Mapping Cultural Heritage:
The Girringun Way
Rod Nielson
GIS Coordinator
Girringun Aboriginal Corporation
Email: gis@girringun.com.au
Ph: 07 4066 8300
A Cultural Heritage Information
Management System


A computerised system/database
which allows for the storage and
retrieval of information
Different media types


Documents, photos, video, sound, etc.
May be able to display information
graphically
Examples

Balkanu’s Traditional Knowledge
Recording/Restoration Project


Cultural Systems Solution


Video recording
Web based cultural heritage management system
Girringun’s Cultural Heritage Information
Management System

GIS analytical capacity
What Cultural Information?



Places – i.e. cultural sites (tangible or
intangible)
Stories – meanings, law, lore, etc. (10
Canoes).
Practices – customs, beliefs, rituals

It is not necessary to practice these beliefs, but it is a
benefit to know about them and to understand them
• Cannibalism in PNG
• Aboriginal totems and Law

E.g. marriage law
What Cultural Information?

Art and art forms

Dance
• Stories

Ethnobotany

Plants
• Bushtucker
• Calender species

Ethnobiology

Animals
• Ecological relationships between plants, animals and
seasons
Language

Linguistics


Spelling of Aboriginal language
Rules to retain correct pronunciation
• What sounds certain letters or combinations of
letters make
•Ŋŋ

Written language

Who’s spelling
• Phonetic
• Linguist
Information Storage and
Management at Girringun


Cultural Heritage Database
MS Access

Scientific background
• Archaeological survey reports

Links to information via html
• Photos, digital video, digital voice, etc.
Links to html via ArcView
 Pre-formatted reports

• Query by: site ID; TO group; site type;
Spatial Elements

Places mapped as:

Points
• Cultural sites

Lines
• Walking tracks
• Stories – multiple sites/places

Polygons
• Broader areas
• Detailed mapping of sites – archaeological
methodology
Allows us to:

Return to sites for:



Management purposes
Intergenerational knowledge transfer
Analyse site data against other
spatial data


Correct site locations on inaccessible lands
determine sites which will potentially be
impacted by development
The extent of aerial
photography acquired
for the recovery effort
after TC Larry.
Lower Herbert aerial
photography extent.
Why



Repatriation of information
Intergenerational knowledge transfer
Management of cultural sites and
related information


Economic development


Historical record of site integrity
Tourism, education
Empowerment

Involvement in planning – Environmental,
Development, Infrastructure
Why

Aboriginal people should be
recognised as the primary guardians,
keepers and knowledge holders of
Aboriginal cultural heritage;
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003
Section 5b.
Value – Cultural

Intergenerational knowledge transfer




Future generations
How, what, where, when and why
Manage site integrity
Repatriation of information

Government
• Agencies, museums



Researchers
Developers
Property owners/managers
Value - Research

Academic research


Archaeology, anthropology
Scientific research

Pharmaceutical


Ecological



Medicines
Calendar information
Signs of change – environmental, climate
Historical


Paleo – botany, biology
BC – before Cook
Value - Economic


Commercial value of spatial
information for analysis
Management of cultural places


Integrity
Development



Infrastructure
Mining
Tourism


Authenticity
Integrity of places
Opportunities


Fee for service enterprises
Drivers for higher education

Archaeology, anthropology, cultural heritage
management, etc.
• Expert opinion


Empowerment in NRM process
Bioprospecting


Pharmaceutical
Biomedical
Challenges

Willingness to pay

Government
• QPWS

S3. Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003
• Nothing in this Act makes the State liable to be
prosecuted for an offence.

Private enterprise
• Part of the cost of doing business
• Tully Alliance
• Mining companies
Challenges

Continued Use


Pay once – use many times
State Government
• Fields queries to the State database
• May include details of places considered secret
and sacred
• No permission from Traditional Owners

Compare IP with other fields
• Photography
• Use more than once, pay more than once
Challenges

On-going support



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Staff
Premises
Equipment
Vagaries of funding



Timing – successful or unsuccessful
Loss of skilled staff
Seasons – wet vs. dry
Questions ?