The Haunted and the Bad4 July - 10 August 2008 Nici CUMPSTON I am connected to the Murray and the Darling River systems through my Barkindji family and for the past year I have been documenting the demise of Nookamka Lake, otherwise known as Lake Bonney in the Riverland of South Australia. In September 2007 a decision was made to stop the flow of water into the lake from the Murray River. The water is receding at a much faster rate than was initially predicted, and as a result there are many Aboriginal artefacts and remains being exposed. As I wander along the waters edge I think about the trees I can see, and most are either dead or only stumps remain. In the past they were used as fuel to power the paddle steamers along the Murray, but I try to imagine why people would make a decision to take every last one. Interestingly, most of the remaining trees bear scars, depicting canoes, shields or coolamons. There are also many ring trees, which were made by tying young branches together to form a ring shape. As the tree grows the ring rises and remains a 'sign' within the tree branches. The reason for doing this is varied and apart from speaking with Elders, there is very limited information available on this practice. A few trees have scars as well as rings and some trees have more than one ring. These trees are always near places of abundance, where there is a lot of food and protected shelter. These 'signs' in the landscape, are evidence of Aboriginal occupation and reflect the connection people have had with this place over thousands of years.
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