What’s Wrong with Calling it Gwion Gwion?:
Gwion gwion is a legend from the Kimberley about a bird that paints on inaccessible rock
walls using its bloodied, sharp beak. The legend is a clear reference to Bradshaw art,
which distinguishes itself, among many other things, by delicate lines and rocky locations
that are often discreet. There are many different words for the same legend in various
language groups, especially in the North Kimberley where Bradshaw art is most frequent.
In recent times there has been a political move to replace the “place holding” descriptor
“Bradshaw” with “Gwion gwion” on the grounds that an Aboriginal name is more
appropriate for Aboriginal art than a European label. This push prejudges whether this
variety of rock art is indeed Aboriginal. Despite a common settled viewpoint, I am
convinced that this is still an open question needing more science, particularly because
many Aboriginal groups still deny the connection that is being pushed. Moreover, the
legend itself emphasises separateness of the two cultures.
An often-quoted study by Michael Barry purports to show a link between rock art in
Arnhem Land and Bradshaw rock art (in the Kimberley). I am highly critical of this study
(published in two papers, Barry 1997, Barry and White 2004). The first problem is that it
over-estimates the abilities of computer pattern recognition to do the job, compared to the
human visual system. Great advances in computer pattern recognition have been made,
but the human visual system is still superior in general tasks like the identification of art
styles. There are many studies that support this point, but crucial refutation comes from
within the study itself, whose own data can be used to show that the computer algorithm
fails to recognise obvious similarities while at the same time making a poorly-supported
claim of similarity between Arnhem Land and Kimberley art. One example of this failing
is contained in the study’s own illustrations showing identical icons of a “three-point
sash” in Bradshaw and Tassili (N. African) art that are not recognised by the computer
algorithm used. On the other hand, one’s own visual system is completely floored by the
computer’s conclusion of similarity between the obviously dissimilar samples of Arnhem
Land and Bradshaw art that are chosen for illustration. The study also fails to recognise
or deal with the extremely fine lines (a fraction of a mm across) found in Bradshaw rock
art. It is a mystery how long fine lines a few hundred micra across can be produced on
that abrasive granular rock, just as comparable “hair’s breadth” lines have mystified
students of African rock art. There is also another severe problem, one that afflicts many
other attempts at generalisation about Bradshaw art. This problem is the dramatic
evolution that this art has undergone over many millennia, with a high risk that the
earlier, complex (“Classic Realistic” and “Classic Abstract”) art will be overlooked
because of its rarity. In some formulations, there is later contact, and perhaps even
exchange, of the Simple Bradshaw art with Aboriginal culture, emphasising the
importance of timing in trying to answer these questions. The timing aspect is completely
absent from Barry’s work, whose conclusions may be relevant, if at all, only to the latest
era of the Bradshaw culture just before its demise. The study has impressive numbers, no
doubt because of the labour-saving assistance of the computer. However, the analysis
falls down completely in many individual cases which are illustrated.
Here are 9 reasons why I think that pushing the gwion gwion nomenclature is premature
and may have to be revised in the future as the detailed origins of Bradshaw rock art
become clearer.
1•
No plebiscite:
The non-Aboriginal instigators of the recent push for this nomenclature may be delighted
at the publicity associated with its controversy, but some Aboriginals are concerned that
it may be premature to advocate so strongly the position that Bradshaw and pre-Wandjina
cultures were continuous in the Kimberley. There are a number of language groups in the
North Kimberley, where Bradshaw art is at its oldest and most dense (e.g. Kwini, Miwa,
Gamberre, Wunambul, Worora). These groups have different words to describe the
legend of the rock-inhabiting bird with blood-covered beak and were not invited to play a
role in the Ngarinyin choice of gwion gwion from other alternatives to lead the push
linking the two cultures. Moreover, some of these North Kimberley language groups
cherish the differences between the two cultures and have expressed the wish to nurture
and protect these differences in Bradshaw art. These N. Kimberley Aboriginal groups
further realise the risk of the gwion gwion push if its attempt to be linked to Aboriginal
culture is later falsified. Rock art can prove to be a compelling part of native title cases if
there is an unassailable link to a particular rock art style whose distribution marks out the
land under consideration. This is true for Wandjina art, which provides a strong and
sufficient link between Kimberley rock art and its Aboriginal inhabitants, past and
present. The same case cannot presently be made for the more controversial Bradshaw
art, which would undermine this whole process of determination if the proposed link
were later to be falsified.
2.
Evolution of Styles: Bradshaw art evolved through many styles, over a
probable period of fifty thousand years or more. The oldest are also the rarest and
most complex, posing a stumbling block for many studies which are
unrepresentative and may have sampled only from the later simplified styles. The
differences between Aboriginal art and Bradshaw art are least if one’s sample of
Bradshaw art is from the most recent, Simple style. This late style is associated
with a real possibility of contact between the cultures at the beginning of the
Holocene, when inundation forced the Bradshaw culture to leave the floodplain
and move permanently to the Kimberley plateau, whose rocky escarpment had
hitherto been only an occasional destination for art and enlightenment. One of the
early publications that links the term gwion gwion to specific pieces of art,
assisted by Aboriginal witnesses, does not include the earlier, elaborate depictions
(Classic Realistic and Abstract Bradshaws), but instead only later depictions from
the Simple phase of cultural evolution, suggesting that the current link proposed
between gwion gwion and all phases of cultural evolution is a recent phenomenon
(Doring 2000).
