra to this episode, On the banks of the Martuwarra
Environs Kimberley (where Nat is now Chair).
Indigenous Literacy Foundation shop.
The Guardian article featuring Natalie, and her short clip in the award-winning documentary series, Voices of the River.
Kirsti Melville’s ABC audio documentary mentioned in the intro (you’ll find the 2nd part here).
And the radio show Nat now hosts with her father (more on this in Part 2 next week).
Music:
Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the new film Regenerating Australia, screening around the country now.
You Shine, by Tura Music.