3.
Ironic Choice: The gwion gwion legend is based on a feature of Bradshaw
art, its extremely fine lines, that is not found in nearby Aboriginal art. Some lines
are a small fraction of a millimetre across, of such an astonishing degree of
fineness that it begs the question about how it could have been created on this
rugose surface. Since the name of the legend encapsulates a key difference
between Bradshaw and Aboriginal cultures, gwion is an ironic choice by the
instigators of the new push to link the cultures.
4.
More Research Needed: Much more information is needed to define the
spatial and temporal relationships between Bradshaw and Aboriginal cultures. For
this reason it is premature, and problematic, to assume that they were continuous,
as implied by the choice of an Aboriginal name to replace the name Bradshaw.
5.
Blurs Boundaries: Blurring the boundaries between two cultures runs the
risk of losing important details that differentiate them. This lesson has been
learned by the 26 minorities in China that have each maintained independent
language, costume and customs, despite being surrounded by billions of Han
Chinese. It is already apparent, since the promotion of continuity between
Bradshaw and Aboriginal using gwion, that there is a tendency to be sloppy about
the features that differentiate them, a first step along the road toward the kind of
cultural annihilation that worries the minorities in China.
6.
Inconsistent Nomenclature: There are a number of problems with the
attempt to apply Ngarinyin names before the question of cultural continuity has
been settled. First, as already mentioned, this ignores the other language groups,
especially those in the North Kimberley, that have different names for this rock
art. Second, external imposition of a system of nomenclature will have inevitable
errors arising from the process of imposition that will ultimately be recognized
with the present growing understanding of the art. For example, in his books,
Donaldson has often given the same Ngarinyin name (e.g. Ngunuru gwion) to
two completely different Bradshaw art styles which are in fact unrelated and
widely separated in both appearance and timing.
7.
Risky Strategy: The technical difficulties of studying Bradshaw art, such
as the problems with radiometric dating and the tenuous historical links of such
antiquity, should not be grounds for confident assumptions such as the gwion
gwion thesis of cultural continuity. We do not know if this assumption is correct.
If later research proves that it is not, the case for linking specific rock art to
territory would be undermined.
8.
Transparent Agenda: As already pointed out, there are many uncertainties
concerning the provenance of Bradshaw art compared with the clear-cut case for
Wandjina and other Kimberley Aboriginal art. These latter cases require little
further substantiation if they were to be used to link labels to country. The
contrasting uncertainties about Bradshaw provenance require more research for
them to be eliminated, so the prematurity of the current push for gwion gwion has
an unfortunate connotation: viz:- that it lacks a solid basis, unlike the Wandjinas,
and so may give the appearance that it is propelled by other considerations, such
as political forces, rather than a fundamental link.
9.
Celtic Legend: Gwion is a Celtic legend about the offspring of white female
apparition (Cerridwen), with a bright face. There are lots of magical transformations
between these legendary Celtic entities, with a prominent white lady. It would be easy to
write this off as a coincidence with the other, problematical, gwion gwion, under
discussion here with the same name, except for an awkward fact:- a ghostly white lady
with a shining face is also a participant of indigenous dreams and folklore!
It is easier to explain the common content of the white lady in both Celtic and
Aboriginal lore than to explain the gwion homonym. Bright figures may reflect
common underlying brain mechanisms, as the perception of, and attraction to,
brightness accompanies the left hemisphere activation of mania and trance (Hence
the white lady, Kuan Yin, of Chinese Buddhism). But the exact correspondence
between both the gwion words, and descriptions of white ladies, strongly suggests
that there might have been post-contact cultural transmission. Rejecting this
speculative hypothesis would be difficult because of the absence of a written
record of the pre-contact indigenous legends. Further support for the idea that both
Celtic and Aboriginal legends have a common origin comes from the use of gwion
gwion by the filmmaker, Doring (2000), who links it to Simple Bradshaws rather
than to the older Classic Bradshaws that are now linked to the gwion gwion label,
further evidence of the fluidity of this term’s useage post contact.
A Final Comment:
It is easy to understand the widespread feeling that one should use an
indigenous name, if possible, for the output of an indigenous culture,
and avoid the use of a Western name. But what if there are still doubts
about the presumed Aboriginal origin of that culture, and the Bradshaw
name is but a place-holder until more information becomes available to
suggest an alternative? If this is indeed a separate, extinct culture, a
possibility that has not yet been excluded, who is there to speak up on
its behalf?
"Who is served when one minority swallows another?"
Barry, M (1997) “I would sooner not call them Bradshaws”. BA(Hons), Univ. Sydney
Barry, M and White JP 2004 Australian Aboriginal Studies 2004/1 37-44 ‘Exotic Bradshaws’ or Australian
‘Gwion’ an archaeological test?:
Doring, Jeff Gwion Gwion: Chemins Secrets Et Sacrés Des Ngarinyin, Aborigènes D'Australie (Gwion
Gwion: Secret and Sacred Pathways of the Ngarinyin Aboriginal People of Australia) Könemann 2000
ISBN 9783829040600 p. 55